"Orchid" <neko@ascendancy.net> wrote in message

Excellent reply Orchid, I have actually learned something new myself!

Just to add, I noticed that all of our cats in the building when going out
scratch the wooden posts that hold the fence. They will also spend ages
sniffing it as well, as if it  is a bulleting board. It probably is for the
cats isn;t it. So wood is an option as well.

I must mantion that my Tigger never took to 3 scratching posts we have. He
would much rather scratch my vinyl records! :) I don;t really care, as long
as he doesn;t damage the records, and in 4 years, he succesffuly managed to
tear most curdboard covers, but not a scratch on the vinyl! Isn;t he clever!

My belief is, my cats are much more important to me then my furniture. I can
replace a sofa, I can;t replace a cat. Once you loose your beloved pet like
I did, everything else becomes meaningless, and you wish they are still
there to run wild, wake you up at 3am, and scratch you damn sofa. I would
give everything I own, EVERYTHING to have my QT back. Nothing is worth more
then him.

So dont worry about the furniture. Enjoy your pet while you are together.

Gee, Tiara, Shadow, Tigger and Charlie
with QT in our hearts

How many posts do you have, where are they, how tall are they,
and how sturdy are they?  :)
I know that's a lot of questions, but placement, number, and
all those others are crucial factors in whether a cat uses a post or
not.
You should provide multiple posts and multiple scratching
surfaces.  Some cats like the feeling of sisal rope, some like bark,
some like carpet, some like cardboard.  Some cats like vertical
surfaces, some like horizontal ones.
Cats like to scratch when they first wake up, and they like to
scratch in places where the traffic density is the highest.  Put one
post where they like to sleep so they can stretch their muscles after
a nap, and put one in the living/family room (high traffic density) so
they can fulfill their territorial marking need.  Scratching is a
visual and olfactory territory marker -- the scratched part says
visually 'here I am, and I'm this big', and cats have scent glands on
their paw pads that say olfactorily 'This is my place, and I'm this
sex and this old and this healthy'.
Cats tend to prefer posts that are tall enough to stretch way
up against.  This not only helps them stretch/exercise their back and
shoulder muscles properly, but lets them announce how tall they are to
the world in territorial marking.
Cats will not scratch on an unsteady surface.  If the post
wobbles or (Bast forbid) falls over, cats won't scratch on it.  Posts
and trees should be on a heavy, wide base for maximum stability.

I have four scratching surfaces (one 6' tree in the living
room, 2 4' posts (one in the library near out bedroom and one in the
media room in the basement), and one cardboard horizontal scratcher
that floats around the house) for two cats, and we have no damage
anywhere in the house.  Now, the cats will paw at the furniture (claws
in) to put their scent on it, but since that's non-damaging we allow
it.

Great suggestions!
In addition there is sticky tape and sprays to use on items you don't want
the cats to scratch on.
Clipping the claws can help as well as the claws aren't sharp then and won't
be able to do as much damage.