"owen" <spam@spam.com> wrote in news:uXlXc.600$2e2.174@newsfe4-
gui.ntli.net:

Good Luck! When we built this house two years ago, we had all of our
antique furniture redone. The kids don't care at all and we have scratching  
posts everywhere. Tried the cat nip thing, tried yelling at them, tried the
coins in a can thing.
Finally just said " What the hell". They own the house anyway. We are just
guests that feed them and clean the litter box.

assuming Henry's your cat, put catnip on the scratching post, and when
you see him scratching the furniture a sharp "NO" or toss something at him.

pat

What I did with mine was to put kitty treats on the top of the post so
that they would have to climb it to get to them. It worked somewhat
successfully. They only scratch the furniture when I am not looking.
Another trick is to grab them when they are scratching and move them
over to the post and gently move their paws up and down the post.
This gives them the feel of the post and puts their scent on it.

    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 or
wood, 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 Bengals (a very heavy scratching
breed), 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.

Orchid
See Orchid's Kitties! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage
Want a Purebred Cat?  Read This! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid

take in to consideration that the cat is more stretching and scenting than
they are scratching.  Cats like to mark furniture that you tend to
particularly like because it particularly smells like you!  Put tall - aka
taller than your hip - posts near these items.  Redirect them, and praise
them for using the posts.

Remember.. cats don't understand the word no.  so phrase all requests with
out it.  don't say don't scratch that chair, they will hear scratch the
chair.  say scratch the post. :D

Use:
- catnip
- a firm deep NO when they try it on the furniture
- re-assuring GOOD BOY/GIRL when they use the post
- get or make them something to sit/lay on that doubles as a scratcher...
(see pic)

Our girls haven't touched any of our furniture... perhaps it's because they
know I went to the trouble of making them 8 tower/scrathcers that are
scattered about the house..

Steve