Cat scratching sofa.

Territorial behaviour and totally normal- I am afraid.

In the USA they have a 'good' method well really cruel and totally disgusting, 'de-clawing'.

We have two large cats and three large scratch poles which they happily use. They're liberally sprayed with catnip spray which they love. They're very good boys and have never even looked at the furniture with a view to scratching it.

Same problem here, we bought a scratching post, but he still prefers the sofa!

Same problem here.
The only answer is OUT when he starts at sofas or chairs.

If there is a scratching post nearby, and you introduce the cat to it by lifting its claws to it and gently pulling them down the post, they get the idea. You can also get stuff to spray on the furniture to make it less attractive, but once they have started on it, it will contain the pheremones from the scent glands of their paws, and they will continue to be attracted to it. The plastic covers are a good idea until they have got out of the habit.

Does anyone have any ideas to stop jumping on kitchen worktops please?

I have successfully used sticky sheets similar to these.
sticky sheets

shysal, those are the ones I've ordered. It's a good idea to spray the pole with catnip. I'm going to try that and see what happens.

He is an older cat. DD adopted him as a stray. The vet thinks he's about 10 years old. He's a handsome boy.

An old fashioned way , but my grandma used to shout no and bang a folded up newspaper against the sofa if she saw the cat scratching it .
After a couple of days the cat never attempted to use the sofa as a scratching post again .

Neither did the dog pee nor poo indoors either !

Joseanne

Same problem here.
The only answer is OUT when he starts at sofas or chairs.

Yes that is what we do when our cat starts scratching the sofas. A lot of our hard earned money was spent on furniture and I'm hoping it will see us out. I don't intend to let a cat spoil it, or the dogs either.

My cats ruined my sofa and chair also they used to scratch the black rubber seal on the double glazed windows on the conservatory. I still have the suite (covered with new ikea covers) I could not afford a new suite.I/we tried everything on earth but the devils just would not stop.

My cats have been gone for around 6 yrs now and only now am I able to start looking for a new suite (I won't ! be getting any more cats)

They had a catflap/garden/fences plenty of wood to scratch on, but nope prefered the wood and covers of my suite

Never forget the cat owns you ( and therefore does as it likes!) you don’t own the cat ( so it never does as it’s told . Lol

When my last cat started to scratch the new sofa I moved the scratching post from the kitchen to next to the sofa. The cat got the message and no more problems.

We use Johnson’s catnip spray on his scratching posts. He loves it and never scratches our furniture. Hope that helps.

Jackson Galaxy did a programme on this. His theory is that the cat is stripping the outer layer off the claws and needs a solid surface to scratch to do this. A large piece of furniture like a sofa is ideal. A scratching post usually isn't stable enough. He suggested a piece of carpet on a board or stuck to the wall. Or you could try double sided tape stuck to the bits he is scratching. They hate the sticky surface. He is such a handsome boy! I do love a ginger.

Our scratching posts are enormous and very robust. I found the catnip spray on Amazon. Inexpensive and effective.