Save my furniture

The cat scratches the couch, the dog jumps up on the bed and all of them are shedding hair. Help! My furniture is under assault and I need to know how to save it.

It’s no surprise

Generally, if dog a jumps up on furniture, it’s because it wasn’t knocked off the furniture as a pup. Or sometimes we’ll let a pet on the furniture when it suits us but get cross when the pet does it at other times.

It’s no surprise they do it whenever they can. Wouldn’t you choose the soft bed or couch, snuggling up with your human best friend, when given the chance?

So what to do?

First, make sure your pet has a comfortable warm bed of its own. Then teach your pet to use it.

Select a command that you will use whenever your pet is on your bed or couch. ‘Off’ works well. Don’t use a command such as ‘sit’, as it will probably simply stay on the furniture but move to a sitting position.

Whenever it jumps on the wrong item, use the same firm command. Say ‘off’, and move it to its own bed. Give it a treat when it settles in its own space.

If your pet moves back up to your bed or couch, repeat the process. Repetition and consistency are key to success.

Adding toys can help keep your pet occupied in its own bed and distracts it from its mission to join you in yours.

Scratch that habit

Now that the dog is sleeping where it should, how do we stop the cat from scratching the couch, the rug and the curtains?

Cats love to scratch. It helps them mark their territory and gives them a good old stretch at the same time. You won’t be able to stop a cat scratching. It’s simply too much fun.

What you can do is get your cat to scratch where you can put up with it.

Obviously a special scratching pole is the place to start. The post must be high enough to give your cat that good stretch and stable enough so that it won’t tip over. It also must be sufficiently rough, so your cat can get a good grip and do some serious shredding.

For extra fun, place the pole on a piece of upside down carpet or rug. The backs of carpets and rugs offer a great scratching surface. Again, make sure it is secure.

Whenever cats start to scratch in the wrong place, gently move them to the pole. Popping the pole in front of the area they are intent on destroying will save the furniture and help convert them to using the pole. If they have several favourite scratching spots, you may need more than one pole. As cats like to scratch when they wake up, having one near their bed is also a good idea.

Feed and play with your cat near the pole so it becomes an attractive place to be around.

To help train your cat to use its new poles and make the inappropriate scratching places less attractive, deodorise the area to remove the cat’s scent and use deterrents such as citrus sprays. Short-term covering of the area with foil or duct tape can help save the furniture. It just doesn’t feel good to scratch.

As a second last resort, squirt the cat with a water pistol if it scratches in the wrong spot, and at the final hurdle you can trim its claws.

To deal with all that fur, see the separate article: Shedding hair inside the house.

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