Cease Your Cat From Scratching Furnishings With These Science-Backed Methods

Scientists are working exhausting to unravel one among life’s biggest issues: a home cat with a foul behavior of tearing up the furnishings.

In a brand new research Wednesday, researchers have recognized a number of key components that seem to foretell undesirable cat scratching. These embody having younger children in the home, the form of playtime they get, and their general degree of stress. Not less than a few of these facets might be tweaked to maintain your cat’s clawing in verify, the scientists say.

The research was carried out by veterinary scientists from Turkey, Portugal, and France; it was additionally funded by the French animal well being firm Ceva Santé Animale. The staff had over 1,200 cat homeowners in France fill out an internet survey, which included questions on their cat’s dwelling atmosphere, every day routine, and scratching behaviors.

Total, the staff discovered that some cats had been naturally extra liable to scratching, akin to felines that had been described as “aggressive” or “disruptive” by their homeowners. However there have been different exterior elements linked to undesirable cat scratching, notably having children at dwelling, taking part in with the cat for lengthy intervals of time, and usually being extra energetic at evening.

“It underscores the multifaceted nature of undesirable scratching conduct and emphasizes the significance of comprehensively understanding each the person traits of the cat and its atmosphere to successfully tackle this conduct,” the researchers wrote about their findings, published Wednesday in Frontiers in Veterinary Science.

Clearly, having younger children or a grouchier cat aren’t issues that homeowners can change on a whim. However some issues recognized by the staff level to emphasize as a serious exterior issue for cat scratching that may be higher managed. An excessive amount of playtime without delay, for instance, can grow to be overly stimulating for a cat. Added stress may additionally clarify why having children round is linked to cat scratching as nicely, although the scientists say extra analysis is required to know for sure.

So discovering methods to cut back your cat’s stress ought to then assist lower down on their undesirable scratching, they are saying. This may embody ensuring your cat has loads of nooks and crannies to loosen up in with out being disturbed, in addition to excessive spots from which they’ll perch and observe their kingdom. You would possibly wish to additionally house out your playtime into quick bursts of exercise that extra mimic pure searching conduct. And from the survey knowledge, the staff discovered that leaving out scratching posts in locations that cats go to steadily appeared to assist maintain them from clawing different extra treasured furnishings.

“Our findings can assist caregivers handle and redirect scratching to applicable supplies, which may assist foster a extra harmonious dwelling atmosphere for each cats and their caregivers,” mentioned lead creator Yasemin Salgirli Demi̇rbas, a veterinary researcher at Ankara College, in a statement from Frontiers, publishers of the journal.

Implementing these findings may defend your favourite possessions. Simply don’t let your cat catch you studying this—until you’re prepared to clarify why their favourite couch is out of the blue off-limits.