Cat Scratching Preventative Measures for new furniture

[ACG]

My cat of 12 years scratches furniture. No matter what we tried she scratched the corners of 2 of our chairs and the couch. Both the chairs and couch are super old anyway, so it wasn't like we cared.

I'd like to buy some new furniture, have any of you tried the tape or the spray? Does it work?

I can't lock the cat in another room.

She is old but not that old.

thanks

[Blueberry]

I've had success with using packing tape rolled so its sticky on both sides. Cheap and worked well for us. Try it first on the old furniture, them put it on new for a while.

[lauraelmore1033]

Do you have things that the cat CAN scratch? I've found that having a cat tree with scratchers and regular trims keep the scratching to a minimum. You can't stop a cat from scratching--they have a physical need to do it--but you can redirect it to more appropriate surfaces.

[Norse]

We've even had success with plain old scotch tape - our old cat didn't like the feel. With our newest baby, we bought her a couple of high quality scratching posts and steered her towards them when she strayed via: gently taking her there and putting her paws on them and making the motions, putting catnip on the posts in various spots (still do that), and the good old spray water bottle. She really has been very good about using her posts 99% of the time. The other thing she loves to dig her claws into is my rubber mat that's under my bike that's on the trainer.

[Sylvia]

I have couch covers on my couches and that has helped quite a bit. The covers are fit loosely and you tuck them in around the cushions and tie them on the sides. Very similar to this one. Because they don't fit tightly, when the cat puts their claws in them and then tries to pull their paws back, there is little resistance and the cats don't seem to like that because their claws get stuck. In addition I have scratching posts and mats around the house that they can use and work better than the covered couches. That said, my covers have a few holes from the cats trying to scratch, but at least the couches are reasonably protected.

[TrekDianna]

I used doublesided tape -- it did not work for one cat and we had to put the nail tips on her -- but they come in fun colors.

This isn't the brand I used, but there's a good photo of them here http://www.amazon.com/Claws-PURPLE-M...itty+nail+caps

[nuliajuk]

Can you growl convincingly? When my previous pair of cats were kittens, we growled at them whenever they started to do something they weren't supposed to, such as scratching furniture or trying to run out the front door. It let them know, in their own "language", that they were being warned off, and we never had a further problem in their long (15 and 18 year) lifespans. It can give you layrngitis if you do it too much at first.
Our present cat was trained by her previous owner, so I don't know what training method she used. It must have worked, we don't have a problem with her either.