Friday, January 4, 2008

Why do cat scratch?

Scratching logs or furniture have been a basic behavioral need as well as part of cats natural environment. It is advisable for cat owners to have a special place to enable their cats sharpen their claws. The reason why cats do this is because:
  • to mark territories
  • to stretch their muscles
  • to hunt / self defense
  • it's their nature behavior to scratch.
It's quite impossible to stop your cat from doing something they're born to do it. These are some tips you can do to prevent your cat from destroying your furnitures :
  • Start training your cats to use scratching posts when first introduced to your home. Place double sided-tape on inappropriate areas and give rewards to your cat if they use the scratching post.
  • Trim the tips of the claws every one of two weeks. It's advisable to ask your friends help when trimming the tips of the cats claw.
  • Apply catnip on toys and scratching post. This will attract the cats to scratch the applied areas.
Catnip or Catmint (Nepeta cataria) is a plant that grows mainly throughout the temperate regions of Europe and North America. Many wild cats are sensitive to Catnip, including leopards and lions. The usual response is for cats to sniff, grimace (Flehmen posture) , rub, tread, roll and sometimes to chew the plant, or even eat the small tender shoots! Male cats respond more excitedly than females, although some cats show no interest at all, as the predisposition to enjoying a "catnip fix" is genetic and tends to become apparent at maturity, around six months of age.


You can buy catnip at pet shops

Sources : Link 1 , Link 2 , Link 3




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