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If you own a cat, there is more than an even chance of your sofa being in tatters-along with your nerves. You know it is futile to scold your cat. When you stare at your kitty, it also looks back at you in a puzzled manner, trying to understand why the human is so angry.
Do not declaw
Whatever you do, it is not permissible to declaw your cat. Your cat is a beautiful, loving, and independent animal. Declawing it will destroy all these, and you have no right to take it from a beautiful animal. A cat’s claw is not equivalent to a human’s fingernails. The claws are an important component of the cat’s anatomy. They are essential for balance, survival, and mobility. Declawing refers to a surgical procedure which cannot be reversed under any circumstances. The cat’s toes get amputated until the first joint. It is equivalent to cutting off your fingers.
Declawing could lead to secondary contracture of tendons. A declawed cat could find it uncomfortable to walk. Since there are no last joints in her front paws, it compensates by placing increased weight on the hindquarters. This results in being the cat out of balance. The body weight shift to back feet could result in atrophy of the front limbs muscles. The back ones may suffer from strain injury. To a cat, being imbalanced is a curse. Declawing also makes the cat defenseless. It has no means of self-defense from other predators. The cat will be distressed and urinate everywhere.
Marking territory and non-punishment
Cats scratch for many reasons. They do not want to irritate you just for the heck of it. Scratching helps them to mark territory. It is a kind of territorial instinct by which cats establish their turf and placemarks. Claws do more than visually marking territory. The paws contain scent glands which leave a distinctive scent on the object. Scratching is a cat’s way of interior decoration.
Do understand that for cats, scratching is an entirely natural behavior. There is proof everywhere for this. Your bedsheets, sofa, and chairs are scratched threadbare. If you think you can win the fight, you would not. Get a scratching post instead. It is not possible for you to stop your cat from scratching. Since it enjoys scratching, the cat will continue to do so. It will completely disregard your commands and requests.
Do not punish your cat. It does not know whether you punish it or just making some weird noises. However, it will soon feel insecure and out of sadness scratch some more furniture. After some time, you will never get back the cat you have lost. Do understand that a cat can hold a grudge for a long time.