cats scratching

Declaw or train to use scratching posts?

I've heard plenty of my friends declaw their cats. I don't think it is a good idea though. That is just my personal opinion. Without claws, they can't defend themselves, nor they can climb as easy. It's just like making them less cat like lol.

Declawing them actually causes back problems in later life.

Why do cats have the need to scratch things in the first place?
I know rats and mice need to shorten their never stop growing teeth, but do cats need to shorten their claws? lol

Cats claw stuff because it keeps their claws in shape, removes the outer husk. They also claw to leave their scent. They have scent glands in their feet. Plus it just feels good, they like the long stretch when they claw, that is why a tall scratching post works best. One ,covered with sisal is best to use rather than one covered with carpet. The cat does not know the difference between the carpet on the post and the carpet on your floor. Carpet is carpet.

Informative post, bw.

Thank you

Another option is to use soft paws, or any other nail cap type marketed under a different brand name.

I wont have or adopt a declawed cat.

Onyx I probably would adopt one that was declawed (it's not the cats fault it was maimed) but I would NEVER have it done myself. I have no experience with the Soft Paws but I have heard of them. I have always just trained the cats to use their scratching posts.

This clawing behavior originated in the wild partly for exercise (sink those claws in and PULL!), but mostly to mark terratory. Scent glands in the paws would "mark" the various trees and such in the cat's territory, and by reaching high up on the tree to scratsh they were trying to impress intruders with what a big cat they are. In many ways, they are just transfering this instinct to their indoor terratory.

I have also found that cats have different preferences in the kind of surface they scratch on. With my first two cats, one prefered loop-pile carpeting, the other had a taste for bare wood. I took a clean piece of split fireplace wood and mounted it upright on a sturdy base, then fastened a strip of loop-pile carpet on one side, left bare wood on the second side, and left the bark on the third. Take your pick!. A few cats seem to prefer horizontal scratching to vertical. A cat I had who was like that seemed to enjoy a small braided rug at my parents house. So when my parents passed and we sold the house, I brought the rug home for her to use. Horizontal scratchers who do not seem to care for those coregated cardboard scratchers might like an inexpensive "straw" doormat. Watch to see what sort of surface your cat seems to prefer and give them a similar surface on their post, and you will have better luck getting them to use that and not the furniture.

Your first paragraph reinforced what I had said earlier about the scent glands and marking. Also about the long stretch. I have had really good luck with sisal on a cat post but I like your multi-surface post idea! Thanks.