Cats will scratch – somewhere – to satisfy needs

In the photo, the cat was in a pose most cat owners have come to hate: claws firmly embedded in a vertical object it was clawing.

Only this photo wasn’t of a domestic cat – it was a wild cat called a serval, and I have seen other wild cats, from cougars to tigers, in a similar pose.

Scratching, or what wildlife biologists call claw-raking, is as basic to being a cat as its meow.

“Providing scratching surfaces like a log are a basic provision for all cats kept in zoos,” says Dr. David Shepherdson, conservation program scientist at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, which for 30 years has been a pioneering zoo in researching and promoting environmental enrichment for zoo animals.

“It has been known for a long time that this is a basic behavioral need for a cat species as well as part of their natural environment.

“In fact, so important is this behavior for cats that it would be considered a welfare concern if cats in zoos were not provided with a means to express this basic behavioral need.”

Of course, we always provide our domestic cats with a scratching surface, whether we intend to or not.

Be it our couch, the molding around our doors or a thousand dollar pair of stereo speakers, cats’ basic need is to scratch, and if we don’t provide them with what they need, they will manufacture it from what is in their environment.

Sadly, it is the expression of this very basic and necessary part of being a cat, as basic as eating and sleeping, that loses many cats their homes or the ends of their toes through declawing surgery. Except in rare instances, neither of these is necessary.

Like many natural behaviors, there are many reasons why a cat claw-rakes, more than to just condition their nails.

Probably as important is that the scratched object serves as a visual and olfactory territorial marker.

Cats also scratch for exercise and stretching.

And scratching is a form of stress release that will increase in frequency during stressful circumstances (like a new pet in the house).

Experts used to advise tossing a noisy object, like a rattle can, at a cat when it was scratching. But because scratching is a form of stress management, this advice might be counterproductive.

Imagine if someone did something startling to you every time you yawned? It wouldn’t stop your need to yawn, but it would make you anxious.

Instead, take a two-pronged retraining approach: first, temporarily block access to the things that the cat wants to claw by covering them with plywood, carpet runners or using Sticky Paws, a double-sided tape that won’t hurt your furniture but cats hate to feel on the bottom of their feet.

At the same time, provide the cat with what it needs: something to scratch in the right location with the right physical characteristics. If you have bought a cat scratching post for your cat and it is using your couch instead, this is not your cat’s failure to use the correct object but rather your failure to provide your cat with what it needs.

We may like the looks of a particular cat scratching post when we see it in the store, but it is not our preference that counts. It is our cat’s.

A proper cat scratching post should be sturdy and stable. A little wobbly thing with a tiny base will not feel secure to the cat or be tall enough for an energetic stretch.

Likewise the cat needs to be able to really hook their claws into the material, so a tightly woven, carpet-covered post that it can’t dig its claws into won’t do.

And while cats seem to pride themselves on being inscrutable, they will give you clues as to what they prefer.

Look at what material your cat is choosing to scratch. Look also to see if it has a preference for vertical or horizontal objects and what locations it prefers.

And provide more than one scratching opportunity in your home, especially if you have multiple cats.

Don’t throw the scratching post away when it starts looking a little ragged (this is a big mistake we make). For the cat, this might be when it is just getting good in regards to both sight and smell.

Remember that cats claw-rake as a visual marker of territory. For that, it needs to look scratched.

Instead, place the new one next to the old one and rub it with catnip. Only when you see the new one being regularly used should you remove the old one.

Sitting on your couch or purring on your lap is a creature whose behavior is still firmly rooted in the wild.

Instead of fighting our cats’ natural heritage, we should be awed that this still wild creature loves and trusts us enough to live with us. We can show our respect for our feline companions by recognizing and understanding their need to still be a cat.

For a cat might easily say, “I scratch, therefore I am a cat!”