Why Do Cats Scratch?

It is important to realize that cats do not damage carpet and furniture by scratching in an effort to sharpen claws or as a form of vindictive behavior. Scratching objects is more a way for the cat to groom itself than it is anything else. Sheaths of a cat’s claws are constantly renewed and replaced and scratching is the way they remove the old sheaths from front claws. The sheaths of the back claws are removed by mouth.

The scent glands contained in the cat’s paw pads emit the cat’s scent on the surface scratched which enables them to mark territory. The scent is undetectable by humans but other animals smell it. Claw marks also provide a visual indication of a cat’s territory to be understood by other cats.

Scratching is also an emotional response of cats. It can be a form of stress relief as it often will increase when territorial conflicts or other stressors arise. Anxiety, tension and frustration will also result in increased scratching.

Cats often focus on a limited number of obvious environmental objects for scratching such as sofas, fence posts or trees. Once they have singled out a particular object, they will repeatedly use them for scratching. This can be evidenced by the presence of a particularly scarred tree in the neighbor’s yard or an exposed portion of a couch. The visible damage is a communication to other cats as well.

The scent left on an item by the cat’s scratching is another strong form of communication to other cats. The ability to mark an area or item with the scent from the paw pads is the reason even declawed cats will continually scratch certain objects. Although the visible evidence is not there, the cat can still mark its territory.

The damage a cat can inflict on the pet owner’s household possessions can be a great source of frustration and often lead to the cat losing its home. It is much easier to prevent this problem than it is to rectify it. Once a cat has an established favorite scratching area, it can be very difficult to persuade it to focus on a more appropriate one for the pet owner’s benefit. It is best to begin training the cat to use a scratching post or other acceptable scratching area as early as possible.