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Marking their territory
Besides adorable toe beans, your cat also has scent glands at the bottom of their feet. When your cat digs their claws into a surface, they don’t just leave a visual mark, but also a scent mark. While we humans cannot smell them, these marks help your cat to signal to other felines that this is their territory, and that others should stay out.
Morning stretch
Do you have a stretch after you wake up? Well, cats do the same! Our feline friends are super agile, and to stay that way, they dig their claws into vertical surfaces while stretching their entire body. This stimulates many different muscle groups, allowing your feline to feel fresh until the next nap.
Manicure
Scratching helps cats to keep their claws in perfect shape. As cats drag their claws across a surface, they remove the outer layer, keeping those ‘murder needles’ nice and sharp. This is important as a cat’s claws serve many essential functions. They help your cat balance, are great for hunting and climbing, and serve as a means of self-defense.
Getting rid of stress
Cats scratch as a way of getting rid of pent-up energy and, potentially, frustration. Much like we would squeeze a stress ball or a squishy, cats sink their claws into your furniture to release some excess negative energy. Who knew a life of lounging and napping could be so stressful.
Why my expensive furniture?
Some people believe cats choose to scratch expensive items such as furniture or curtains out of spite. However, they don’t! Think about it: which items around your house would you be okay with if your cat scratched them up? None? Well, now that you know that scratching is absolutely necessary for cats, you probably see where this is going.
How to stop your cat from scratching up furniture?
The solution to this issue is relatively simple. Provide your cat with a wide range of different scratching surfaces. Think of different textures such as seagrass scratching mats, cardboard scratching pads, sisal scratching posts, and many more. Also make sure to provide your cat with both horizontal and vertical scratching surfaces. Now, since cats mainly scratch to spread their scent, place the scratchers in all the busy parts of your house so your cat feels they’re part of the family.
Please don’t declaw your cat!
Being able to scratch is super important for your feline friend. Declawing a cat is basically the equivalent of chopping off a person’s fingers at the top knuckle. It leaves the cat defenseless against predators, takes away their ability to climb, and can cause a wide array of further problems such as infections, back pain, and lameness.
