Cat Scratching Behaviour Is Not Destructive

A lot of cat owners think that cat scratching behaviour is destructive.  Scratching can destroy furniture, damaged carpets; cats even scratch walls and destroy wallpaper and so on and so forth.

Scratching behaviour is highly destructive of the home if the cat caretaker fails to deflect scratching away from furniture to a scratching post and fails to realise that from the cat's perspective scratching is a highly constructive and beneficial form of behaviour because it's sloughs off the outer layer of claws, it allows the cat to stretch, it deposits scent on the area scratched so the cat feels more comfortable and it allows the domestic cat to do what comes naturally and when a cat is able to exercise and express natural drives and emotions he or she feels more content.

Photo by Jennifer C

Cat scratching is constructive from the cat's point of view and it is only destructive from the person's point of view if that person has the wrong attitude and fails to take steps to accommodate domestic cat behaviour.  It's as simple as that at the end of the day.

I realise that it can be difficult for a cat owner to adjust their mentality and attitude away from what they want, to what the domestic cat needs, but when a person takes on the responsibility of caring for a domestic cat then I'm afraid they have to adjust.