Domestic cat destroys a chair and sleeps in the ruins 'The Artist and his Art'

This is a great picture of domestic cat chair destruction. Although I can tell that the person who owns this cat gave up on protecting the chair a long time ago and continued to allow his/her cat to scratch it to destruction.

There are ways to protect furniture as you know one of which is to provide a great (super large) cat scratching post and place it near the said chair at least initially.

Anyway it makes a good pic. It is described as "The Artists and his Art". I like that as it does look like a work of art with the tabby cat embedded into the chair. 

It almost looks like a painting or a sculpture of sorts. A piece of contemporary art. Real art not feline destruction 'art'.

Image: Facebook.

You know that cats must be allowed to scratch something suitable like an armchair. Sorry, I mean a scratching post. It is integral to their natural, instinctive behaviour. Essential to their behaviour in fact. It does so much good for them.

Read this for the reasons (60 second read): Infographic on the reasons why cats scratch armchairs.

The lesson taken from this image that cat caregivers should really give up on trying to keep their furniture pristine and 'as new'. You won't achieve it but there are some fabrics that are favoured by cats for scratching and those that are unpopular.

Click this for furniture that cats are less likely to scratch: Is there any furniture that domestic cats won’t scratch?

And some furniture is also less popular with cats as cat a scratching posts: Cats like to scratch chenille but dislike synthetic leather or waterproof grosgrain

----------

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Why does my cat scratch my chair?

It is probably fair to say that by now the whole world knows the answer to this question. A cat does not scratch a person's chair out of spite or simply to be destructive. A cat scratches a chair to (A) slough off the outer layout of keratin that makes up the dead part of the claws and (B) to stretch his or her back and (C) to deposit some scent on the chair as a way of marking territory and making her home more friendly.

You will see wildcat species marking territory by scratching the ground and scratching tree trunks etc.. It is vital that domestic cats are allowed to scratch. The best object to scratch is a large and heavy cat scratching post.

It is important that the post is solid and immovable as this provides a natural substitute for a tree. It feels better for a cat and therefore a cat will be more likely to use it.

The Big Cat Scratching Post

The more I think about it, the more I realise that a cat scratching post needs to be large and well sited. There are a lot on them on the market which are not large enough. They don't work because a cat won't use it or is reluctant to use it. This has ramifications.

Kitten climbing a 'tree' - a large scratching post.

One consequence that comes to mind is that people who have thought about declawing their cat but resisted and bought a cat scratching post instead might then decide to have their cat declawed thinking that it is impossible to get their cat to scratch in the right place.

I hope people who have decided against declawing try again and purchase a large scratching post and put it where cats might mark territory as if they were wild cats. These places are normally in prominent locations within the cat's home range. An example might be near the back door if the cat is allowed to go out. When my cat goes outside he scratches trees. These are solid objects that don't move. Of course cats also scratch horizontally but in this post I am referring to the classic scratching post.

My opinion is that:

• a large scratching post that replicates to a certain extent a tree (see picture), placed
• in a prominent location that would be the cat's boundary of his or her home range or on a "trail" and
• to start the process of encouraging to scratch a scratching post while the cat is a kitten...

will result in success. Or at least there will be a good chance of success if these three guidelines are put into place. Patience, gentle encouragement and the judicious use of catnip will also help.

I am grateful for Dorothy for showing me the picture. I don't know who took the picture. If you see this and want a credit please leave a comment.