First of all, please let me know if there is a better sub to post this to, I am desperate for advice. I can't seem to find anything about this specific issue online, Reddit or otherwise.
TL;DR: I'm at my wit's end trying to get my cat to stop scratching Every Flat Surface in my house.
I adopted this lovely tortie about a year ago. She is 3, she is the light of my life, but her fatal flaw is that she will not stop scratching flat surfaces. She did not do this when we first got her, though I can't quite remember when she started. She scratches the banister of the stairs, the kitchen cabinets, the walls, the doors, my bedframe (which is particularly bothersome), and she even jumps on the table the TV is on to scratch the screen!! And today I saw her scratching the mirror for the first time. She does not scratch the couch or anything plush, and she has multiple scratching posts and a cat tower with scratching posts as well. She very recently started using her scratching post, but it is seldom.
The thing is, I don't really care about damage being caused. She isn't leaving marks on anything, so that's fine. It's the noise. She does this for HOURS starting in the evening and will not stop, and I am losing sleep over it. It's like nails on a chalkboard times a million. I would die for her to destroy the couch.
She does not care about spray bottles. She doesn't enjoy being sprayed but she hardly flinches from it. She does not care about citrus scents either. She stops scratching when she hears me get out of bed, and then goes back to it within minutes. I'm sure you can imagine how aggravating that gets. I've put double sided tape on the cabinets, which is deterring her for now but I can't put double sided tape on the TV and on the mirror, etc. As soon as one place she likes to scratch is eliminated she just fixates on another!
For the record, she is well-played-with, she has plenty of toys, and I get new ones from time to time as enrichment. I work at an animal shelter, so I'd like to think I'm doing everything right, but I truly don't know how to stop this. To my knowledge, nail caps or kitten mittens wouldn't exactly be a good long term solution, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about that.
If you read all that, thanks. Any thoughts are appreciated.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/jkoxdb/cat_wont_stop_scratching_flat_surfaces_please_help/
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