new furniture & kitty claws...

happy friday fellow feline friends!:D
tomorrow i am recieving brand new, very expensive furniture in a new apartment. i have 2 kitties, both with claws. because i never had nice furniture before (those college days, ya know!) i never really had to deal with clawing problems. they have scratching posts and i try to clip them frequently, but i noticed since i have moved to a new place that BOTH of them have started scratching on my boxspring!!!! AAAARRRGGGGHHH! are there any solutions besides (OWWWWCH!) declawing? i want to spare me and my kitties any kind of pain! thanks everybody and have a wonderful weekend! :cool:

Hi Welcome to Pettalk :D

Thankyou for not wanting to declaw your cats over furniture.

I am attaching the following link NOT to shock people but as it has a section on good ways to train your cat to scratch on a pole.

WARNING. Some portions of this web site may be offensive to some people. Gory photos etc.
http://community-2.webtv.net/zuzu22/STOPDECLAWCOM/

First, have their nails trimmed. I notice they scratch more often when they are long.
Second, get appropriate scratching surfaces for them to use. Get more that one and try different materials. The more places they CAN scratch, the less likely they will scratch where you prefer them not to.
Put those scratching posts in an area that they are likely to use them. Don't hide them somewhere out of the way as that will defeat your purpose.
Show them how much fun they are to use. Put catnip on them. Play around them so when they go for your hand, a toy or string, they grab the post. They will get the idea.

Hi!
Whatever you do, don't declaw!
Here's a very good site where you can learn to create stuff that will make your cats busy for a long time, and they will leave your furniture alone. Click "Cat Crafts"
http://www.janitasdesign.com/softspo...ish/index.html
Good luck!

http://www.abycat.com/pettalk/claw.jpg

Alice
http://www.abycat.com