Cats, claws and new furniture

[sasvermont]

What I have done, is buy several posts. You don't need the finest, just plain ones. They run anywhere between $15-$50 but PetCo has some cheap ones.

I have one in nearly every room that has potential scratching items....i.e. living room, bedroom, computer room and porch.... actually have two on the porch. I move them around as the weather changes.

What I have done is when introducing the cats to the post, I too, scratch on the post. They will usually follow you buy scratching it themsevlves. Whenever they start on a piece of furniture, I usually yell and then either direct them to the post or go over to the post myself, and start scratching.... I know, the white coats are probably waiting outside my door as I type this.

The other thing is to keep their nails trimmed. That helps.

As far as keeping them away from new furniture...well, that's impossible, but making the POST MORE fun, is possible.