The cat spends a lot of time controlling its territory, and in doing so it often marks in some corners of the home. But, How do you know if it is because you are grooming yourself or it is a sign of stress? Unfortunately, you cannot tell us in words what is happening to you, so you must use your body language to make yourself understood.
So let's see why does my cat scratch, and what can we do so that it does it only in places designated for that purpose, such as the scraper.
Grooming scratches
The cat can spend up to 16 hours sleeping, a little more if it is young. After each nap, the first thing he does is stretching and grooming nails to make sure they stay sharp, since you never know when they can be of use to you. To prevent him from doing it on the sofa, it is important to buy him one or more scratching posts and teach him to use it, for example passing our hands over the posts to imitate us, or throwing a toy on top of them so that he has to go up to look for it.
Stress / marking scratches
When our furry beloved is not having a good time, as it usually happens to all domestic felines to whom we have just brought a new companion to play with, or when we have had to move house, he will let us know that he is stressed and that there is something he does not like by behaving in a characteristic way: being able to adopt a worrying behavior such as obsessively biting fabrics or other objects, and leaving vertical scratches in the most visible areas of the home.
What to do?
Before the situation worsens, we have to provide you with a room where you can be quiet. If the cause of your stress is the new member of the family, have this two legs or four legs, it is highly recommended to buy one or more diffusers of Feliway and put them in the areas where there is more life. In this way, the furry will feel relaxed. On this article we tell you how to treat a stressed cat.
I hope these tips are useful for you to better understand your furry friend 🙂.