Getty Pictures©
Since coming into our houses, cats have developed their very own specific habits. One in all them is scratching sofas, chairs and different costly furnishings that catches their eye.
However this doesn’t must be the case: house owners can take steps to stop this habits, in keeping with analysis printed within the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
For cats, scratching is a pure habits that meets a number of wants. Scratching the encircling furnishings permits them to go away their very own olfactory mark on high of the overseas odors they detect by their sense of odor, thus marking their territory.
Nevertheless, this habits just isn’t at all times perceived as such by their house owners, who see it as a harmful impulse.
This misunderstanding prompted a world analysis crew to research the elements influencing this habits in home cats. To take action, they questioned over 1,200 feline house owners dwelling in France concerning the day by day lives of their pets, in addition to the character and frequency of their scratching.
The researchers discovered a correlation between sure environmental/behavioral elements and elevated scratching habits in cats.
The presence of younger youngsters within the house is one in every of them. Cats are extra inclined to scratch when in day by day contact with youngsters, their presence being a supply of stress for them.
The identical phenomenon might be noticed in felines which have been overstimulated throughout a play session with their human father or mother. Scratching objects helps them to relax and relieve stress-related bodily pressure.
Nocturnal hyperactivity can have an effect on scratching habits, too. Cats who’re very energetic after darkish usually let off steam by scratching the furnishings round them.
A cat’s persona additionally has a task to play. Unsurprisingly, aggressive or boisterous felines usually tend to scratch sofas, carpets and different dwelling furnishings
Whereas some aggravating elements, such because the cat’s persona or the presence of younger youngsters, are not possible to vary, others might be adjusted. For instance, a cat tree or scratching publish might be positioned in areas of the home the place cats really feel extra relaxed and fewer burdened.
“Offering protected hiding locations, elevated remark spots, and ample play alternatives also can assist alleviate stress and interact the cat in additional constructive actions,” explains Dr. Yasemin Salgirli Demi̇rbas, a veterinary researcher at Ankara College and first writer of the examine, in a press release quoted by Phys.org.
It’s necessary to do not forget that play could be very useful to a cat’s well being. It’s how they categorical their pure looking instincts.
Your subscription couldn’t be saved. Please strive once more.
Your subscription has been profitable.
Common play classes assist stimulate the predatory habits of indoor cats, and channel their power. This might help decrease the chance of your pet attacking your furnishings and different costly furnishings, in addition to strengthening the bond between you.
