No matter if you’re a new cat owner or experienced one, sometimes it is hard to keep cats away from their favorite scratching toy – your furniture.

First of all you have to be really patient and understanding with your cat. They will need some time to learn what is allowed to be scratched. Cats have a natural need to sharpen their claws and to exercise their shoulders, legs and paws by stretching them. Keeping this in mind you have to provide your cat a scratching pad or similar scratching toy.

To prevent a cat from scratching furniture you can use some of the regular household items. The most important thing about these methods is to use only natural ingredients so they don’t harm your cat.

One of the most effective methods is to use a spray bottle with water and to simply spray a small amount of water on your cat when it goes near the piece of furniture to scratch it.

Citrus fruit is commonly used as the prevention from scratching. The best citruses are lemon and lime but you can use oranges as well. Simply squeeze the lemon and apply juice on furniture where your cat started to scratch. Lemon scent will keep the cat away and the only thing you have to do is to reapply lemon juice for the next couple of days.

The next method is to make a citrus oil mix. To make this mixture use equal parts of eucalyptus and orange oil in a bottle with water. The best way is to put it in a spray bottle so you can easily apply the solution by spraying. Because oil and water will separate after some time, shake the bottle well before every use. This method will prevent your cat from scratching furniture and it will also give your house a fresh and fragrant odor.

WARNING – Before applying any of these solutions, make sure that the material is resistant to all of the ingredients in order to prevent damaging the material.