Photo of @adventuresofblackjax on Instagram
One of the most common issues cat owners face on the daily is keeping their little fur babies from scratching on their household furniture. However, believe it or not, we Bengal cats don’t do it on purpose. We’re just naturally inclined to jump, climb, chew and scratch—they’re purrrfectly normal cat behaviors. The good news is, there are plenty of ways to prevent your Bengal cat from damaging your favorite leather couch. All you need to do is find the one that’ll work best for them.
Here are 3 ways to keep your Bengal cat off of your furniture:
1. Use double-sided sticky tape
Cats in general are extremely sensitive to their environment and can be very particular with surface textures. If it doesn’t feel good on their paws, they most likely won’t want anything to do with it. That’s why double-sided sticky tape works wonders for most cat owners.
Simply place some sticky tape along the most accessible surfaces of the furniture you don’t want your cat to climb or scratch on. Once their paw touches the tape and they feel the awful stickiness, chances are, they’ll keep that area in mind and never go back to it again.
You can try:
Sofisti-Cat Scratch Deterrent Tape
2. Use a deterrent spray
There are two types of deterrent sprays you can use: one that scares off cats with a hissing sound and one that deters them with scents they don’t like.
The first kind of deterrent spray is motion activated and it’s something you can place on top of kitchen counters or tables. Once your cat gets too close, it will emit a loud spraying sound that will startle your cat so they don’t return to the same area next time.
SEGMINISMART Cat Scratch Deterrent Spray
The second kind of spray takes advantage of the fact that cats don’t the smell of citrus or lemon. You can spray them on anything that’s inappropriate for your cat to play with, chew or scratch.
Pet MasterMind Claw Withdraw Stop Cat Scratching Training Spray
3. Make sure they have sufficient vertical space and their own cat furniture
One of the main reasons why a Bengal cat—or any cat—becomes destructive is because of the lack of vertical space or cat Scratching posts.
Vertical space is very important to us cats since we all naturally prefer being off the ground. It gives us more confidence knowing that we have the option to escape stressful events that may happen at ground level when we need to. Vertical spaces also make us feel safer and less exposed since we can easily observe everything that’s going on around us from distance.
This is why cat scratchers and other cat toys are essential. Taking care of your Bengal means getting cat trees, scratching posts, wall-mounted shelves, pet hammocks and everything else a cat’s habitat should have. It may seem like a lot of work, but getting the things your Bengal needs to be happy in your home will allow your cat to be a cat without causing you any trouble. Making sure your Bengal has everything they need not only prevents cats from destroying furniture, but also help with territorial aggression that commonly happens in multi-cat households.