How to stop my cat wrecking my wall paper?
DON’T have your cat declawed. It’s cruel and unnecessary. You just have to change his behaviour. The idea of perspex in front of where he is scratching is a good idea. It will get him out of the habit a little. Provide him with something else to scratch and when you see him going to scratch the wall paper, move him to the scratching post. You can buy something called “get off” spray which technically is for when they’ve soiled but I found it works when they’re being annoying and scratching the carpet. Then putting catnip where you do want him to scratch to enourage him to use it. Try growing your own catmint for this, works much better than the sprays! Also, I know this sounds silly but, I used to gently hold my cat’s front paws and make scratching movements on the scratching mat so they’d get the gist. It worked anyway.
He’s continuing to scratch in the same place, because it’s impregnated with his claw scent and the smell keeps attracting him back. I don’t know what you used previously, but temporarily cover the wall with heavy duty plastic, perspex or tin foil. (Cats don’t enjoy scratching smooth surfaces and it will conceal the claw scent.) Put a scratch post in front of that section of wallpaper and encourage him to use that instead. When he does, make a big fuss of him and give him his favourite food treats. Once use of the scratch post has been established, it’s then safe to remove the protective wall covering. Something else that you can try as a scratching deterrent is Feliway. It mimics the scent found in cat’s facial glands and they rarely scratch areas that they chin rub. Spraying once a day for a minimum 21 days, can help stop them from scratching on furniture, walls etc. The web site below has a good article on ways to prevent cats from scratching furniture and wallpaper, which you might
