this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
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Brand new furniture becomes trash in months. Gotta mop up streaks when she decides to hide behind the couch and not drink her water. Get woke up in the middle of the night when fatty decides she didn’t eat enough.

I could sit here and type for a hundred years and not even come close to airing out my frustration. :p

God help me.

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[–] garbagebagel@lemmy.world 61 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Put scratching posts (both vertical and flat) near the areas where they are doing this. Redirect when you see them doing it in the wrong spots, and you can get sprays to make certain areas more/less attractive for scratching. They also might want more play time. Scratching is normal cat behaviour but there are ways to give them healthy ways to practice it.

[–] kernelle@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago

If you're buying one with rope, buy one winded vertical and one with horizontal winding. Mine hates the horizontal ones, but then absolutely loves vertical windings.

[–] Oth@lemmy.zip 27 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Because we love em!

Scratching in the "wrong" places tends to be either from frustration, or a lack of stimulation/appropriate places to scratch.

You probably already have some scratching toys/mats/spots, but try experimenting with different orientations; attached to a wall, 45 degree angles, those wave pattern ones, not just straight flat on the ground.

Also, try different materials. Some cats love that rope, others want cardboard, and some are very picky or want both.

If your cat is overweight and leaving streaks or not drinking enough, you should talk to a vet, ideally making an appointment with a nutritional specialist. It may be they are allergic to something in their food, causing intestinal upset. If that's difficult, you can also simply try giving pouches of small gastrointestinal wet food and seeing if that helps.

It may also be because they are too fat to clean themselves properly, and they butt-scoot to clean it that way? You can get special diet food that fills them but doesn't have as many calories.

[–] theangryseal@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

It only happens when I have people over. She hides behind the couch and refuses to come out so she gets constipated. I’m actually going to start putting a water bowl back there if we’re going to have people over.

At least she’s not shitting back there haha.

[–] jimmy90@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

we have a sacrificial couch and scratching post and she seems ok with that

she used to scratch wallpaper too... we got rid of the wallpaper

she is the cutest thing in the universe so it's worth it

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 18 points 7 months ago

beavers... you have a beaver.

give it a tree trunk ffs.

wow

[–] Bezier@suppo.fi 17 points 7 months ago (1 children)

In the cat's defense, the furniture appears to be made of foam.

Get a scratching post, or a sacrificial chair maybe?

[–] theangryseal@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It appears to be made of foam because she has spent 7 years wearing it down.

[–] Yokozuna@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

I can hear the pain in your voice through the comment lol. Gotta love the fur balls so much, but man it comes at a cost sometimes.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Teach them not to do that, for starters.

[–] theangryseal@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I have sprayed her with water, ran her off, put up scratching posts right in front of it, only to look over and see her scratching around it.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

You have to teach them what No means. Just like any other animal. And when they're young, not when they're seven years old.

[–] swampwitch@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

When our new kitten decided her favourite scratching post was the doorframe outside the bathroom, we went ahead and bought one of those hanging scratching mats to nail over it.

Saved the doorframe, and have a happy kitten.

[–] ickplant@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

Based on what the internet told me about cats, this life often chooses you.