Scratching is an essential behavioral need in cats that maintains claw health, scent marks territory, and provides physical and emotional expression — and its suppression causes welfare harm.
Scratching is not a behavioral problem to be eliminated — it is a fundamental feline need that must be redirected rather than suppressed. When cats lack appropriate scratching outlets, they use furniture not out of malice but because their behavioral needs are unmet. Declawing, used historically to address furniture scratching, removes the ability to perform the behavior entirely and causes lasting physical harm: phantom pain, altered gait from toe bone removal, and increased vulnerability in defensive situations. The welfare harm of declawing has led to bans in the UK, EU, Australia, and several US states. Providing adequate scratching surfaces — multiple posts in appropriate locations, of appropriate height and texture — is the welfare-compatible solution that meets cat needs while protecting household furnishings.