Does your feline friend have cat scratch fever? It's no secret that cats love to scratch and stretch. However, it can be a little irritating when this behavior is directed at your favorite chair.
Instead of trying to stop the scratching all together, provide a variety of "legal" scratching options for your cat to enjoy. Common options include vertical scratch posts, cat trees or kitty condos, and floor scratch pads (for the carpet rippers out there). Encourage your cat to investigate these objects by scenting them with catnip.
You can also discourage your pet from scratching the "illegal" objects by covering or removing them. Some covers you can use that will discourage bad behaviors include plastic, sticky tape, and sand paper.