Anxious Munchkin scratching too much? Vet-backed fix

Your vet has flagged anxiety as the root cause here, which is really useful to know — because excessive scratching driven by stress is a different problem to solve than a cat who just needs a better scratching post. That said, scratching is completely normal cat behaviour even when anxiety is involved: they're maintaining their claws and self-soothing through scent marking. The goal isn't to stop the scratching, it's to reduce the underlying stress that's pushing it into overdrive and redirect it to appropriate surfaces. To point you toward the right tools, can you tell me where your Munchkin is scratching most — vertical surfaces, horizontal, or both — and what material is taking the most damage? Furniture fabric, leather, wood?

That makes sense — sofa arms are classic vertical scratching spots, and for an anxious cat they become even more appealing because the repeated motion is genuinely calming for her. The vet is right to point you toward pheromones. Before I give you my recommendation, a couple of quick questions: is the scratching happening mostly in one room, or is she doing it throughout the house? And have there been any recent changes — new pet, moved furniture, change in your schedule — that might have triggered this?

That's a very clear picture — a new kitten arriving is one of the most common anxiety triggers for a resident cat, especially at five years old when she's well settled in her territory. The scratching is her way of reasserting herself and self-regulating the stress. My recommendation is the Feliway Classic Plug-In Diffuser. It releases a synthetic version of the feline facial pheromone — the same signal cats use when they rub their face on things to mark them as safe — and it works directly on that sense of territorial insecurity your Munchkin is feeling. You plug it into the living room where the behaviour is concentrated, and it runs continuously for about 30 days per refill. It won't sedate her or change her personality; it just takes the edge off the underlying tension. Most owners see a noticeable reduction in stress-related scratching within two to four weeks. You'll still want a good sisal post near the sofa to give her an approved vertical surface — that part of the behaviour will always need an outlet — but the diffuser addresses the why, not just the where.

Good question — Feliway Classic is safe for both cats, but it's specifically formulated around the adult facial pheromone so its calming effect is most pronounced in your Munchkin. If you find the kitten is also showing stress signs as the two of them settle in together, there's a separate product called Feliway Friends that's designed specifically for multi-cat tension — but start with Classic in the living room for now and see how your Munchkin responds over the first month. That's the priority your vet identified.

Definitely the starter kit — it includes the plug-in unit and the first refill, so you're set for the first 30 days without needing to buy anything separate. Search for 'Feliway Classic Starter Kit 48ml' on Amazon UK and you'll find it easily. Once you're through the first refill, you can buy the 48ml refills on their own, which works out cheaper. Give it four weeks, keep a loose mental note of how often you're seeing the sofa scratching, and that'll tell you whether it's making a meaningful difference.