This is a specific conversation about Cat scratching furniture — redirect it properly — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A 15-year-old rescue with no established scratching habits — that's actually a really interesting starting point, because you get to introduce this properly rather than undo something unhelpful. Scratching is completely normal cat behaviour: it keeps claws in good shape and lets cats mark their territory, so the goal isn't to stop it but to give them somewhere brilliant to do it. With a senior cat, you want to think about comfort as much as anything — older joints mean a low, stable horizontal scratcher is often easier to use than a tall post they have to reach up to. Before I point you in a direction, can you tell me a bit more about your cat? Have you seen them attempt to scratch anything yet — floor level, furniture sides, anything at all — and do you know if they have any mobility or joint issues?
She's had a little go at the corner of the sofa, kind of low down, and she does seem a bit stiff when she first gets up. No diagnosed arthritis but she moves carefully.
inparticular.ai
That's really useful — low down on the sofa corner tells you she's naturally drawn to a horizontal or near-horizontal scratch rather than a tall vertical post. And with that stiffness, a flat scratcher at floor level is going to be much more comfortable for her than anything she has to stretch up to reach. What's the sofa fabric like — is it a weave or something smoother?
It's a woven fabric, kind of textured.
inparticular.ai
Perfect — that confirms she likes texture she can really dig into, which means corrugated cardboard is going to feel satisfying to her. My recommendation is the Catit Scratcher with Catnip — it's a flat, floor-level cardboard scratcher that's wide and stable, so there's no wobbling or tipping that might put her off. The reversible surface means it lasts well, and it comes with catnip which is genuinely useful here because with a rescue cat who has no existing scratching habits, the catnip draws her in and helps her associate that spot with the behaviour. Place it right next to the sofa corner where she's been scratching and she should take to it quickly. Once she's using it reliably, you can nudge it a few centimetres away from the sofa over a week or two.
Will she actually use it at 15 — is she too old to learn something new like this?
inparticular.ai
Not at all. Cats scratch because of instinct, not habit — so even at 15 she'll scratch if the surface feels right and is in the right place. The catnip helps bridge any hesitation, and because you're placing it exactly where she already wants to scratch, you're not asking her to change much. You're just giving her a better option in the same spot. Senior cats can absolutely learn new associations, especially when the new thing is more comfortable than the alternative.
That's reassuring. Should I do anything to discourage her from the sofa at the same time?
inparticular.ai
Give the scratcher a week or two to establish itself first — don't try to deter and redirect at the same time or it can just confuse her. Once she's using the scratcher consistently, you can put double-sided tape on the sofa corner she was targeting; cats dislike the sticky feeling on their paws and it nudges them away without any stress. But honestly, once a good scratcher is in the right place, most cats naturally migrate to it on their own.
