I love my cats, but what I don’t love is them tearing up all my furniture and plants. So the quandary is how can I decorate my space while also having room for my cats to do what cats do?
You want to have that cute fabric couch without claws ripping it to shreds. You want to have long hanging house plants without worrying about then being scratched up and chewed on. Your nice curtains that bring the whole room together? Targets for serious scratching.
Well heres a few tips that can save your home from being torn up by our favorite fluffy criminals.
There are a few universal things that cats love. Heights, sunshine, bells, and chewing on plants. When you are starting out your cool cat corner try to pick a spot that gets a lot of warm, direct sunlight. These are the areas of your home your cat will be most attracted to.
Once you have selected where you will create their happy zone, invest in a tall cat house. Preferably one with closed compartments your cat can go into hide and destress. In addition to the cat house hang some cute shelves near different levels of the cat house to give your pet more options are aerial recognizance or lounging, depending on your cat's needs.
Now that you have designated your cats zen zone you can start to decorate. The more things you designate for your cat to play with the less likely they are to get into things they shouldn’t. I say less likely because as all cat owners know cats don’t always follow our best laid plans.
You can hang bells and yarn from the underside of the shelves near their cat house to keep them entertained. You can even get creative and make hanging yarn art to give your corner a more cohesive and intentional look.
Adding a couple of scratching posts around places in your house promotes a cat to give into their animal instinct while focusing that energy away from your lovely furniture. While most of the other tips focus on your cats corner, I suggest investing in multiple scratching posts if your cat is lazy like mine. They won’t want to walk to their post to scratch. They'll go to the nearest thing to them to get their scratchies out.
Another great investment is cat grass. It's perfect for redirecting your cat's urge to chomp on all your lovely house plants. Make sure you keep the cat grass in a place close to the ground. It is not recommended to place it on shelves or on top of the cat house. Your cat will knock it off and create a mess you will have to sweep up. Not ideal. It is also a good tip to invest in hanging plants to further prevent any damage to your plants.
You can create different places around your house for your cat. This will help when your cat wants to be in the same room as you. Making this dedicated section or sections of your house will help combat against any damage to the rest of your house.