We use the term “Cat Scratch Reconditioning” to explain the process of redirecting natural, healthy cat scratch practice from “claws off” scratch surfaces to “claws on” designated scratch surfaces within a shared home environment with the use of pawsitive reward and reinforcement through repetition.

So what is the basis of Cat Scratch Reconditioning?

Let’s start by clarifying what IT ISN’T:

Cat Scratch Reconditioning IS NOT about imposing your will on another being; it is not about demanding that another being change to suit your needs or make you more comfortable at the expense of their own comfort; it is not about a hierarchal relationship in which you are the top cat roosting on a perch of superiority; it is not about ‘training’ a being to purrform on demand; it is not about another relenting to your control in order to avoid a negative consequence; it is not about ‘breaking another beings spirit’ in order to make them subservient; it is not about becoming the Top Cat, Leader of the Pride, King Kindle, Clowder Commander, Lord Litter or Princess Pounce; it is not a game of power and intimidation;  it is not meant to be a tug of war to determine whether human or feline is ‘in control’.

What IT IS:

Cat Scratch Reconditioning IS about greeting your cat on a platform of equanimity; it’s about having an understanding of your feline family member and the species-specific needs associated with health, well-being, and thriving; it’s about having an appreciation for their purrescence, their contribution, and their unique expression; it’s about working WITH your cat in creating a mutually beneficial home environment that addresses the species-specific needs associated with you both; it’s about providing inspurration, incentives, and rewards that are linked to coordination and behavior; it’s about developing pawsitive associations between you, behavior, outcomes, and them; it’s about supporting the natural inclinations of your cat, their pawticular purreferences, and their unique purrsonalities; it’s about embracing the reality that cats scratch as a natural, healthy form of communication, hygiene, exercise, and play; it’s about taking that knowledge and providing strategically placed scratch outlets throughout the home that provide them with an opportunity for expression; it’s about providing them with consistent assistance in identifying and utilizing the scratch surfaces that were designed and designated with them in mind; it’s about integrating natural cat scratching behavior into the home environment in the interest of claw retention and interior preservation; it’s about creating, discovering and utilizing resources, products and information that support claw retention initiatives; it’s about mapping out purrsonal space, setting boundaries, and assisting each home inhabitant in establishing their ‘place’ within the family structure; it’s about the purrfect collaboration where human and feline actually SEE each other and establish a form of interaction, interdependence, and coexistence that benefits both.