History The domestic cat has a history unlike most other domestic species, and one that is also comparatively recent. Whereas dogs have been domesticated for at least 10,000 years, cats have only been domesticated for around 5,000 years (Beadle 66). Juliet Clutton-Brock describes the cat as ‘an exploiting captive’ and ‘a carnivore that enjoys the company of man.’ Unlike the dog, a manmade species, or a captive animal domesticated for utilitarian purposes, like the elephant, the cat has …showed first 75 words of 5974 total…

…showed last 75 words of 5974 total…that object to the nearest scratching post and make scratching motions towards it with her claws (Schelling, sec.12). Another deterrent to a cat scratching furniture is to attach bubble wrap, tin foil, wax paper, or double-sided sticky tape to it. A spray of citrus-scented liquids applied to the objects the cat scratches also dissuades the cat from scratching. This encourages cats to scratch the areas in the home designated for that particular behavior (Perry, par.11).