Cat deterrent #2 - cat uses leather sofa as a scratching post
 

I just saw dee1's thread about a cat deterrent for the garden and thought I'd start my own. I have a lovely cat but the problem is that she uses my leather sofa as a scratching post, even though she has four of her own! Does anyone know of anything you can spray or rub onto the leather to prevent her from going near it? I tried putting throws on the sofa but they kept sliding off so she was still able to scratch it. Any help is gratefully appreciated.

Lemon/orange/citronella is supposed to deter cats, years ago I used a zesty flavour polish on our suite and sprayed the cats scratch post with catnip on a regular basis. It worked on our cat. For the life of me I can't remember what it was called.

Thanks for the replies. I'll try the citronella scented spray first as I'm already using a water pistol on the cat at night to stop her crying outside my bedroom door, don't want to overload her with water or she'll be soaked from 24hours a day! Also I'm at work during the day so obviously can't squirt her when I'm not there, therefore she can scratch away to her heart's content when there's nobody in the house!

Same problem
 

She got locked into the sitting room one day whilst I went to work, not sure if she was getting me back or what, but she scratched all one side of my fabulous leather couch. Water pistol is the best, but my girl is too clever, she used to never to do it when we were there, just the minute our backs were turned. When your in the sitting room, its safe, but keep the door closed at night, and when your away, only solution.

pm sent.

Well, I've tried all of your suggestions but unfortunately nothing works with this cat! I now call her Ms Demon! Have had to resort to closing the sitting room door when I'm not there, which I didn't want to do because I live in a small flat and this has hugely reduced her play space. Unfortunate but I didn't have a choice as I don't think my landlady would appreciate seeing her "lovely" suite in shreds!