Mike Richards, DVM Furniture Scratching Scratching objects to mark them is a normal cat behavior. This behavior appears to help in claw sharpening and to provide some stretching exercise for the cat. Outside cats tend to scratch wood objects. Some cats prefer a vertical surface and some a horizontal surface. Noticing which your cat prefers can help in dealing with problem scratching.
Cats are also picky about the texture of the objects they scratch.
Some become very fixated with one particular type of fabric and will not scratch any other surface texture. This can also be important in retraining them. Cats like to pick a prominent spot for their scratching, since they are partially doing this to announce their presence to the world. Putting their scratching post away in the corner of a seldom used room may not fulfill that need. It does no good to try to keep a cat from scratching furniture if an acceptable substitute is not provided.