To fully understand your cat's behavior and properly solve the issue of problem scratching, I recommend reading this article in its entirety.

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.

A common concern among potential cat owners is - how do I get Fluffy to scratch at his scratching post and not the sofa I was lucky. I had two bright kittens who showed me how it's done. Here's what I've learned.