Your cat's desire to scratch is instinctive. It enables them to stretch, helps them to keep their claws at a manageable length and is also a way of marking their territory. To avoid your sofa becoming the object of their affections, why not invest in one of our scratching posts? Firstly you need to make their current scratching location undesirable. This can be done by placing orange peel around the area, cats find the smell unpleasant. Some scratching posts even come laced (or can be sprayed) with catnip which will also make it more desirable.