 we designed the environment for our cats, then we see that there's a decrease in the level of scratching. Demirbas says something as simple as creating a hiding place for a cat can calm them down and reduce their desire to scratch. And scratching posts actually do help. These are pieces of furniture that are made for cats that give them an outlet for scratching. Many cats are attracted to them. Michael Delgado is a cat behavior consultant in Sacramento, California.