A new cat scratches heavily in her first weeks for reasons that have little to do with naughtiness. She is marking a strange territory as hers, visually and by scent from glands between her toes, she is maintaining her claws, and she is stretching muscles stiff from travel and hiding. The intensity is real, and it usually peaks while the home is new and settles as her scent builds up in the places she has claimed. Your job for that month is to decide where the marking lands, and to protect the two targets new cats so often choose: the sofa and the curtains.
Posts placed where she already wants to scratch
Placement beats quality. Stand a tall, stable post right next to the sofa end she has claimed, not across the room and not where the post looks tidy, because a cat marking the sofa's corner will use a post two feet away and ignore a finer one by the door. Put a second post by her sleeping spot, since scratching on waking is a strong habit and the first stretch of the day lands on whatever stands beside the bed.
Tall matters: she should be able to reach up at full stretch without the post tipping or rocking, and a post that wobbles once gets mentally filed as unsafe furniture and abandoned. If she ignores a well-placed post, change its covering or its exact angle before concluding she prefers the sofa; many cats reject a texture, not a location.
Sofa protection for the month
Cover the sofa arms and the favoured end with washable throws, tucked in firmly so they do not slide into an inviting loose flap. Throws take the incidental damage, remind her the surface has changed, and come off in a minute when visitors arrive. Keep the throws on for the full first month rather than removing them after one good week, because territory marking rebounds when routines change, such as a weekend away or a furniture shuffle.
When she scratches the post, reward immediately, with play or a small treat delivered at the post, so the association lands on the behaviour and the location together. When she scratches the sofa anyway, say nothing, lift her calmly to the post if she tolerates it, and reward any contact there. Scolding after the fact teaches her to scratch when you are out, which protects neither the sofa nor the training.
Curtains need their own plan
Curtains invite a different move: a vertical, swinging, climbable surface. For the first month, tie curtains up or draw them back out of reach during the day, or shorten the drop with ties so the fabric ends above pouncing height, and remove the dangling cord temptation by securing cords up high. Place a post or a wall-mounted scratcher at the window end she targets, because the curtain spot is usually about the lookout, not the fabric: she wants height, a view and a scratch in one station, so give her a post with a perch beside the window and the curtain loses its main appeal.
Close the gap behind curtain ends too. A cat who can get between curtain and wall treats it as a climbing lane, so keep furniture she launches from a little further from the window while the habit is forming.
Trim her nails carefully once she is settled enough to tolerate handling, taking only the sharp tip, and repeat in short sessions rather than a full set at once. Trimming reduces damage while the placement work takes effect; it does not replace the posts, and a cat whose only outlet was removed will simply choose the next vertical surface. Relatives you select can be given access to her profile through Family Sharing on KinsLe.