A rented home sharpens a common problem: the door frame she loves to scratch is not yours to lose. Door frames attract cats for honest reasons, they are vertical, unyielding, scented with everyone's passing hands and placed exactly where she patrols between rooms, which makes them ideal marking posts. You cannot argue her out of a normal need, and you do not need to. The kind solution gives that need a better address one step sideways, protects the landlord's woodwork while she learns, and keeps her claws in a condition that asks less of any surface.
Put a Better Post Beside the Frame
Placement decides this contest, so place a tall, solid post beside the frame she uses, not across the room where you would prefer it to stand. Tall enough for a full stretch means she can rear up, extend her whole body and dig in at full reach without the post tipping or rocking; a post that wobbles once will be abandoned for the frame, which never wobbles. Solid and firmly based matters more than decorative covering, and a post she can really lean into will outcompete painted wood. Introduce it as a discovery rather than a lesson: play with a wand toy around its base, reward any paw placed on it with a treat, and scratch it lightly with your own fingers where she can watch, since cats copy interest in a surface. If she has a favourite frame on a route between her bed and her food, that frame's post is the priority; a second post can wait until the first is winning.
Protect the Wood Without Damaging It
While the post earns her loyalty, the frame itself needs a shield that a tenancy can survive. Fit a removable frame protector that does not damage the wood: a clear guard or a cover that clamps, ties or leans in place, checked carefully before use so nothing adhesive or screwed touches the landlord's paintwork or timber. The protector serves two purposes, it keeps the frame unmarked during the learning weeks, and its smooth or unrewarding surface is simply less satisfying to scratch than the post beside it, which quietly tips her choice in the right direction. Photograph the frames before you fit anything, so the condition at the start is documented, and check the protector weekly for slipping or trapped grit. If she switches to a different frame, treat it as information rather than defiance: that frame needs its own post beside it, because she is telling you where her routes and marking points actually are.
Never Punish a Normal Need
Scratching is never punished, not with shouting, not with spraying, not with being carried away in disgrace. It is a normal marking and claw-care need: it leaves her scent and a visible mark on a route she owns, and it sheds the worn outer claw sheaths so her claws stay functional. Punishment cannot remove either function; it only teaches her to scratch the frame when you are out, which is worse for the tenancy and for her trust. Redirect instead, every time you see her approach the frame in the early weeks, with the toy arriving at the post and a reward when she uses it, and accept that redirection is a habit you build over weeks rather than a lecture delivered once. Support the post with regular claw checks, a calm look at each paw every week or two, pressing the toe gently to extend the claw and noting any thickened, split or overlong claws, with her vet's team able to trim or advise if she objects to you doing it. Those checks stay on schedule when a named person owns them in Care Teams from KinsLe, with each check logged beside her post-care notes.