Culver student creates herbal solution to keep cats from getting on couches, scratching furniture

 

Shayan Behshid ’26 has taken an everyday household frustration, cats climbing up on couches and scratching furniture, and come up with a patent-pending plant-based solution.

Behshid came up with the idea for KittyKlear while sitting on his back porch in Southern California, watching a stray cat. He had friends who often complained about cats scratching furniture.

“I noticed that it would never go around the bushes in my backyard,” he said.

Curious, he plucked small pieces from the bushes and placed them inside a small pouch and set it on a nearby chair. Behshid didn't want to disclose the bushes he used.

“I tested it out and the cat went nowhere near it,” Behshid said.

Research showed that while humans find the aroma of the bushes he used pleasant, cats have a much stronger sense of smell and find it pungent.

Behshid experimented with one of the bushes alone, then the other alone, then a blend. The combination proved most effective.

He tested a paper pouch, but it tore too quickly. That’s when he switched to nylon.

When he got back to Culver after summer break, Behshid found a perfect testing environment because several teachers with cats agreed to try his invention. Humanities master instructor Jen Cerny had a problem with cats scratching furniture and recently got some nice furniture.

“He came around at the right time with this product because I had furniture that needed to be protected. So I tucked the little sachet into the cushion and the cats wouldn’t go anywhere near it,” she said. “It's small sample size, but it seems to be enough of a deterrent.”

Another teacher told Behshid her cats used to scratch her couch daily but stopped once she started using KittyKlear.

“My face lit up when I heard about it,” he said.

Rather than go to market immediately, Behshid decided to apply for a patent.

“Like any great invention, you need something to protect it,” he said.

Behshid used KittyKlear as his product in Honors Seminar: Entrepreneurial Students and taught himself the entire patent process—formatting, organization, technical sections and all the other small, tedious requirements.

“For any first-time user, it’s very difficult,” he said. “I really went by the book, making sure I went through every nook and cranny.”

As meticulous as he was, a formatting error cost him an additional $400, bringing the total cost of applying for a patent to $2,600. He paid for it using money he saved by working all summer. Despite the hurdles, his invention is now officially patent pending, a status that already provides legal protection.

J.D. Uebler, director of The Ron Rubin School for the Entrepreneur, said he is not aware of many high school students applying for patents.

Nearly 50 California cat owners told Behshid they would purchase the product. Many said they preferred humane and chemical‑free options, especially as states like California move away from declawing. Behshid said a study shows that 23 million homes in America alone have reported problems with cats scratching furniture. 

Behshid estimates his product, packaged like individual tea bags, should last two to three weeks once opened. Behshid expects to price a six‑pack at around $14.99, with a possible subscription model at $11.99–$12.99.

 

 

“It’s an untapped market,” he said. “People don’t want chemical sprays or ugly couch covers. They want their furniture to look nice.”

He’ll begin manufacturing from his garage.

“That’s where a lot of startups start,” he said.

His sister, a product‑design master’s student at Northwestern, is helping Behshid to design the packaging. If all goes smoothly, Behshid hopes to launch in one to two months—potentially by summer.

Behshid will attend the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he plans to study physics and computer science and hopes to become an entrepreneur. He said entrepreneurship runs in his family.

“My grandpa was a CFO, and then it trailed down to my dad coming to America and starting his own business off of nothing,” Behshid said.

His father began as a Midas employee, saved through years of work, and eventually opened his own auto shop—one that has now operated for more than 40 years.

Growing up, Behshid was the kind of kid who took apart household appliances just to see how they worked. He said he has always been fascinated by problem‑solving and building things.

“Any sort of problem my family had around the house, I would try to go and fix it,” he said. “Something wrong with the vacuum? I’d pull it all apart piece by piece.”

He hopes KittyKlear is just the start of his entrepreneurial career. He believes Honors in Entrepreneurial Studies prepared him well for that.

 “I now understand there’s a lot more to entrepreneurship than coming up with an invention. It’s thinking about potential customers, how those customers will find the product and using the right strategy to determine the price. I learned a lot of valuable lessons from The Rubin School,” he said. “The Rubin School has helped me so much when it comes to actually understanding how a business is run and thought through.”