تخدش القطة عمود الخدش بمخلبها.

A fully vocalized version is:

تَخْدِشُ القِطَّةُ عَمُودَ الخَدْشِ بِمِخْلَبِهَا

A common transliteration is:

takhdishu al-qiṭṭatu ʿamūda al-khadshi bi-mikhlabihā

In careful MSA reading, the final short vowels show the grammar. In normal unvoweled writing, those endings are usually not written.

تخدش means she scratches or she is scratching.

It comes from the root خ د ش, which is related to scratching or scraping. The basic past-tense verb is خَدَشَ = he scratched.

The form تَخْدِشُ is the imperfect/non-past form meaning she scratches / is scratching.

In the imperfect tense, Arabic verbs often begin with a prefix. Here, تـ marks third-person feminine singular in this context.

So:

• يَخْدِشُ = he scratches
• تَخْدِشُ = she scratches

Because القطة is feminine singular, the verb appears as تخدش.

This is a very normal Arabic sentence pattern: verb + subject + object.

So:

• تخدش القطة عمود الخدش = literally scratches the cat the scratching post
• Natural English: The cat scratches the scratching post

Arabic also allows:

القطة تخدش عمود الخدش بمخلبها

That version is also correct. Starting with the verb is simply a common neutral style in MSA.

Because القطة is a feminine noun.

Arabic verbs agree with their subjects in gender. Since the subject is the cat and قطة is feminine, the verb must be feminine too:

• القطة تخدش = the female cat scratches
• القط يخدش = the male cat scratches

Even when English just says the cat, Arabic still makes you choose a grammatical gender.

It is an iḍāfa construction, often called a construct phrase.

It is made of:

• عمود = post / pillar
• الخدش = the scratching

So literally it means post of scratching, and in natural English that becomes scratching post.

Also, الخدش here is not a finite verb. It is a noun, specifically a verbal noun related to scratching.

Because in an iḍāfa construction, the first noun normally does not take الـ.

So:

• عمود الخدش = the scratching post
• literally: post of the scratching

The whole phrase becomes definite because the second part, الخدش, is definite.

This is a very common Arabic pattern.

It breaks down like this:

• بـ = with / by means of
• مخلب = claw
• ها = her / its

So بمخلبها means with her claw or using its claw.

The prefix بـ often marks the instrument used to do something.

Grammatically, ها is the feminine singular possessive suffix, so literally it is her.

Because القطة is feminine, Arabic uses the feminine suffix.

In English, when talking about an animal, you might translate it as either:

• with her claw
• with its claw

Both can work in English depending on style and context.

In full MSA grammar, the words have these endings:

تَخْدِشُ القِطَّةُ عَمُودَ الخَدْشِ بِمِخْلَبِهَا

Here is why:

• تخدشُ: ends in ـُ because it is an indicative imperfect verb
• القطةُ: nominative, because it is the subject
• عمودَ: accusative, because it is the direct object
• الخدشِ: genitive, because it is the second noun in an iḍāfa
• بمخلبِها: genitive, because it comes after the preposition بـ

In ordinary writing, these short vowels are usually omitted.

It can mean either one.

The Arabic imperfect often covers both:

• simple present: scratches
• present progressive: is scratching

Context decides which is meant. If you want to make the ongoing meaning clearer, you can add something like الآن = now.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• تخدش القطة عمود الخدش بمخلبها
• القطة تخدش عمود الخدش بمخلبها

The difference is mostly one of style and emphasis:

• verb first is very common and neutral in MSA
• subject first can feel more topic-focused: the cat, it scratches...

Yes, a few:

• خ in تخدش and الخدش: a rough throaty sound, like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach
• ق in القطة: a deep q sound made farther back than English k
• ط in القطة: an emphatic t, heavier and darker than a normal t
• ش in تخدش and الخدش: like English sh

These sounds are very important in MSA, because changing them can change the word.