Unfortunately scratchier cat is making marks (15)
I believe the answer is:
characteristics
'marks' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'unfortunately scratchier cat is' is the wordplay.
'unfortunately' indicates an anagram.
'scratchier'+'cat'+'is'='scratchiercatis'
'scratchiercatis' is an anagram of 'CHARACTERISTICS'.
'making' is the link.
(Other definitions for characteristics that I've seen before include "marks" , "features" , "Parts" .)