12
Feb/109
Feb/109
How Can I Get My Cat To Stop Scratching The Carpet?
I keep my bathroom and closet doors closed because I don’t want him to go in them, but he’s taken to scratching the carpet right in front of the doors! I bought this spray stuff called “scratch not” and it doesn’t seem to be doing a thing! Any other ideas?
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3:54 am on February 12th, 2010
You are right, declawing is not the answer. When they declaw a cat, they actually remove part of it’s toe. Painful? Yes. It can lead to all sorts of problems, especially if done incorrectly. I have had many cats over the years and right now I have a “slow” cat. He doesn’t get it. He keeps clawing the good couch. My solution included several things in combination. Provide a lot of stratching posts. Put aluminium foil where the cat scratches. I also used kitty “no stay” and “no scratch” . The “no stay” worked better, although not enough. When I caught him I would use a squirt bottle with water and give him a squirt and “no” in a low tone. If I was there, I would take him to the scratching post and put his paws on it and “SHOW” him how to scratch the post and give him lots of praise. When another cat scratched the scratching post, I gave him lots of praise and when Louie finally started, I did the same thing AND gave him his favorite treat. It’s hard work. You really have to pay attention and follow through every time. Hopefully your cat is smarter than mine and it won’t take 5 months to break the habit. BUT, he no longer scratches the good couch. I think aluminum foil will really help with the transition in your case. They hate aluminum foil. Good Luck
8:24 am on February 12th, 2010
My cats did that until I bought a few scratching post and spread them through out the house. Now they use them. You can also put soft paws on them and that will help with the scratching.
3:06 pm on February 12th, 2010
They sell painted plastic covers for cats. They go over their claws. They look like nail polish. The covers make it so they still have claws, but they cannot scratch. The vet puts these on and takes these off. Or, you could get him a scratching post and teach him to scratch the post and not the carpet. Good luck!
4:44 pm on February 12th, 2010
Most of outside cats are scratch free of your furniture and carpet. Put it outside until bed time.
6:20 pm on February 12th, 2010
Try putting rubber mats on those areas, with the bumpy side up – cats generally dislike bumpy surfaces and will avoid them. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Pr…
Provide your cat with an appropriate scratching surface nearby – try a sisal scratching mat:http://fatcatinc.stores.yahoo.net/bigmas…http://www.thepurrcompany.com/shopping-d…
Even a nice heavy sisal welcome mat would work – my cat loves those!
See this link for lots of humane ways to deal with inappropriate scratching: http://www.catscratching.com
Try to keep him occupied with other things to do, so he’s less likely to spend his time trying to get into the ‘mystery zones’ behind closed dooors: https://www.vmth.ucdavis.edu/home/beh/fe…http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?ac…
Hope this helps! (and good for you for not considering declawing!)
10:28 pm on February 12th, 2010
Get a cat tree or a kitty condo, he’ll know what to do. My male cat has a rug shaped like a kitten that he loves to scratch, just get him something for him to sharpen his claws on.
3:09 am on February 13th, 2010
keep it outside or give it a nice little spanking but he might like that
9:27 am on February 13th, 2010
I had a cat that lived to be 24 years old. He was de-clawed and survived outside for a year. He ran away for an entire year and came back to us. He was de-clawed prior to the previous owners giving him to us though. I don’t think I could have that done. I can’t get my dogs ears cropped either. Seems unnatural and mean.
Anyway, I think scratching posts are actually a bad way to try to get the cat to stop scratching the carpet. They are made from carpet.
This is going to sound like a dumb question, but have you actually clipped the cats claws yet? I know a few people that have cats that regularly get the claws clipped. Their cats do not scratch at carpet or furniture. If you can’t do it (cause it’s not an easy thing to do), you can actually take them to Petsmart and get them clipped for about 15 bucks. Also, your vet will do it for free if you ask. Clipping the nails will make walking more comfortable, and they will stop scratching
Also, when Petsmart or a groomer clip them, they also file them. I almost wonder, as I ramble on, if there is any sort of emery board scratching posts that you can buy.
11:56 am on February 13th, 2010
get him a scratching post and make sure you put it in a spot that would be convenient for him to reach
don’t get him declawed because if he ever got out he would have no way of defending himself