Cat clawing at the carpet..

Faerie

My cat/kitten is now 9 months old and is driving me insane. He keeps clawing at the carpet, he picks at it with his claws and then bites it, making the thread really long. He doesn't have a specific spot, I think his plan is to ruin the whole house eventually. He doesn't scratch anything else, he has a scratch box and a post but he plays with them and won't claw it.

I've tried distraction, playing with him more, giving him treats when he obeys me, making loud noises, moving him from the spot that he's picking at, I've even tried spraying him with water. He's so stubborn, I'm sure he's doing it to annoy me now! I tell him off, he looks at me and carries on. When I pick up the spray he looks at me with his eyes squinted like he's ready for the water, like he's saying "Do it, I dare you!". :rotfl:

Any tips on stopping the cat or treating the carpet? It's a short pile carpet, I've been trimming the ends, which looks better but it's still a mess.

lisajane8482

I have no advice for you but thought I would share my little terror’s destructive habit just so you know you’re not alone.

Our 11 month old kitten, Gizmo, likes chewing on the top of our dining chairs and I have not managed to stop him yet. I have also tried diversion tactics, moving him, spraying him with water and everything possible short of pulling his teeth out (which I obviously wouldn’t do).Our chairs look like someone had been hacking away at them as they have chunks of wood missing. I’m sure he knows he’s not supposed to do it and he knows that it annoys me as he only does it when I am there.

If I tell him off he just looks at me as if to say “I can hear you but I’m not going to listen” and carries on, if I stand up and go over he keeps on chewing looking at me as if to say “yep, I’m still doing it... what ya gonna do about it?!” and if I spray him, he stops, looks at me as if to say “I can’t believe you did that” and then gets back to chewing. I have resorted to telling him no and removing him from the room, he then sneaks back in and you just see his head pop up at the end of the sofa, wide eyed and ears to the side before he makes his weird mogwai sound and runs off.

Our adult cat, Salem, however, knows when he’s in trouble and all I have to do is say his name and he stops what he’s doing, gives me the evil eye and then goes and sulks on his cat tree for a little bit before coming over and head bumping me (haven’t decided yet if he’s nutting me for telling him off or apologising :rotfl:).

Lilyjade

When we got our first cat she was very destructive, we eventually worked out that store bought scratching posts were not working for her, they were not tall enough or heavy enough for her to get the stretch and scratch she wanted.

We built our own heavy duty scratch post. Over 1m tall, heavy platform base, covered in the carpet she liked to scratch. it's been recovered numerous times since but all the cats use it. Mind you the youngest does seem to like my rugs, but at least they are not so expensive to replace.

meritaten

got this problem with Barney my foster cat - I looked at most scratch posts and decided they are too small - plus he really seems to enjoy stretching his length and scratching the ground! so when OH has five mins I am going over to Aldi and picking up some doormats which will be placed where he likes to scratch! hopefully that will work (or help).

themull1

lisajane8482 wrote: »

I have no advice for you but thought I would share my little terror’s destructive habit just so you know you’re not alone.

Our 11 month old kitten, Gizmo, likes chewing on the top of our dining chairs and I have not managed to stop him yet. I have also tried diversion tactics, moving him, spraying him with water and everything possible short of pulling his teeth out (which I obviously wouldn’t do).Our chairs look like someone had been hacking away at them as they have chunks of wood missing. I’m sure he knows he’s not supposed to do it and he knows that it annoys me as he only does it when I am there.

If I tell him off he just looks at me as if to say “I can hear you but I’m not going to listen” and carries on, if I stand up and go over he keeps on chewing looking at me as if to say “yep, I’m still doing it... what ya gonna do about it?!” and if I spray him, he stops, looks at me as if to say “I can’t believe you did that” and then gets back to chewing. I have resorted to telling him no and removing him from the room, he then sneaks back in and you just see his head pop up at the end of the sofa, wide eyed and ears to the side before he makes his weird mogwai sound and runs off.

Our adult cat, Salem, however, knows when he’s in trouble and all I have to do is say his name and he stops what he’s doing, gives me the evil eye and then goes and sulks on his cat tree for a little bit before coming over and head bumping me (haven’t decided yet if he’s nutting me for telling him off or apologising :rotfl:).

My cats called Salem - but we found out its a girl! Anyway, back to the clawing, my mams cats claw the carpet, she put various carpet tiles down to divert them, and it seems to have worked.

Mrs_Z

We used to have 3 cats at one time and annoyingly, only 1 of them decided to do her claws on the stairs carpet (as well as a scratching post). By this time she had already destroyed a sofa that happened to be covered with material (we later swapped for a leather one and luckily this was no interest to her!). Anyway, I resigned to the fact that in no way would I be able to tell her off nor supervise her at all times so when it was time to replace the stairs carpet, we went for a cheap one.

Now we only have 1 cat who is not interested in the stairs carpet, so maybe now would be the time to replace it for a more decent one... :cool:

Tiglath

Our 9 have trashed our leather sofa and are having a successful go at whittling down the side posts on a heavy-duty wooden arch in the garden. We've just given up really - sorry, no words of wisdom here. At least they've stopped shredding the wallpaper.

Faerie

Aw, I was hoping someone would have a fail proof way of stopping the cat. I might look into making something for him out similar carpet, I don't know what yet though.

As I'm typing this he is practicing his latest parkour moves off the furniture and walls. He is a monster!

*Scarlett

You could make a BIG scratching post.

When we got a new puppie he wanted to chew / scratch everything - a spray of lemon juice on popular areas did put him off. The smell might discourage your cat.

Alternatively to a water spray you could try a pet corrector spray - i think it's for dogs usually thougth

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Company-of-Animals-AP-CORRECTOR/dp/B0051GO5WM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1377781170&sr=8-4&keywords=dog+spray

It blows a bit of high pressure air which normaly gets their attention. Not sure if it is too scarey for a cat.

I got this for our yappy pup and I only need to show him the can now and he shuts up (for a couple of mins anyway)

KxMx

Faerie wrote: »

Aw, I was hoping someone would have a fail proof way of stopping the cat. I might look into making something for him out similar carpet, I don't know what yet though.

As I'm typing this he is practicing his latest parkour moves off the furniture and walls. He is a monster!

"fail proof way of stopping the cat".

I don't think there is anything on earth to reconcile those two :rotfl:

Spudsey

One of my cats sees our lounge/stair carpet as one big scratching mat and he has slowly wrecked it, this is despite having two scratch posts, a scratch mat, a scratch cardboard thingy, a scratch house and erm......oh a scratch mouse!