Cats and carpets - do they prefer Berbers?! Also office chairs and carpets...

nelladonna

I was told by a man in Carpet Right that cats scratch on Berber (looped) carpets but not on twist pile ones. I am in a dilemma, because I like the look of the (we are talking cheap) Berber carpets better, but don't want to end up with a scraggy, cat-clawed one. He said they tend to scratch just inside doorways...

Funnily enough, another sales person steered me away from Berber carpet because I will be using the room as an office, and will have an office chair with wheels on it. I can see the chair would not roll well on certain piled carpets.

I'd appreciate hearing your experiences/advice. Need to get carpet today before they take off the extra 20% discount.

fabbers

Cats will scratch wherever they please, we have a couple of offcuts in the lounge from when the carpet was layed which we keep liberally sprinkled with cat nip. Keeps him off the main carpet most of the times and can be put out of sight when guests come over.

Not ideal but the best we've managed.

vivatifosi

Hi nelladonna, I used to work in the office furniture industry. The main problem we had with casters was with people flying off chairs that had casters made for carpets by using them on laminate floors. You can get different types of casters and have new ones refitted if appropriate. There are companies that make fatter casters so that they don't sink into deep pile carpet. Another measure you may want to look at is having one of those computer chair mats on top of your carpet.

If you are going for a berber or loop type carpet check that there are no sharp screws or edges on your casters that could catch your carpet loops as it could unravel quite spectacularly if it gets caught up.

rockie4

If you have cats don't get a berber carpet!! Their claw catch in the loops and when they pull it runs just like a ladder in a pair of tights - unrepairable!
We had one in a bedroom and within 3 months it was ruined.
We have plain shortpile now in all our rooms - all from Carpet Right and all cheap!

Badger_Lady

Cats always scratch carpet - mine shredded the bit by the kitchen door because I always shut him out of the living room while I was at work... he thought pulling at the edge of the carpet under the door would help him get back in!

But I assume that twist pile is harder for them to damage..? Whereas constant scratching could break the loops in looped carpet..? I'm just guessing, but cats will stop if their claws are just getting stuck - they don't want to pull them out (ouch!).

But do your cats scratch now? And do they spend a lot of time in the carpeted room?

nelladonna

I bought a short pile twist (if that is what it is called) today. I think I made the right decision. My daugther tells me that our cat definitely prefers scratching on the looped carpet we have, in preference to the twist pile version. (10 year olds are more observant than their Mums sometimes!) She tries to get the edges up and has managed to fray them... so Badgerlady your cat may not be trying to get under the door... mine tries to get the edges up between two pieces of carpet at the top of our stairs. (No door!) Perhaps they just like unravelling things!

Incidentally, my investigations would indicate getting carpet at Carpetright, (they have extra 20% off three times a year... current one ends tonight at 10pm) looking at one of the websites that offer underlay, and getting grippers from B&Q. I've got a good quality underlay through Underpriced Underlay site. Next day delivery possible too.

Thanks, Vivatifosi, for the advice about office chair castors. I didn't think of getting different castors. I'll look into that, or the plastic cover option.

Carpetright man suggests I get small offcuts of (looped pile) carpet and attach it to a cardboard tube for my cat to scratch on.

I am happy with my decision. Oh, and I have a friend who has offered to lay the carpet for me. She is a whizz at it. I'll be glad when it is done. It has been quite a learning curve the past few days buying the carpet.

Bye for now.