Cat Shredding the Carpets
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Cats are ripping up the carpet in our rental
Feb 2014
We rent and are at our wits end with one of our cats who enjoys ripping at the carpet at our bedroom door anytime between 2am and 5am every morning to alert us that it's breakfast time. She sometimes stops ripping up the carpet after being fed, but not always (she'll continue scratching if she's not pleased with the food options... in her typical finicky way ) We're concerned because she's doing a significant amount of damage to the rug and we're losing a lot of sleep due to the noise.
She has a sisal scratching surface right at the bedroom door where she scratches in the morning, but prefers the rug. She uses multiple other cat scratching surfaces around the apartment during the day, but early in the am, and only in the am, prefers the carpet at our bedroom door.
We've tried clove oil on the rug where she scratches, but it just makes the room reek of clove without deterring the scratching. Closing the door is ineffective; she scratches the rug outside the door. Keeping a bowl of her dry food out during the night is also ineffective, as is feeding her extra dinner the night before.
Any advice to help us get some sleep and save the carpet? - Cat Lovers
I'm not entirely sure what to do here, but I do know that you should not feed her right away when you wake up. If they do an unwanted behavior (like this carpet picking, or, more commonly, whining for food very early in the morning to wake you up) you must not reward it with food or they will know that it works. I suggest researching some cat books. I'm reading ''Cat Be Good'' by Annie Bruce right now (also see http://www.catbegood.com/), Arden Moore's ''The Cat Behavior Book'' or ''Happy Cat, Happy You.'' There are probably other issues going on with her if she is doing this....i.e. anxiety, not enough stimulation/play, not enough cuddling, not a special bed she feels comfortable in that is clean..... good luck! - Fellow Cat owner
Could you put several area rugs over the carpet where they scratch?Just need to be sure they would not be a tripping hazard.A white noise machine could block the sound if they scratched on the area rug. Cat lover
Cover the carpet in front of the door with a little sisal rug? Or use the Pet Organics No Scratch spray on the carpet (I purchased mine at a pet store) and then spray the object the cat should scratch with essence of catnip. Worked for us! another cat lover
I'd get one of those plastic mats that go under office desk chairs to put over the carpet outside your door.
Or if you aren't walking barefoot, some netting, like the kind that you put in garden beds would also work. Just don't create a tripping hazard for yourself or other family members.
You have to make it unpleasant for the cat to scratch.
Assuming the carpet can not be removed how about putting a throw rug over it or large carpet sample. You can also try spraying with Feliway (a relaxant, $15 from Amazon). We used a natural 'cat off' mister with rosemary oil that is odorless ($10 from Pet Express). - Andrew
When my cat wakes me up in the morning, I throw him out of the house and go back to bed - eventually he learned. If your cat is an indoor cat and will stay that way you might consider de-clawing, but he'll still make noise and wake you up unless you find someway to motivate him.
For scratching the furniture, I've always kept a pair of nail clippers handy. I tap them on the nose ''NO'' and clip a I clip one claw - they hate that. Then I show them where they CAN claw. I had one cat who went through all her front and most of her rear claws (they do grow back) before she got the message, She actually got used to being clipped and so it stopped working so I would draw out the torture by dragging the metal over her claw a bit before clipping it. Cats are stubborn but they can be trained.
In between punishments, it is important to pet them a lot and let them know how much they love you (they don't really seem to care how much you love them) cat person
I have a few ideas for you. It's hard to break cats of habits around feeding notification like this. Have you tried using one of those vinyl mats that they sell at office supply stores? They are relatively thin, have grippers on them, so would stay in place over the carpet. And, using the clear one would be the least aesthetically offensive of treatments over the carpet. If that doesn't work or isn't possible, there is an uglier proposition: duct tape. Cats don't scratch tape which is why people use it on their sofa corners to discourage scratching. kitty mom
Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience with attempting to prevent cats from destroying things. I have found 2 products that work well. One is called SSSCAT Cat trainer. It is a motion sensor that sprays compressed air on the cat when they come near it, which they absolutely hate. You could put this in their favorite scratching spot and they will learn to stay away from that spot.
The other product is called Soft Claws. They are little caps you glue onto the the cat's claws. I'm not going to lie, these are a pain to get on your cat. (I usually wrap my cat in a blanket and just stick the paws out while I do this.) However, they do the trick for sure. They fall off after 1-4 weeks, so you have to keep replacing them pretty often.
Both of these products are pretty pricey, but I've thrown a lot of money away on cheaper things that don't work, so I stick with these. been there
We had a cat that scratched the bottom of the bedroom door, rather than a carpet, at similarly ungodly hours. I started keeping a small spray bottle filled with water near to hand. Though I disliked getting out of bed to go spray under the door, I did do this for about 5 days; cat finally figured I meant business and hasn't darkened our doorstep again during the night. Getting my beauty sleep
I had a carpet scratcher too, and currently have a new cat who destroys our carpets. I have tried a medley of things--an electric scat mat, sprays, tape. The only thing that worked was putting packing tape over the part where the cat usually scratches, but then the carpet had tape on it...not nice to look at. I would separate the two problems--the cat waking you up, and the cat destroying your carpet. If you are concerned with the cat waking you up, stand by with a spray bottle of water near the door. Every single time the cat scratches in the morning to get you up, get up and spray the cat. Pick a weekend and resolve to get up and spray the cat every single time the cat scratches, without fail. You can even buy motion controlled spritzers that do this job for you, but I don't know how well that works. In a few days, your cat will no longer scratch to wake you up. Another option is to install an automatic feeder with a timer on it. Our cats now sit by the feeder and wait for it, instead of coming to our room in the morning. Lastly, you can just lock up the cat in the spare bathroom every single night. We did that for a particularly noisy and stubborn cat. He got used to it pretty quickly, didn't even complain too much, and we all got more sleep. But as for the carpet...it might be a lost cause, because the cat can just come by to scratch it later. Or...and this might work for you, get a large door mat and just place it over the scratched up area. At the very least, it will not sustain further damage.
You may want to look into Feliway. It has worked for us and was recommended by our Vet to help with behavioral issues (our cat was defecating on our bed). The official website is: http://www.feliway.us/ and the products are available on Amazon. Momma of two 11-year old indoor cats and one 15-month human, Lisa-
Cats prefer the carpet over the scratching post
March 2004
Our family recently adopted two adult cats, a brother and sister. They are absolutely wonderful additions to our family, except that they sharpen their claws on our nice carpets and are starting to do some real damage. We got then a cat claw tree and keep it right between the two carpets. They sometimes use it, but not as mucha s the carpets. Anyone have any advice about how to keep them from doing this? Anyone have advice about how to fix clawed carpets? Carolyn
As a cat behaviorist at the SF SPCA, I wanted to give you both some advice and some resources for further advice...First: It is great that you adopted a pair of adult cats! Now the scratching...cats need to scratch for a variety of reasona: stretching their back muscles, marking territory, and maintaining the health of their nails. The trick is finding them something that they prefer to the carpet...You didn't mention much about the cat post you have- cat posts should be very sturdy and at least 4 ft high...preferably with a couple of different surfaces, such as sisal, wood, and/or carpet. If it wiggles, it's not going to work for them. So...if your post doesn't fit this description, consider getting a new one. If it does, and they still prefer the carpte, try cardboard scratching pads, often sold enhanced with catnip. Trader Joe's has some. It could be that your cats prefer to scratch horizontally. You can also try laying a split log nearby. Make sure to clip your cats' nails regularly- about every 4 weeks- to minimize the damage they do to the carpet. If possible, while you are retraining them to the scratchers, remove the carpets (temporarily!) Once they are routinely scratching the post or pad, you can reintroduce them...Also, make sure that the kitties are not doing this for attention. As with kids, even negative attention is a reinforcer! make sure they are getting a lot of playtime with interactive toys- especially if they are indoor- only kitties. Punishment or correction doesn't tend to work well for kitties- who just do the behavior when you're not around! If you want to interrupt the behavior, it's best to use a ''nonhuman'' sound such as shaking an empty soda can with 5-7 pennies inside, taped on top...
And I am glad you didn't mention declawing in your post; you are likely not considering this, but please do not listen to anyone who advises you to declaw! It is much better to find them another home than to take away an integral part of their system. We can find another cat for your family who doesn't claw carpets if this behavior is a ''deal breaker'':-) As for resources: catbehavior [at] sfspca.org will get you free literature (including on clipping your cats' nails) and some advice; go to www.attentiontodtail.com for a private behavior group that will come out and analyze your situation, and give you a written behavior plan. Best of luck! Dilara
Try one of these products: ''Get out of my garden'' or ''Bitter End.'' Both can be found at pet supply stores like Petsmart. I suggest spraying right before you leave because the smell is pretty offensive even to humans. But, it worked for us for one cat.
Or, if you'd prefer a chemical-free method, try spraying the cats with a spray bottle of water whenever you catch them in the act. No yelling. No sudden movements. Just leave the bottle nearby so you can spray them when they start up. This worked like magic for both of our furniture-scratching cats. Finally, you can provide your cats with one or two of those card- board scratchers (sold cheapest at Trader Joe's) - they love them for scratching on the floor. (A bit messy but it's worth it to save your rugs.) signed, Cat Lover
You can glue on rubber nail covers--they come in colors, and supposedly last for about 6 weeks. They have them at pet food express. My sister has 4 cats and says they work well-- completely halt the cat's ability to damage furniture, and are painless--in fact the cats just ignored them after about 15 minutes. ann
The carpet may be more comfortable for your cats to use than the upright cat scratcher. You can get special cardboard scratchers that just rest on the floor. Your cats may find this preferable to the upright. Check your local pet-supply store. My friend's cat LOVES his. Best of luck! cat lover, too
We've had huge success with corrogated cardboard scratchers...they're rectangular boxes (about 1 inch high) of corrogated cardboard, and they come with small bags of catnip. My cat LOVES his, and I got one for my sister's kitten -- he's never scratched on anything else. You can find them at most pet stores, but the best price I've found is at Trader Joe's ($3.99). Good luck!! Happy cat lover
You need to find something else that the cats will like to scratch more than your carpet, and it sounds like the claw tree isn't their thing. Several of my cats (and some friends' cats) love cat scratching carboard boxes, like the Cosmic Catnip Scratching Post. You can lay them on the floor and so the cat is in the same position to scratch as when scratching the carpets. Catnip is included which you can sprinkle on the cardboard. Our cats love these so much we sometimes have to put them away at night so they don't disturb our sleep when they scratch away at them. They are available at pet stores and only cost about $8 so it's worth a try. A link to this product and more is here: http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/dept.asp?dept_id=126_id=46 You might put a few out, everywhere where they like to scratch up the carpet. Good luck!! Andi
Most cats do this. what I do is give them a verbal ''no'' and if they do it again I grab their neck scruff, tap their nose with my finger tips, the next level is to actually cut a couple of their claws with a pair of finger nail clippers. it doesn't hurt them and they grow back quickly but they HATE it. just cut the tip of the claw. You hold the clippers perpendicular to the way you might cut a persons nails because of the way their claws are shaped.
follow each reprimand with putting their paws on what you want them to claw and extend the claws into it with soothing noises and gentle pets (even if they don't like this part, they get the message). if you cut their claws they may just run away so you drop this part - give them as much love as you can when they are being good so they will be less likely to claw the rug for negative attention (better than none!) be consistent and they will stop doing it at least while you're around then they tend to just get out of the habit. they may relapse in the future but you just have to keep telling them no and doing the claw cutting when they are bad. I have one exceptionally laid back cat that doesn't seem to even mind having his claws cut so I rub the claw with the metal clippers until I know he's not enjoying himself and then cut the claws.
I've have cats where I went through all their front claws and started on the rear ones good luck it really does work life-long cat owner with intact carpets