How to stop cat clawing carpet on stairs

Mine use the scratching post, occasionally they flip out and scratch the carpet while backflipping, opening their mouth and staring at you before running around the house slipping on the wooden floor.
 
Water will work as a deterrent, provided that it is applied at the same time that the offence is being committed. Even catching the little git 5 seconds after the event will just mean him associating you with water spraying all over him. Catch him at the time and he'll soon learn.

Citrus is a good call too - cats are generally very sensitive towards sharp citrus smells - but not all cats. One of mine will quite happily chew on bananas, apples and oranges without a care in the world. The other two will run a mile at the smell of an orange being ripped open.

There are hormone sprays you can get (Feliway - I had to text a mate to remember the name!) but they require repeated use (well, it did for me).

MY advice, get some water-pistols or squirters, some orange peel for the stairs and get a couple of scratching posts (I have 3 around the place).

Oh, and it was mentioned before, but get some bags of catnip and sprinkle some around the base of the scratching posts - many cats (especially males in my experience) love catnip....and stoned cats are a great laugh :)
 
Cats do like scratching posts... but consistent with feline perversity they won't pay any attention to anything you actually provide as a scratching post. My cat luckily chose a 2*4 we have propping up a trellis in the garden, after 8 years he's nearly half way through it, heh.

The best I can suggest is put a post of wood and stake it into a part of the garden your cat spends a lot of time in or around, buying a special post from a pet store will likely be a waste of time and money. Some cats prefer a tree to anything else.

As for the carpet; get some orange peel and put it around the area where it's being scratched. Cats despise citrus smells and shouldn't go anywhere near it. You can also get orange scented sprays from some pet shops that do the same job, but after a few days of leaving orange peel there the cat will probably have forgotten about it and, hopefully, found a better scratching post outside.

There's no way to make a cat choose a specific scratching post, but you can keep reducing their options till they choose one that you're happy with.
 
Gimpymoo said:
Just had a new carpet fitted on the stairs and to my horror, the cat has nearly destroyed part of it with his claws.

Now, before I send him to the dog meat factory, can anything be done to prevent this behavior?
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Simply put an expensively upholstered armchair next to the bit of carpet you wish to protect.
 
Thanks all for the replys.

Will try the water trick, if no joy with that, will place a Coir Mat next to the stairs.

If that doesnt work then the Orange Zest it is.

If neither work.. then off to the dog meat factory :)
 
Our's don't scratch any of the furniture/carpets. On the very rare occasions that they've tried, we've stopped them "Oi, cat" (scared them away).
Also, as they sleep in the porch/garage, we have a wooden pallete which they are encouraged to use for scratiching, and in the garden there's a few branches on low trees and stumps which they use for scratching too = none in the house! (but all this has been done since the day 1, they're 15yrs old now)
 
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squiffy said:
Ours sleeps on our cosy bed. :) How can you leave a cat to stay in cold garage? :(
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They used to sleep in the garage, but in the past year or so we've moved them into the porch - they decieded to 'mark' the Westfield :rolleyes: (which we were very not happy about!)
 
i know it sounds harsh and wrong and omg you cat killer but when our cat was young (19 years ago :S ) mam and dad used to tap it on the head with a rolled up paper when it did something wrong like attack furniture or remove skin from my legs....

turned out to become the best cat ever and is approaching 20 in a few weeks , bit scared of rolled up newspapers though :p
 
My cats were taught to use scratching posts as soon as kittens and I've never once had problems with them scratching the furniture. One of them pulls at the carpets when doors are shut, but it's because he's stupid and trying to dig under the door, it isn't nail sharpening.

Cats prefer vertical surfaces to scratch on, as they like to stretch while they are scratching. I've got a huge cat tree that my cats use all the time. It cost me a small fortune, but it had to be sturdy to hold 10kg of cats fighting ;).

The best way to teach a cat where to scratch is to give them plenty of surfaces they're allowed to scratch on. Every time you see them scratching at the wrong thing, pick them up, and put them on whatever you want them to scratch. It also helps to scratch your own fingers on the post, and move their paws on it, as it shows the cat what to do.

People who say it isn't possible to get a cat to only scratch on their posts obviously haven't tried hard enough ;).
 
Vixen said:
My cats were taught to use scratching posts as soon as kittens and I've never once had problems with them scratching the furniture. One of them pulls at the carpets when doors are shut, but it's because he's stupid and trying to dig under the door, it isn't nail sharpening.
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ours does that, right at the bottom of the door, didn't realise she was digging :)
 
Rotty said:
ours does that, right at the bottom of the door, didn't realise she was digging :)
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I only know mine is digging, because he only does it when he is trying to get through the door. He will hit his paws on the door (never any claws out though), then start clawing at the carpet. He's not a big fan of closed doors :(.
 
Use orange peels, or if you have a mother/wife/girlfriend, get them to shout at the cat in as high a pitched voice as possible and really loud when they attempt to scratch - the cat will probably flee the building and return a few hours later. Repeat a few times, and the cat will be too cautious to attempt it again.

This works with my 3 cats, but for the first few shouts, the cat will probably puke bile on your carpet instead and on purpose. Shout at the cat some more, she/he will soon understand the consequences of their rebellion!
 
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