Help Needed from the Cat Experts

[britty 1]

Does anyone know how to stop a cat ripping shreds out of an expensive rug? My girl cat Buffalina has scratching posts, and various inexpensive rugs dotted around the house that she can attack if she wants to, but she insists on ripping the only expensive rug in the house. I bought a smaller rug very similar in texture that was cheap, but she simply ignores it. She gets told off when she goes near it so this happens only during the night when we are asleep. When we wake in the morning, she has pulled a part of the rug to shreds and fibres are lying all over the house. She is an outdoor cat with her own cat door, so her claws naturally are filed by wandering around outside. Ive tried a natural spray that is supposed to deter cats from furnishings but that doesn't bother her. I covered the rug with an old sheet at night but she got under the sheet to pull the rug !!!! Removing her claws is not an option and that is simply cruel. Any ideas would be welcome ! Thanks.

[Nessa 23]

cheap furniture + cats = happy humans

[Kez/JWolf 6]

If you have your cat de-clawed and she goes outside then she will have no way to defend herself....

Why dont you just lift the rug up at night, or move it into a room where she can not go..

Kez

[Scott & Lai 12]

Have you tried Soft Paws?

[britty 1]

If you have your cat de-clawed and she goes outside then she will have no way to defend herself....

Why dont you just lift the rug up at night, or move it into a room where she can not go..

Kez

I would never have a cat declawed. Its like taking a humans fingers off at the knuckle. I have tried rolling the rug at night but she still gets at the edges.

[Miranda&James 8]

If it is an older cat then training them to only scratch on a scratching post is hard! Your best bet is to either shut her out of the room with the rug or use soft paws. Although, I'm not a cat expert (I just have a kitty that is a pain in the butt sometimes ) so you might want to ask your vet and see if they have any suggestions.

[StoryAngel 4]

Cats really want you to know who they think is boss, don't they?! Your cat has expensive tastes...

My parents have a cat who absolutely LOVES tulips. I live in NL and when I go back to the UK I used to take tulips because it's a nice Dutch souvenir. But their cat devours them - eats them pretty much whole! He isn't interested in any other flowers, only tulips. My parents have tried putting the vase on a high shelf and he jumped up and ate them. When they put the vase in a different room the cat figured out how to open the door to get to them! I have no idea what's in the tulips that drives him to such measures! We even asked the vet who was fairly baffled, except to suggest that maybe there's something in tulip flowers which supplements his diet. Not sure if that would hold true for a rug though. Maybe there's a smell impregnated in the rug - depending on what it's made of and where it originated from it could have some interesting smells if you're a feline... Have you tried washing the rug, or having it cleaned?

[britty 1]

Soft Paws won't work for her as she spends a lot of time outside and likes to climb trees !! I have tried washing the rug but that hasn't made a difference. We have also tried to roll it up at night but she still manages to claw the ends. The problem we have is that our house has a very open plan on the living level so we would have to move the rug upstairs every evening and that would get tiresome very quickly as its very heavy ! She has just ousted my older male cat from his bed and he is crying next to the bed. Maybe she is becoming aggressive. She is 5 years old and asserted herself as the alpha very early on. We are getting a dog soon so maybe her behaviour will change when something bigger and louder comes in ! Saying that though, next door's labrador was in here last week and she flew at him. He is terrified of her.

[Alex+R 0]

Emmmmm roll up the rug and put it away for the next 10-15 years, or enjoy it as a slightly-destroyed rug? That is how we enjoy our nice couch...

[TracyTN 237]

What 'natural spray' did you try on the rug?

[britty 1]

Emmmmm roll up the rug and put it away for the next 10-15 years, or enjoy it as a slightly-destroyed rug? That is how we enjoy our nice couch...

I think I will have to admit defeat. I'm tired of constantly watching her every move to see if she goes anywhere near the rug. Maybe if she thinks I don't care anymore, she will move on to something else that annoys the c*ap out of me.

[britty 1]

What 'natural spray' did you try on the rug?

I tried "No-Scratch". It says it is herbal.

[Alex+R 0]

What 'natural spray' did you try on the rug?

I tried "No-Scratch". It says it is herbal.

Oh, a few months ago we lost about a thousand dollars worth of electronics to one of our cats who developed a passion for chewing cords. We sprayed the sh!t out of them with Bitter Apple Spray and eventually she stopped. Now she associates cords with that taste and doesn't even try to chew new cords.

[Miranda&James 8]

Sometimes having clawed kitties means you can't have nice furniture/decorations! You'd think someone would have made pretty, comfortable, cat proof furniture by now....

Could you lock her up in a room at night? Our cat is a really big nuisance at night (knocking stuff over - shes a maine #######, messing with blinds, jumping up and down on the bed, meowing, etc) so she has her own little bedroom she sleeps in now so Mommy and Daddy can get sleep!

[Alex+R 0]

Does anyone use nice 'design' cat furniture? I looked into it but I thought my kitties would love some of that traditional ugly-####### stuff, so we got them one of those. Sure enough, they're in love with the tacky beige carpeted tree.