General Chat

It so made me chuckle to think of the Former Mrs H ruining the carpet...... ;o) Yes Suzy I did inform everyone of the result.... I will email you directly!! ;o0

Unfortunately my two are a bit smarter than that - favourite places: bottom stair; either side of any doorway and anywhere I happen to leave something sat on the floor! In my little two up two down, I'd end up with all the doorways blocked or all my furniture in the middle of the lounge LOL.....who needs kids when you got cats eh?? ;P

Double sided sticky tape is useful but fiddly to apply (tried it). I think you can buy special double sided sticky sheets to put on furniture to train kittens that might be better - worth looking around on the internet. Lemon smell never stopped my cats, a "pet behave" spray is slightly more effective. Plant sprays can work but even better are those high powered water pistols that you pump up to get a really powerful jet that goes a long way. I can get my cats wherever they are in downstairs rooms or gardens without moving from my armchair if they are being antisocial. The sound of it being got out is enough to put them off their stride!!!! Humour apart though at the end of the day the most effective thing is to keep them out of the rooms you don't want damaged. We have rooms that the cats are not allowed in when we are out because we can't trust them, keep their claws short, and give them the run of bits of the house that are not so critical accepting that the carpet in those rooms will be a bit battered. Or else you could move things around to cover the areas of carpet they scratch. One thing I've noticed about my cats is that they have favourite scratching places and if those places are covered, they don't tend to go elsewhere - just sulk pointedly! Angela

Diana There is a spray you can get, Pet Behave I think made by Secto, for household furnishings etc. Luckily for me one of my cats who is a carpet scratcher lets me clip her claws, have done it since she was a kitten. Makes me laugh when she tries it after, the claws just slide on the carpet!! Good luck Lynda

Hi Diana - I have the same problem :( my youngest took a shine to the bottom stair just after I had the whole house carpeted at great expense - unfortunately she chose to do it while I was away for 3 weeks, so she took advantage of being unsupervised lo.. Now both of them do it on a regular basis - must be something in the carpet cos they never ever did it before at our other house. Definitely anything lemon or orange scented may help, but I have a spray my mum got from the vets called 'FELIWAY'. I used it to stop my 'neutered' male cat from spraying indoors, but sorts this problem out too. Apparently it contains 'pheromones' (kind of hormone smells) that they dislike......it smells awful initially, but seems to work. Other than that - definitely laminate floors - great entertainment when they come rushing in wiv wet paws if nothing else LOL.......... Anne :)

mandy i thought the same thing lol but didn't like to say in case i sounded dim lol lol bev

Hello Diana Just to change the subject, and because I have not been around for a while....did you let everyone know how THE wedding went? I, for one, am dying to know.

Put socks on her!!

what about double sided tape.that should work!

another numbty here mandy i thought the same as you great minds think alike

diana i dont know how tall your cats scratch posts are but if its just the normal ones you buy in the shop they probably arent long enough, cats like to stretch upwards when the are clawing, i made some for my cats with some odds and sods of wood and they are about 3ft tall and covered them in some old carpet, it works for us. Kaz

Hi Diana, I hope that my thick brain will make you laugh .... I saw the title of your thread 'How do I stop her ruining the carpet' then your user name (the 2nd wife) and thought for a minute that the ex had her revenge on your carpet LOL. Mandy :))

I think the water spray will do the trick but sometimes i can just hear her rather than see her so the citronella may be the trick, putting catnip on the scratching mats!! ;o) Not sure about putting double sided tape on the stairs, as can just see me getting stuck when I've just woken up and forgotten it's there!! ;o) Thanks to all those that replied!!

What a brilliant idea Christina! I have never thought of that before but I can see how it would work. They would spend so long cleaning their feet! I would love to see the expression of pure disgust when they realise how they've been had! Abigail

Get one of those water sprays you use on plants. Spray her every time she does it and she should soon get fed up of getting wet jeanette

They don't like the smell of citronella (lemonish) so spraying that on the spots that you don't want her to go near to start with. Then spray places that you do want her to scratch with catnip (hopefully she is one of the ones that like it!). When you see her scratching have a water spray handy and squirt her vigorously without shouting. Most cats detest this and are disgusted by your behaviour. Once the association between scratch wrong thing get squirted is made it should reduce quite quickly. Unless she is a Turkish Van in which case she will be highly delighted! Good luck Abigail

paul lol!!! you are cruel

get a pair of pliers and pull the cats claws out JOKE !!!

Ok Clicquot the cat is in danger of becoming Public Enemy number 3.... she keeps clawing the carpet and is making a right mess of it. She has scratching pads etc but NO the stairs and any corner is her preference. Just what can I do?