Herding Cats at Home - July 2004

If your cats have been using your furniture to actually strop their claws (as opposed to incidental damage) you need to remove the scent from those pieces of furniture. When cats strop their claws, they deposit a pheromone (which we can't detect, but which is clear as a bell to cats) onto the surface, from scent glands in their paw pads. By doing this, a cat "marks" that location as his preferred scratching site.

So... while you make an acceptable alternative more attractive, you need to make whatever they've been using less attractive. Some options are slipcovers, cleaning with an enzyme-based cleaner (like Nature's Miracle), and using a nifty product called "Sticky Paws." (See http://www.stickypaws.com).

My forthcoming book, "Outwitting Cats," has lots more tips on channeling cats' scratching to acceptable alternatives.

A: You didn't say whether Luna's hobby disturbs you or not. If it does, there are several steps you can take to safeguard your toilet paper stash.

• Keep the bathroom door closed.
• Install the roll of toilet paper "backwards" -- so that it unrolls against the wall instead of forward. This won't discourage all cats, but it can slow some of them down.
• Install a cover or guard over the roll. You can make your own with some cardboard and packing tape. (There are also commercial versions available -- check a janitorial supply store.)
• Balance a small cup of water on top of the roll.
• Balance a soda can filled with pennies on top of the roll.

As to WHY she does it?

Luna's hobby is shared by many other cats. Luna sees toilet paper as an accessible, lightweight, fun and versatile toy. It comes in long streams (great to pull down the hall!) or can be wadded up into a "caught prey animal" and carried around in triumph. She may be imagining that it's a "kitten" and that she's carrying it to safety. Some cats who have never been Mom-Cats themselves use various small, soft objects or toys as "kitten substitutes" to accomplish the same thing (in their own minds, at least). How many cat toys can boast such versatility?

As long as she doesn't start eating the stuff, and it doesn't bother you -- let her go ahead and play. You could even get her her very own roll of cheap paper towels to shred -- my cats LOVE shredding paper towels on the roll. They kick with their hind feet and pretend they're subduing a dangerous killer rabbit!

One of my cats uses "strategic tissue shredding" to get my attention when I wake up in the morning -- so I won't forget to feed her.

Please DO keep an eye out and make sure she's not actually consuming the stuff... it could cause an internal blockage.