New to kitty life and scratching

I am new to this wonderful site and a new kitty owner. I have 2 kitties that I found about 4 wks ago in the loft of my barn. The mother was taking care of them until I rescued them from a wild Tom that killed 3 of them. I brought the last 2 into my breezeway for safety 3 weeks ago. When Dh found these babies, I have started feeding and messing with all 5 when they where about 3 weeks old so these 2 (Butterbean, and Cheech) are friendly now.They are 7weeks now. Since the weather here in TX is getting hot, I started bringing them inside. Boy are these active..lol. I have toys for them, DH made a scratching post with carpet and sisal with a platform on top. I bought a super scratcher for them too that is the cardboard type. But what they prefer are my throw rugs. They will not use the scratchers. I have put catnap on it as well. What can I do to discourage them from ruining my rug?

Bluebird

Hmmmm....they are young enough they likely have not caught on to scratch the right place. Can you pick up the throw rugs for now? At 7 weeks, they might not be "affected" by catnip, too.

Have you tried a horizontal scratching post or a scratch mat? Something to think about! Alot of people may knock me for this but I took my kitten up to her post and gently rubbed her paws on the post (she started scratching away at that moment)! My kitten still scratches on our carpet due to its rough texture, she thinks it is ok because it is the same carpet used on her kitty condo! (I tell her no and point to the post) and sometimes she does this to my computer chair (it is mesh and she loves it... luckily no damage)! I'll post a helpful link for you....

http://www.thecatsite.com/Behavior/5...o-Stop-It.html

Enjoy your new furbabies!

Note one post isn't enough for my two cats... They have 2 big posts (3ft or taller) and 1 smaller one! they also have a whole condo to sratch on!

Teaching a cat to only scratch in designated areas is not easy to do. You're battling strong instincts. I too would take up the rugs for now and continue to encourage them to use the posts. If the catnip didn't work try a bit of tuna juice. Anything that draws them to it will help them pay more interest to the posts. In time, they won't need the encouragement.

my kitty likes the rugs too.

I go to a junk shop and buy $2 carpet pieces. I put these down for her to scratch b/c she just wont give up the rugs! They are cheap so when she shreds one I replace.

On my "good" rugs I use Bitterapple spray and did behavior modification stuff with her when she goes to the good rug.

Kittens are bursting with energy and might not follow direction well at first. They are young enough though that with consistent behavior tricks they'll get the hang of it.

Great idea CDubbie!! I bought carpet squares at the dollar store & have them layed about my house to scratch on, too.

I wonder if sisal might be a little too rough for ittybitty kitten paws... maybe a piece of carpet could be stapled around the sisal scratching post until they get a little older?