How to stop cats from shredding my new voile panels?

My two seven month olds have been pretty bad for my net curtains up to now, to the extent that the living room set ended up in shreds. They don't use them to strop their claws on them or anything, but tend to try and jump on the windows and rip them when they get in the way.

So I've just bought a lovely new set of voile panels for the living room and I would like to keep them that way! Does anyone have any ideas about how to stop my little monsters from destroying them too, short of leaving the door locked at all times and them in the kitchen?

Very simple: Keep them packed away and they'll never get ruined.

Sorry, I think that when you adopt a cat, you need to adopt a new mindset, and adjust to the fact that cats have claws and that the love you share with that animal is more important that material objects like leather couches and fancy curtains.

No offense meant at all, but I have 4 cats now, and have learned to let go of any attempt to control how "nice" my things will stay, as my home is now a place for my cats. They are there 24/7, and I am not. So they tend to dictate how it's gonna be.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

They are there 24/7, and I am not.

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Heh.. I have that attitude as well, which is why right now there are 3 paper boxes scattered around my living room and around 5 hidey holes to sneak treats into (for Nikita to search for while I'm at work) in addition to a whole lot of cat toys and scratching posts and I've stopped using curtains and just have wooden shutters instead.

Anyway for advice, is it possible for you to arrange things so that the cat can get what they want (look out the window) without having the curtains in the way? Some extra furniture in front of the window? Or to always leave the curtains somewhat open or maybe have an extra stand for the cat to sit on inside the curtain so the cat would go behind it before jumping up?

My last cat was smarter and managed to get up and down without damaging anything, but these two are a force of nature! I think that training them to only look out the windows upstairs is the best idea actually... It's a better view anyhow.

I'm not that frantic about keeping the house looking nice (it doesn't...), but people I live with tend to get very worked up about the shredded curtains. Plus I live in the middle of a housing estate in town and don't want everyone looking in at me all day, so need something over the windows.

You could try spraying them with a cat deterrent spray to see if that would help.

I'd also favor good old-fashioned training. It does work with cats, though you have to be persistent and incredibly patient. You just say "no" loudly and firmly every time they go near the curtains, and calmly remove them from the area. You have to really mean it, and be willing to repeat the process over and over.

After several months, it usually sinks in that they're not supposed to do it. I trained my cat to stay out of my closet and off the table and counters. It's not 100 percent... every now and then he'll make a tentative effort... but it's good overall.

Thanks emmylou,

We're in the process of training them to not go on the counters - they have a tendency to try and climb on the table etc. They're quite sneaky about it though, so it's hard to catch them!

I thought my late cat was very well trained and didn't go on the counters, but I have a picture of her on the kitchen table to prove otherwise... I think she was just cleverer at making sure I didn't catch her. It's quite a change to go from a staid elderly cat to two mad over-energetic loonies racing around (especially at five in the morning)!

Hmm, since they're playful, maybe it would help to place something interesting in that area to distract them away from the curtains... like a scratching post or cat tree.

Try giving them something better to scratch...a post or a cardboard box, and put it right where the stuff you don't want them to scratch is...not great for your decorating, but cats are nothing if not opportunists. If you give them a better alternative, they will scratch it.

That being said, I don't really have anything that can't be scratched and my cats have more furnature than I do...they're here all day, I'm not.