Scratching Deterrant for Rugs?

I'm looking for something to spray on a rug to keep Albus from scratching it. Most of our house is either tile or laminate floors. The bedroom and office have old, crappy berber carpet that we don't really care about. In the living room, though, we have a fairly nice rug in the couch/coffee table area that we really don't want him scratching.

I've seen a few different sprays you can put on furniture to stop them- any recommendations on which one is the best?

Do they have an odor that humans can smell?

Since I plan on just spraying around the perimeter of the rug, as he's not doing it too much in the middle. They're not so effective that he won't want to cross over it to sit on the couch, are they?

Does he have anywhere else to scratch?

I have the same problem with one of the cats... he does have a scratching post thing and also he has a tree trunk in the balcony but he does not care for them, he prefers the rugs...

I've been told that those sprays to keep away cats from furniture do not really work... any other ideas are welcomed !

The bitter apple spray has worked very well for us. However if you spray it on the rug, the cat won't go on the rug at all. You'll smell it for about 10-15 minutes, and then it will fade. The cat will continue to smell it for considerably longer, we're at about 2 weeks now since our last spray.

Yes, we don't mind if he does it on the carpeting in the bedroom or office and we also have an old chair with that burlap-esque upholstery from the '70's that we let him do it on. He seems to like them all equally (including the rug where I *don't* want him doing it!) I guess I should go out and get him a proper scratching post one of these days.

Do you buy the bitter apple stuff or is it a homemade thing?

I guess he could still get on the couch by jumping on the arms.

Thanks!

how about spraying cat nip spray on the spots he is allowed to scratch?
praise him when he scratches in the right places. say no when he scratches inappropriately then move him to a proper place.

VERY simply solution, which will let the cat continue to do what is natural - scratching.

Buy one or more "car mats" for the cat, make it HIS rug to scratch on, and you'll find that he will leave the others alone once he has HIS rug.

Car mats work the best, but you could use other types of mats as horizontal scratchers. Also, add cardboard horizontal scratchers to the home as well.

Some cats like to reach up to scratch and some like to reach out to scratch.

You need to provide them with alternatives rather than try to force them to stop a natural behavior.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

VERY simply solution, which will let the cat continue to do what is natural - scratching.

Buy one or more "car mats" for the cat, make it HIS rug to scratch on, and you'll find that he will leave the others alone once he has HIS rug.

Car mats work the best, but you could use other types of mats as horizontal scratchers. Also, add cardboard horizontal scratchers to the home as well.

Some cats like to reach up to scratch and some like to reach out to scratch.

You need to provide them with alternatives rather than try to force them to stop a natural behavior.

Click to expand...

I agree 100%. The cat wants to scratch the carpet - give him something in the place he wants to scratch that is safe for him to scratch. It may not look attractive but it keeps the carpet safe - use the scratch mats like above - or you can purchase the inexpensive cardboard scratchers like we do. We have them in the den and in the living room and the cats use them regularly. We also have tall cat scratching surfaces on the cat trees and small ones at the edge of the two sofas that the cats like to try and scratch. I ended up covering the one edge with plastic at the bottom as an added deterrent.

So, find a way to use the cat's natural tendencies by giving him something he can and likes to scratch where he wants to scratch and he will use that instead.

I wonder if it is just confusing to him that he can scratch on some carpets, but some he can't. I would think it would be best to deter him from scratching ANY carpets.

I made a cat tree for Jack and refused to add carpet to it--I didn't see the point in teaching a cat to scratch carpet on the cat tree, when I didn't want him scratching carpet on the floor. He loves his sisal rope and thats the only place he scratches--well except for his new found "secret" scratching place, under the bd laying on his back scratching the box spring cover--weirdo.

Leslie

Originally Posted by Jack31

I wonder if it is just confusing to him that he can scratch on some carpets, but some he can't. I would think it would be best to deter him from scratching ANY carpets.

I made a cat tree for Jack and refused to add carpet to it--I didn't see the point in teaching a cat to scratch carpet on the cat tree, when I didn't want him scratching carpet on the floor. He loves his sisal rope and thats the only place he scratches--well except for his new found "secret" scratching place, under the bd laying on his back scratching the box spring cover--weirdo.

Leslie

Click to expand...

My 4 cats respond by saying that it hasn't confused them one bit, and in fact, they appreciate the gesture. They know which ones are especially just for them, and they happily use them.

He already has a floor surface (the bedroom and office carpets) we let him scratch on, in addition to a couple of throw rugs we have that I didn't even mention, so why would I add another floor surface to the mix?

If anything, I think Jack31's advice to not let him scratch on any floor surface makes the most sense, but I'm up for a compromise of letting Albus continue scratching the carpeting and getting some bitter apple spray for the rug.