Scratching door frames?

hypancistrus

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My cat has recently begun scratching door frames. I spray him with a blast of water when I catch him, but he must do it while I am at work because there are definite claw marks in the paint.

He has three big scratching posts covered in carpet AND sisal, which he uses frequently. He also has scratch pads and the things that hang on door knobs. How can I get him to not use my door frames?

I've heard that double sided sticky tape can deter them. I am planning on putting some on top of my aquariums because he likes to sit up there and I don't want hair getting in my lights. Would that work for the door frames too? Or do I need a spray of some sort?
 

spookzilla

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I also have a cat who scratches door frames
, he just loves the feel of wood. The water spraying generally doesn't work since you don't catch them every time they do it and they end up just being afraid of the water gun or you and don't associate it with the scratching. What I found really helped was Feliway sprayed on the frames. We tried giving him a wooden post to scratch but he ignored it. It was amazing, I would watch him walk up to a door, sniff it and walk away. He also uses carpet posts now and every month or two we have to re-spray the door frames when I catch him scratching again.
I don't know if this is related, but I discovered he loves those cheap cardboard scratchers--maybe the feel is similar to wood. Maybe try offering him one of those?
 

siggav

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Cats scratching doorways are often doing it for territorial marking reasons. (It's better than them spraying it though!)

Basically cats tend to use their facial pheromones to mark the inner and really safe parts of their territory i.e rubbing their cheeks on things, then comes the territorial scratching and finally spraying for the very edges of their territory (not every cat does this of course).

Feliway is basically man made synthetic cat facial pheromones so if you spray it on the door frames odds are that the cat will basically go: "Right time to mark the door ways! oh hang on, I've already marked them and this is safe space, cool.. " - and cut down on the scratching.

The occasional cat (very rare though) recognizes the feliway as a second cat rather than as being their own pheromones and in that case the scratching would get worse very quickly, but that's extremely rare, I know of one poster on TCS who had that happen though so it's just something to be aware of but far from a reason to not try the feliway spray, it's helped a lot of people.
 

katiemae1277

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yep, it is available at Petsmart
the double-sided tape might work too. My cats have basically destroyed all of my door frames
thank goodness i own
 

alleygirl

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My Alley
was a door scratcher too. I never did get her to stop


You can try the Feliway and/or sticky tape though. Sticky tape doesn't work with my Riley, he bites it and pulls it off but maybe you will have better luck.
 

spookzilla

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I found Feliway much cheaper online and/or through ebay than at Petsmart--and it's the only way to get it in Canada now since they don't sell it here any longer
.
 
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hypancistrus

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I own my house too, but I'd rather not have the doorways clawed up if it can be avoided.
 
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hypancistrus

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All Petsmart has is Boundary. Will this work at all?? He is now starting in on my carpet on the sides of my steps. It's really making me crazy. I have seriously gone out of my way to make sure this cat has tons of appropriate scratching surfaces. And yet he's using the innapropriate ones.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Hypancistrus

All Petsmart has is Boundary. Will this work at all?? He is now starting in on my carpet on the sides of my steps. It's really making me crazy. I have seriously gone out of my way to make sure this cat has tons of appropriate scratching surfaces. And yet he's using the innapropriate ones.
i'm really surprised! are they just out, or do they not carry it at your local store?
i ask, because i've occasionally had difficulty locating it locally - but it's on their website:
feliway spray
feliway diffuser
i'd get the spray & spray it on the door.
 
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hypancistrus

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Okay, I will go to a different Petsmart. The one by my house is admittedly lame.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Hypancistrus

Okay, I will go to a different Petsmart. The one by my house is admittedly lame.
call first! don't waste that expensive gas!
 

wingss2fly

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You don't have what he wants, wood. Look for a nice hunk of wood, old log maybe. He likes the wood feel under his nails. get a yard stick and messure how high he is reaching, and even maybe a 2X4 would work. tie or anchor it to the cat tree. Just a thought.

K.
 

pami

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A lot of people have been told that spraying cats with water is a way to deter them from things, wrong, it can work the opposite way and or cause your cat to mistrust YOU and not listen to anything from you at all. Additionally a cat can get a really nasty ear infection if any water gets in his ears.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Pami

A lot of people have been told that spraying cats with water is a way to deter them from things, wrong, it can work the opposite way and or cause your cat to mistrust YOU and not listen to anything from you at all. Additionally a cat can get a really nasty ear infection if any water gets in his ears.
i rarely have to squirt mine - i just shake the bottle
that said, i always aimed at the behinds... that way, i'm nowhere near their heads - & they don't like water squirted on their butts, either!
 
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