destructive scratching..

nekkiddoglady

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We have been slowly remodelling this house for about 2 years.. when we put in the woodwork, we used pine, as it was cheap and easy to use.

When we moved the cats in tho, they quickly ruined most of it. We didnt even think that they'd bother with it.. they didnt mess with my parents wood. The only reason we can think that they like to claw ours, and not my parents, is because the pine is soft, and easy to dig claws into, while my parents have hard oak.. not as pleasant for them to scratch at.


Hopefully this summer we will be finishing and repairing the wood.. I cant replace it all with harder wood.. its just not feasable to do that.

I need ideas on training the cats, and/or to make the wood less-pleasant.

The thing is, we dont ussually catch the cats in the act, so not always easy to redirect. Ussually Im upstairs and hear one digging at the wood downstairs, by the time I get down to correct the cat, they've already done the damage and ran. When I look at my ruined wood, declawing does sound tempting, but its not going to happen - we have occasional escape attempts and I couldnt imagine a declawed cat outside.

I do have some nail caps.. but Im just not sure how Im going to get them on Gozer.. I think I can get them on Tabbi. Gozer and Tabbi are the only ones who seem to bother the wood - Bastet doesnt have claws, and Bo likes the cardboard scratcher.

Im thinking of making their own pine scratcher.. they have a scratch post that my older brother made with carpeting, but they dont use it. But need to think of ways to make their own look more appealing, and to make my wood look less appealing.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.


I've also thought about painting the wood, but I prefer the stained look.
 

kittieshasme

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Do you have a cat tree with different textures for scratching on? Some cats prefer carpet, others like sisal. The post needs to be tall enough for the cat to stand up and stretch while sharpening it's claws. Most posts are too short or they wobble and fall on the cat. So it needs to be tall and sturdy. If there is a favorite spot on the woodwork they prefer place the scratching post in front of it. As they get used to the post you can move it later.

Keep their claws clipped. Blunt claws do less damage if they still try to use the woodwork. I've never tried the nail caps but other people have had good luck with them.
 
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nekkiddoglady

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most of the woodwork they've damaged is in weird places, like the stairway or by doors.. it wouldnt be a good place to put a scratch post.

we have a sturdy thing made of wood and carpeting.. my brother made it.. but they dont seem to like the carpeting... which is why I thought of making something else for them.
 
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