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Is there a kind of carpet my cats won't be able to tear up?

post #1 of 12
5/24/10 at 9:49am
Thread Starter 
Once a little strand gets loose, they love to play with it and create patches of destruction. Is there a type of carpet that they could not do this to? I'm thinking I will replace it with hardwood but I'm wondering if there are any good carpet options.
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post #2 of 12
5/24/10 at 10:47am
When I have my own house, there will be NO carpet!

If you have to power to make those decisions, I'd say go for the hardwood floor well shellacked, and use area rugs that can be thrown away when they get shredded and washed when they get puked on.
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post #3 of 12
5/24/10 at 11:47am
^ No one really uses shellacks anymore, it's usually polyurethane as these provide a better water and wear resistant finish. Water based polyurethanes are also fairly safe to use and dry very quickly.


A tight short weave berber would be harder for a cat to find any loose strand on. But remember with any carpet, if in good condition and properly installed there shouldn't be any loose strands for cats to get a hold of.
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post #4 of 12
5/24/10 at 1:06pm
I've found Berber stands up the best to scratching but it all falls short eventually under Friday's claws. I have hardwoods in part of the house. They're the best. I use sisal rugs and those have held up well. I can hose them down if they get icky. A friend works in the carpet business and there's a new type that destroys odors and won't stain even from bleach. I think the brand she sold my parents was called Bliss. It was surprisingly affordable. When I replace my carpet that's what I'll be getting.
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post #5 of 12
5/24/10 at 2:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
^ No one really uses shellacks anymore, it's usually polyurethane as these provide a better water and wear resistant finish. Water based polyurethanes are also fairly safe to use and dry very quickly.


A tight short weave berber would be harder for a cat to find any loose strand on. But remember with any carpet, if in good condition and properly installed there shouldn't be any loose strands for cats to get a hold of.

Shellac..polyurethane, I wasn't aware there was a difference, all the same to me, but shellac was easier to spell.

The berber on the cats' Playhouse I built them seems to be holding up pretty good. They prefer the cheap carpet that came already on the floors of the apartment.
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post #6 of 12
5/27/10 at 11:25am
If your cats love tearing up carpet, there may not be a way to stop them from trying to do it. I recommend replacing carpet with tiles or hardwood {tiles if you're lower on money!} when you have pets anyway, it makes cleanups so much easier and also, if God forbid you get a flea or ringworm infestation further down the line, THAT is made infinitely easier by not having a whole house worth of carpet that would be a serious headache to clean of these things.
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post #7 of 12
5/27/10 at 4:57pm
I have wood floors. The soft pine finish does not hold up well to crazy kitty claw-marks. For an area rug I recommend those bamboo slat rugs. I saw them stateside too when I went home last month, so I know they are not jsut a Japan thing.

It's pretty resistant to cat damage and not even anything she seems interested in scratching up, unlike tatami or regular pile rugs.
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post #8 of 12
5/27/10 at 5:26pm
^Tatami. My cats would LOVE that.
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post #9 of 12
5/27/10 at 6:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
^Tatami. My cats would LOVE that.
My bedroom is traditional Japanese tatami room. The tatami mats have a finite lifespan and they do attract bugs (tatami mat ticks) which can be remedied with a nice solution of borax and a wet towel. I love the feel. But you absolutely cannot wear any sort of shoes on them. Hence the Japanese custom of removing shoes at the door. They do suffer from wear by feet and cat claws, not from any sort of deliberate scratching, but just running about. I used to have a tatami throw rug before the bamboo one and Aya liked to scratch that as a kitten. Right now she seems to prefer my vinyl sofa .
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post #10 of 12
5/29/10 at 9:58am
I have hardwood floors in the entire house, but Marigold was pretty good around my dads apartment when she was there she didn't bother the carpet until she saw my sisters two cats doing it. As soon as I brought her home she was fine again. Its always entertaining when she gets in one of her crazy moods and goes slidding on the hardwood floors. She is also pretty good with knowing she is not allowed to scratch the leather furniture she doesn't even try.
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post #11 of 12
5/29/10 at 11:33am
^ Tomas started scratching on the den carpet (only carpeted room in the house) a few months ago even though I had several scratchers in here already - both cat furniture and cardboard scratchers. After seeing him do it the kittens and one of the adult cats copied him (copy cats! ).
I remedied it by adding yet another, chest high, scratching post. So sometimes it's a matter of not having the right scratcher where they want it.


Mats or no mats, shoes in the house is icky. Plus they do add wear on just about every surface (aside from stone and tile). Just imagine what a small piece of pea gravel stuck in the bottom of a shoe could do to a wood floor...
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post #12 of 12
5/30/10 at 8:40am
We have hardwood floors, and I'm talking real hardwood from 1921 when the house was built. I've never allowed shoes in the house because of the dirt, but the scratches from the cats are very evident. I'm sure that they're just scratching away the polyurathane finish..but still...it doesn't look nice to my eye.
They get tearing around the house playing and love to whip down the stairs, then turn the corner...you should see those back feet pumping away....too funny for words...then take a look at the floor...not so funny....but what can you do........when there are no more cats, the floor will get done again!!!
We have a silk rug in the livingroom, and just having the cats walk across it, can bring little pulls up. But what the heck, it gives it character....hahaha...
In the kitchen there's a utility rug by the sink, and they love to scratch at it....and I praise them up and down when they do.....they also have two scratch boxes as well as old rug pieces in the mud room.....I also keep their nails trimmed. Lucky for me, they don't, and never have, scratched the furniture.....
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