Cat Scratching the Carpet

littlepeanut · Feb 6, 2015

My little baby is nearly 11 weeks old and he has a habit of waking up and stretching and scratching the carpet. We have two scratching posts and a cat tree full of posts. Whenever he scratches the carpet, I say "No" firmly and pick him up and place him on the horizontal scratching post (I bought it because I thought he would prefer a horizontal surface considering he likes to scratch the carpet)

However, when I pick him up and place him on the scratching post, he looks at me confused and walks away.

I want to direct his scratching behaviour to an appropriate outlet as soon as possible.

What should I do?

Also, I'm not home all the time, so I can't always be there to tell him no when he scratches.

mwallace056 · Feb 6, 2015

cats don't understand what you trying to do, i would suggest catnip but he not old enough yet to react to it so yeah.does he scratch the same places?

mwallace056 · Feb 6, 2015

i would also buy few more horizontal scratching posts, so he can choose, try to get one that have similar texture to the carpet

littlepeanut · Feb 6, 2015

mwallace056 said:
i want to teach him to scratch on a scratching post instead

di and bob · Feb 6, 2015

Have you tried one of those corrugated cardboard ones? My cats RUN to them and scratch. I have had zero innappropriate scratching since I got one. All the luck!

kittywhiskers · Feb 6, 2015

Most if not all cats do this when they wake up. It's what comes naturally.

I have two and they both do this when they wake and I don't have a problem with them scratching at the carpet when they actually want to scratch something.
Some cats prefer different textures. I have one that loves to scratch sisal and the other prefers to scratch on wood and they both love to scratch a cardboard scratcher.

Good luck!

littlepeanut · Feb 6, 2015

Di and Bob said:
Have you tried one of those corrugated cardboard ones? My cats RUN to them and scratch. I have had zero innappropriate scratching since I got one. All the luck!

i do have a corrugated cardboard scratcher. Maybe he's too young to scratch? He's only 11 weeks old right now.

KittyWhiskers said:
Most if not all cats do this when they wake up. It's what comes naturally.

I have two and they both do this when they wake and I don't have a problem with them scratching at the carpet when they actually want to scratch something.
Some cats prefer different textures. I have one that loves to scratch sisal and the other prefers to scratch on wood and they both love to scratch a cardboard scratcher.

Good luck!

really? i wasn't aware. I'll experiment with different textures. so far i've only introduced sisal and cardboard.

shadowsrescue · Feb 6, 2015

I have a cat that scratches the carpet too. I have tried every scratcher out there and he won't use them. He does scratch the carpet on the cat trees, but not the sisal. I tried getting some old carpet remnants and placing them around, but he won't use those. It's just like you described, he wakes up and scratches the carpet wherever he is at the moment. I do my best to keep his nails trimmed so that it does minimal damage to the carpet.

di and bob · Feb 6, 2015

Did you try the catnip that comes with it, sprinkled on it?

keyes · Feb 6, 2015

I'll trade you, your carpet scratcher for my door frame scratcher!!

littlepeanut · Feb 6, 2015

ShadowsRescue said:
I have a cat that scratches the carpet too. I have tried every scratcher out there and he won't use them. He does scratch the carpet on the cat trees, but not the sisal. I tried getting some old carpet remnants and placing them around, but he won't use those. It's just like you described, he wakes up and scratches the carpet wherever he is at the moment. I do my best to keep his nails trimmed so that it does minimal damage to the carpet.

he didn't like horizontal cardboard scratchers either?

Di and Bob said:
Did you try the catnip that comes with it, sprinkled on it?

i think he's too young for it, he doesn't seem to respond to it

keyes said:
I'll trade you, your carpet scratcher for my door frame scratcher!!

keyes · Feb 6, 2015

Included with the door frame scratcher is a nite lite cuz he do like doing it during the middle of the night.

kittywhiskers · Feb 6, 2015

keyes said:
I'll trade you, your carpet scratcher for my door frame scratcher!!

:lol3: This is how we found out that our youngest liked to scratch wood.
Hubby brought a fence post from the garden centre and nailed it to a board for her and she loves it.

snugglecat · Feb 6, 2015

I have also tried everything for my cat but she only uses the carpet. I even bought sample carpet and put it in different places but she ends up scratching the carpet in front of the little carpet. She has been doing this for 7 years now. Every scratching post I have bought ends up collecting dust until I give it to my feral cats outside. She won't have anything to do with the cardboard ones.

I have rented this place for 13 years so at least I won't be charged for carpet if I move. Besides a new owner just bought it but I don't know what I will do if I ever have to move.

Good luck!

shadowsrescue · Feb 6, 2015

I even bought a scratcher that has carpet all over it. He hates it. He doesn't like to scratch anything vertically accept on a very rare occasion the carpet on the cat tree. That only happens maybe once a month. Keeping his nails trimmed short is my saving grace.

My outside ferals love to scratch wood. I have a cedar bird feeder on a cedar post that is scratched to pieces by one of the ferals. He also loves pieces of wood. We have a pile on the deck. He grabs them and kills them and scratches away. He loves to just rip the bark off!

kitcatmeow · Feb 8, 2015

Mine did that too. I got the kind of scratchers that layon the ground, And one that has a slight incline. They are cardboard and didn't cost much. I have 2 in the livingroom in corners behind furniture so you can't even tell they are there, we have one in he laundry room where the litter box is, and one in the hall by my bedroom door. I showed them the scratchers and they haven't scratched the floors since.

kntrygrl256 · Feb 9, 2015

KittyWhiskers said:
This is how we found out that our youngest liked to scratch wood.
Hubby brought a fence post from the garden centre and nailed it to a board for her and she loves it.

I have an old chair that mine scratch on, it is theirs. They lay, play, fight, and scratch on this chair. It keeps them away from the couch.

I also have a fireplace and keep logs in the house and if they want something more solid they scratch the logs. I keep a post available with sisal so they have different types for their different moods.

Plus having 5 cats it helps having several choices available.

T.

Kat0121 · Feb 9, 2015

Sophie likes to scratch the carpet, too. Not when she wakes up (she does do that stretching move) but anytime. I look at her and say, "you have TEN scratching posts. Can you please use one of those?" She looks at me like, "whatever" but she stops.

quiltingkate · Feb 11, 2015

I have been delighted with the corrugated cardboard scratching pads - they are cheap, so you can have lots of them - and the cats love them... I have several in the key cat scratching zones (near where he sleeps, where he eats, where he greets us when we get home, where the kitty box is.) Seems cats like to stretch and scratch after sleeping, eating, pooping and playing - and any other time when they think the claws need cleaning (after coming in from outside, etc.) so after playing keep an eye on him and encourage him to scratch the cardboard pad when he looks like he wants to scratch. Praise enthusiastically when he uses it! (I started the little guy we have now on these boxes by pretending I was scratching my nails on it (and no, I will not show you that on You-tube!) So far he hasn't bothered the furniture or carpet, a couple of times he was going to and I told him no and moved him to the cardboard box... I think he gets it...

The best thing about these cardboard scratching pads is that they don't look or feel like carpet or upholstery, so kitty doesn't get the idea that carpets or furniture are good for scratching on. There's a bit of mess because the cardboard shreds off - but I'd rather see that than ruined furniture.

The "double-wide" ones seem the best.

Good luck!

raysmyheart · Feb 14, 2015

Hello! Speedy always arches her back like this and scratches when she gets up. I once read that a cat has so many more bones in their little spines than we do and that it is essential that they stretch like this when they get up. I think the scratching is part of the stretch. I do not know if this is true but it makes a lot of sense. My cat will wake up, walk to a sisal mat that she took a liking to and stretch, stretch, stretch her back. Then she goes in for some scratching on the mat while still stretching. It looks like it feels so good to her.

Actually, the mat is not true sisal, but a sisal-like outdoor mat that she can kind of hook her claws on. Maybe this type of mat would help, but it's always the things you don't expect that they like! Good luck!

Cat Scratching the Carpet

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