Cat is tearing up my bedding

Hi! I've seen some other posts about cats "playfully" digging at bedding on here. I have an 18 month old spayed female who isn't playing: she's very goal oriented. She keeps digging at my comforter to try to get under it, but the way she's doing it is more like she's trying to tear a hole through it, not just move it. She does this every night, and I never let her under because I don't want to encourage her tearing up my blankets. She doesn't give up, either. I've tried ignoring her, but then she DOES actually rip holes in the blankets. So I just kick her out of the bedroom when she starts, which she clearly doesn't like. So why does she do it? She ONLY gets punished for it, she doesn't get rewarded. I want her to be able to come and go as she pleases, as she is a VERY snuggly cat and I love it. But it's getting to the point where I'm going to just stop allowing her in the bedroom at all. 

I want to clarify that she is definitely not play hunting, and she isn't kneading. She does these, too, but they don't bother me. This also isn't like when she digs obsessively in the litter box (She likes to make litter go everywhere), or occasionally her "digging" on the tile around her food bowl. This is clearly purposeful. She likes being under the blankets. But when I let her under the blankets she does the typical "Oh, well, I'm in so now I want out" twenty or thirty times, the whole time furiously tearing at the blankets. I understand cats cause SOME property damage, I put scratching posts and cat furniture and self-stimulating toys all over the place to minimize it,  but I feel I should be able to have blankets on my bed. I've had cats my whole life and I've never had one dig like this. I've tried wearing her out before bed then feeding her, I've tried ignoring it, I've tried punishing the behavior. I'm getting incredibly frustrated. If anyone can figure out a way to keep my cat from tearing cat-sized tunnels into my blankets, I will love you forever. 

I've never come across behaviour quite like this. The simplest option is to ban her from the bedroom at all times. You could try banning her from the bed itself, but that is much harder to enforce. Claw covers are worth looking into too - they should at least limit the damage she's able to do. Other than that, I'm not sure what to suggest. These articles may have some ideas [article="22407"][/article][article="0"][/article][article="29678"][/article][article="32493"][/article][article="32827"][/article]

We have a cat that does something like this, albeit probably not quite as industriously as yours: I call it "picking" because she picks with her claws at a cat blanket, down near my feet. Usually for a few minutes at around five in the morning. As a bonus, she sometimes nips at my big toe through the covers. She hasn't done any damage to the bedding or my toes because of the cat blanket: it's a little fleece throw blanket that we got free from Fresh Step with our previous cat's "poop points." (Amazingly, it's lasted for years, despite weekly washings...) That's about all I can suggest: tossing a small fleece blanket or throw on the bed in the place where your cat picks and digs.

I have no idea why Edwina does this. It's also not kneading or play hunting, and it doesn't seem like she wants to get under the covers. It's just picking. It's not quite a daily ritual but it's pretty habitual. She's also big on scratching in and around the litter box, where she has some odd rituals: scratching at the side of the box, the nearby radiator, the newspaper on the floor, all around the box, and then, finally, covering what she's left.

Good luck!

Honestly I think she's just a really weird cat. She also just walked by me carrying a washcloth like it was a kitten, jumped in a cardboard box, dropped the washcloth, and jumped out. The whole time crying oh so piteously. Then calmly walked off. She does a lot of stuff I've never seen a cat do

Sstick said:

Honestly I think she's just a really weird cat. She also just walked by me carrying a washcloth like it was a kitten, jumped in a cardboard box, dropped the washcloth, and jumped out. The whole time crying oh so piteously. Then calmly walked off. She does a lot of stuff I've never seen a cat do

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That behaviour is just what she'd do to teach her kittens to hunt - catch some live prey and carry it back to her nest whilst calling the kittens to come for some 'training'! Very cute :heart3: I know she's spayed, but I guess the maternal instinct is just stronger in some cats than others.

She does the same thing to me! I didn't realize it was her treating me like a kitten! Well, I knew her leaving "presents" was, but I didn't realize she was letting me know she'd brought home dinner! (In the form of any number of her toys or hand towels...She's a deadly predator of hand towels...)