Question??

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep cats off of cars?

This is driving me nuts!!!! If they wouldn't put their claws out and slide down the car and scratch it I wouldn't be aggervated. I pour water on the car before I go to bed but down here, it dries rather quickly and they get up there any way. Then if I see them on the car I calmly remove then and tell them "NO". Now when they see us coming, they tear off of the car and scratch it even more.

A car cover will be my last resort - they are so difficult to use! And I don't know if they are thick enough of keep the claws from penetrating it.

Any suggestions?

Hmm... When Saladina had not yet been spayed and was very persistent in getting out of the house because she was in heat, I devised a little thing... I realized she hated the smell of my hair gel, in fact, she would scram if I got near her with the bottle of gel opened in my hand. So I covered the door frame and the window frames with my extra strong hair gel. But the thing worked like a charm.

Now... I honestly don't think covering your car in hairgel will do the trick, please don't try it.... but the concept is the same... is there any odor that cats do not like, which you could then put in some spray and spray over the place? I've heard that orange stuff can repel them a bit. Another option, which I am not sure if its possible in a car is the sticky claw thing used in furniture.

Have you considered soft claws?

Catherine, I've moved your post to the Behavior forum, where hopefully you'll get some good suggestions to keep your cats off the car. Good luck!

I've seen the soft claw things but my cats are mostly outside (their choice). Sometimes they come in when we're home, so I don't want to do that b/c they are outside most often.
I'm going to research and see if there is a chemical that wouldn't hurt them or ruin the paint.

wow, a cat scratching the car??? my cats used to sit on the boot because it was warm but i dont think they ever scratched it.
Can you like get a very big bed sheet and divide it in two and cover it for the night?because then it is thick enough for the cats not to scratch through.
Do you know where you get your car serviced from ? it might be an idea to call them or contact a mechanic. they sometimes have good advice.
I will ask my bf about it and then repost later

Originally Posted by okeefecl

Catherine, I've moved your post to the Behavior forum, where hopefully you'll get some good suggestions to keep your cats off the car. Good luck!

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Ok, thanks!!

ask some questions? If you don't mind. Are these your cats or ferals? If they are your are they inside or outside cats? Has anything happened to these cats to do this to you? I am not putting any blame on you. I just wanted a little more info before I give you any suggestions. I can also say I have never heard of a cat scratching a car before. Where I live we have a stray that is very friendly, but one of the tenants is out of her mind blaming the cat for breaking her car window, because he is jumping on the cars from hunger(this is not true, many of the tenants in my apt complex feed him, and I have never seen him on a car, and he only ways about 9 lbs, so I don't think he could even break a window). Another example is near my daughter's school I always notice a house that has a food bowl out in the driveway and 2 cats hanging around, The other day I was walking and one of the cats was using the neighbor's lawn as a litter box, the neighbor picked up an acorn and threw it at the cat, idiot! I could actually see this cat using the litter box to spite this jerk. I am not saying you did any of these things, it is just an example of how some people misjudge animals. could it be another animal? or kids? just a thought .

What you can do is put helium filled balloons on your car, weight down their strings, so they are bobbing a few inches in the air.

You can also go and get those really cheap aluminun trays and fill them full of water then place them on the edges of your car=

But the best way is to keep your kitty inside where there are no cars to scratch up

They are not scratching it out of spite. When they go to jump down, they have their hind legs on the hood and put their front paws on the side and kinda slide down but their claws are out to kinda grasp it.

We have tried having them inside only and it just doesn't work. They tend to poop on the dirty clothes in the bathroom (I was cleaning the litter box 2x/day) and jump on my kitchen counters and sleep on my kitchen table. It was also impossilbe to keep them inside b/c they would dart out every time we would go out the door. I don't know if you would consider them ferals or not but when we got Goose, he was found at a gas station at about 4-5 weeks of age. He was fighting for his life trying to avoid the cars. My husband caught him and brought him home. Then Sophia was the daughter of a feral cat. My friend caught the litter and was going to bring them to the pound and I took Sophia. She has NEVER liked being indoors.

Isn't it winter in that part of the world? Do you get winter? I'm not familiar with the geology of USA.

Cats go on cars for all sorts of reasons. If it's cold, then a the bonnet of a car is the ideal spot to be, it's warm.

Cars are also ideal spots to be up high to watch the coming and going of the world. They're far more stable than trees.

And lastly, try to minimise use of car washing products that contain ammonia, (particularly window cleaners). It just smells of another cat and will encourage neighbourhood cats to mark your car.

Must be some claws on these cats. Never have heard of cats scratching car paint.

If soft claws is not an option then perhaps trimming the claws?

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. If you have any more, please keep them coming. I'm going to try eveything.

Yes, it is "winter" here but today our low was 65 and high 79.

It doesn't get cold here........hardly ever. When it gets in the low 30's we bring them and the dog inside. Don't worry, they get along just fine. The cats use the dog as their "pillow".

If they are pooing on the clothes. I am in La. and where I am is a very dangerous place for outside cats. Maybe you can put something outside for them to climb on instead of the car? How about an old cat tree? It is cool that you rescued them , I can't tell you why they want out so much, my cats have always been indoor cats. I don't know how else to help, but to say good luck, and maybe you will have to look into a car cover after all. cat.

I've never owned a nice car, or any car that had a nice paint job, so to save your cars paint, I have no ideas.

As for the pottying in the wrong spot... I have read that it is suggested that you have 1 potty box for each cat, plus 1. SO if you have 2 cats, idealy you should have 3 potty boxes throughout your house.

Cats will potty in the wrong spot if they have an infection, or are sick. If they need to get your attention, or their box is dirty. You've addressed the dirty box theory, so...

Cats do like High places to hang out, and like someone said, they do like the warmth of the hood. Too many cats are killed by crawling onto the engine of cars witout anyone knowing. I've read, and heard a few stories about that. Here where I live, it gets really cold in the winter time, and cats are killed each year here for that. They will crawl into a warm spot, then get tangled up in a belt or fan or what ever. LUckily I have never personally seen such an event, just heard about.

I think that perhaps a spray might help, as one person suggested, using a scent that your cats don't like. Telling them over and over not to do it may not help, cats do have a mind of their own.

I only have one out of 4 cats (all girls fixed except the youngest, she will be) that DEMANDS to be indoor/outdoor. We fought with her all spring and half the summer, until we humans finally saw it HER way. She kept sneaking out, and showed us that she could be responsible, by staying away from the street, and near the house (we'd moved twice in two months). The other girls will stay indoors.

GOod luck, I hope you can find a happy solution to your problem.

Well I'm assuming you don't have a garage or the car would be in there. So, how do these ideas sound?

1. Spraying some lemon something-or-other on the tires (they hate that smell)
2. Have a recording of a barking dog playing or some type of sensor that starts the recording when a cat or cats approach (eventually they'll stop coming around I would imagine)
3. Buy a statue, of some sort, and hang noisy wind chimes or bells that will frighten them away
4. Put a heavy heavy heavy coat of wax on the car so they slide off!

I can also say I have never heard of a cat scratching a car before

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cats scratch cars all the time, esp when they walk on them. i was always told they liked the smooth feeling under their paws.

Originally Posted by ccoccocats

Well I'm assuming you don't have a garage or the car would be in there. So, how do these ideas sound?

1. Spraying some lemon something-or-other on the tires (they hate that smell)

2. Have a recording of a barking dog playing or some type of sensor that starts the recording when a cat or cats approach (eventually they'll stop coming around I would imagine)

3. Buy a statue, of some sort, and hang noisy wind chimes or bells that will frighten them away

4. Put a heavy heavy heavy coat of wax on the car so they slide off!

Click to expand...

You all have given me some good idea and I'm going to try them. When I find the one that works, I'll let you know. Right now it's in the shop having the scratches buffed out.

coccocats:
#4 is pretty funny but that's the problem......when they decided to get off, it's so slick that they slide and put their claws out to get a grip.

The annoying part is the fact that it's a Chevy Avalanche and we have the hard cover on the bed of it - I wouldn't care if they laid all over that, it's plastic. The bed of the truck is just as high as the hood so I don't know.

Have you tried placing something next to the car to make it easier to get down? Jumping up is easy for cats, but a four to six foot drop from the top of a car is hard for them to do, especially if you have a gravel or hard-top driveway. Since you say the problem is their sliding down the car, a ladder or stool placed next to the car to break the distance up should keep them from sliding.

I've heard of cats tormenting dogs into scratching cars to pieces. Poor Paulie, he was given back to the shelter after a failed attempt at being a barn cat because he teased the people's four dogs from the hood of the car night after night, and caused so much damage. (He got adopted as an indoor only cat after that. He definately knew how to get what he wanted.)

I've never had a problem with the neighbohood cats scratching our cars. They'd jump down from the hood or the trunk where the distance isn't so bad for them. They'd leave paw prints that covered my cars (when I had the black T-bird it was most noticable), but never once left a scratch mark.

A Chevy Avalanche, hmmm....let's see, well how about this idea

Ya know when dogs get older or have arthritis or whatever and they can't jump up, well, they have a folding ramp that you hang onto the vehicle and the other end lays to the ground. Perhaps, buying one or two of these can eliminate the problem.

They'd see a place to walk down the ramp, as opposed to jumping down the side!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What do ya think?????