Most scratching OK, but not all.

I have a behavior issue that's driving me up the wall. I have a 5 year-old spayed female living in my apartment. And, she's always been an indoor cat. She's always been a scratcher, too, and frankly, I don't mind most of her scratching (carpets, furniture, etc.). But one kind of scratching started recently and it's driving me bonkers.

Recently, a new tenant moved to an apartment next door. He also has a cat ... a neutered male. But ever since they moved in, my cat goes to the front door of my apartment and starts scratching and scratching ... LOUDLY. It sometimes gets so loud that it wakes me up at night. And, the only way to get her to stop is by moving her food/water trays (and litterbox) into the bathroom and closing the bathroom door (which she doesn't scratch, fortunately).

Is there a specific technique to get her to avoid scratching that one thing (the front door) -- some kind of "cat repellant" (grin) I could spray on the door that would keep her away from it? Unless I find a solution to this problem, my cat may have to spend her nights in the bathroom permanently.

First of all welcome to TCS.....

Second...for your scratching problems I would reccomend referring to this thread link, which was compiles by one of our awesome MODS Hissy
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...threadid=20568

Thirdly.....I am sorry that your cat is disrupting your sleep....But I am not sure if it is humane to be locking your cat in the bathroom......I hope that you find the solution you and your kit need so that you dont have to resort to this "Punishment" anymore

Good luck

This is an excellent article and a wonderful source of information on this topic. I would recommend putting a scratching post near your front door where your kitty has chosen to scratch. You want to make the scratching post much more appealing than the door. This article also gives recommendations how to make your scratching post a success. Cats respond to positive reinforcement, so when she scratches the post, immediately tell her what a good girl she is, give her treat, special love, or reward her in some manner. I sure hope some of this info helps you and your kitty and we would all appreciate hearing how everything goes.

Originally Posted by AlecWest

I have a behavior issue that's driving me up the wall. I have a 5 year-old spayed female living in my apartment. And, she's always been an indoor cat. She's always been a scratcher, too, and frankly, I don't mind most of her scratching (carpets, furniture, etc.). But one kind of scratching started recently and it's driving me bonkers.

Recently, a new tenant moved to an apartment next door. He also has a cat ... a neutered male. But ever since they moved in, my cat goes to the front door of my apartment and starts scratching and scratching ... LOUDLY. It sometimes gets so loud that it wakes me up at night. And, the only way to get her to stop is by moving her food/water trays (and litterbox) into the bathroom and closing the bathroom door (which she doesn't scratch, fortunately).

Is there a specific technique to get her to avoid scratching that one thing (the front door) -- some kind of "cat repellant" (grin) I could spray on the door that would keep her away from it? Unless I find a solution to this problem, my cat may have to spend her nights in the bathroom permanently.

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Cats are amazing creatures aren't they....she probably has caught a wiff of the new neighbor's cat and now she wants to go and get a better look at him. I once saw a show where a cat was scratching a door constantly and what they did was put a tall piece of clear plastic over the part the cat was scratching and redirected it's attention to other scratching posts. I think however in your case, she is scratching for a different reason....so perhaps trying Feliway might help.

Katie

One cat scratching deterrent I've found useful for doors is carpet runner....the kind with the sticky points. You can lay it on the floor, pointy side up in front of the door during the night, so your cat can't get at the door. If that fails, then you can attach it directly to the inside of the door with double-sided tape or carpet tacks with pointy side exposed. Kind of ugly, but it works.

how about tin foil taped over the door?

to be honest, i wouldnt have a problem with shutting the cat in the bathroom at night if there is no other way to curb the behaviour. you are the alpha cat and you need your sleep. as long as it is safe, there are toys there and food and water i dont see why there would be a problem.

my first thought was maybe that your cat is lonely, have you considered getting another to keep it company?

I think I'll try the carpet runner idea first, followed by the plastic idea. BTW, my cat's favorite "scratching post" is an old cloth-back chair I have in front of my computer (grin). But I don't mind. Whenever I sit in front of my computer, she jumps up on the back of the chair and starts clawing ... then when she's done, she lies down, leaning toward my back. Great back-warmer on those cold days, hehehe.

I may try the Feliway idea if the other two don't work. But, I'd have one concern. The way I see it described, it's kind of like "Grecian Formula" hair coloring for men. Once you stop using it, the gray returns (grin). So, if I started using Feliway, it might work ... but once I stopped using it, the scratching would return. She has seen the neighbor's cat up close and seems interested in him. But the neighbor's cat is totally disinterested in my cat (grin) ... walking away whenever she approaches, hehe. Loneliness might be an issue ... though I don't go out very much at all except to work and infrequent shopping trips. Of course, getting a 2nd cat could be a double-edged sword (or claw, hehe). There's always the possibility that I'd eventually have two cats scratching at the door.

P.S. One last note. I made the mistake, early on, of rolling up tin-foil into balls and letting her play with them. And, she loves them. If I put tin-foil on the door, she'd probably end up scratching it down, playing with it until it was ripped to shreds, and then go back to scratching the door (grin).

Velcro (my cat) is giving me dirty looks - but I have found a solution to the door-scratching problem. Originally, I was going to take some advice I'd read here earlier. But then, I started thinking - "Hmm ... what is it that my cat either hates or avoids?" And then it came to me.

During the summer months, I keep a small box fan blowing my way most of the time. In winter, I put it away in a closet. But Velcro can't stand having air blown in her face. She gives the box fan a wide berth. So, I pulled the box fan out of the closet and plugged it in right next the door ... blowing outward into the room. Velcro starts to walk toward the door, stops in her tracks once she detects the fan, turns toward me with a dirty look (grin), and walks away.

The solution was right in front of me all the time (or at least, in my closet).

But now I have a new problem. When summer rolls around, I'll have to go out and buy a second box fan ... to blow on me while the other keeps Velcro away from the door. But, there are worse things than having two breezes in the same house, hehehe.

When summer rolls around just use the fan as normal and maybe the cat will so used to not scratching the door that she forgets all about it.