This cat is destroying our house

[kittiei]

Storm Shadow (Stormy) is almost 3 years old.  She's always been a crazy cat and a little destructive.  She's eaten holes in my socks and pants.  Now she's scratching the carpet.  She scratches it up at the doorways, whether or not the door is open.  She's destroying patches of carpet because of it.  I've tried to do what I can to stop her, but she mostly does it at night while we're sleeping.  Sometimes it even wakes us up.  I've tried the double-sided tape but she actually just pulls that up and eats it...which probably isn't good for her.  I've repaired the carpet around one doorway but she's since ripped it up again.  It looks awful and my husband is not very happy about it (neither am I).  We have no intention of getting rid of her or anything but I'm at a loss of how to prevent this.  She has scratching posts and those cardboard scratchers everywhere.  She does not let me cut her nails either.  I might be able to pin her down and clip them over a couple of days but they grow quickly and it's hard to keep up.

Any ideas?

 

[duckdodgers]

They make kitty nail caps that you can apply to lessen the effects of their scratching.  They can be hard to keep on, but if you take your kitty to the vet they should be able to help you trim her nails and apply them. 

 

[Willowy]

You can cut plastic chair mats (the kind you put under rolling office chairs) to fit doorways. They're thick and stiff so she shouldn't be able to get under them. Of course, no guarantee she won't just scratch somewhere else, but at least the doorways will be protected!

 

[furmonster mom]

How much playtime does she get?

Is she spayed?

Have you tried Feliway or a calming collar?

There are also kick guards that you can get to protect your doors.  The plastic suggestion for the carpet is also a good one.

If she is literally eating fabrics, you might want to have her checked for pica.  But if she is just chewing on them out of boredom, then she may need more playtime and stimulus.  She is still a young and energetic cat, after all.

 

[kittiei]

Thanks for the suggestions.  We might have to give those mats a try.  I think she's just chewing on stuff out of boredom.  I thought she got a lot of playtime but maybe not.  We have a black lab that she loves, they play sometimes.  It's hard to find toys for her that the dog won't eat, or steal but I will look around and see if more playtime will help.

She is spayed.  I haven't tried Feliway with her, I tried it with my other cat when we got the dog but it didn't seem to do much.  Might be worth another try though.

 

[revenwyn]

Give the Feliway another try. Some cats respond to it, and others don't. This is a different cat, so try it again.

 

[duckdodgers]

I'd recommend giving the Feliway a try with this kitty.  When I had a young kitten who wanted nothing more than to antagonize my elderly kitty I read mixed reviews on it- about half the reviews swore that it solved their kitties' behavioral problems, some said it helped a little, and the rest said it did nothing.  It didn't seem to help too much for me, but I'd still say it's worth a shot.