Cat carpet damage WWYD

[kwaziseyepatch]

My greedy cat has scratched a hole in our carpet trying to wake us up to be fed at the crack of dawn. It's a wool carpet and runs across 2 flights of stairs and 2 landings so not straight forward to replace (plus he'll just start on the next one!)

Shut him overnight in a more cat proof place?

Ours get shut in the kitchen diner and it's their routine and they sleep all night long now.

Looks exactly like my floor
I got a wider ... metal rail thing, what the hell's it called ? 😂

@Comps83

Looks exactly like my floor I got a wider ... metal rail thing, what the hell's it called ? 😂

Threshold strip

@RandomMess we tried that and ended up with a hole in the lino and had to get a new floor
Had to get a new floor where they had been shut on the other side of it too when trying to keep them away from the cooking

@Comps83 to be fair we've never had lino.

Ours ask to go to bed for their bedtime treat.

Oohh wider threshold strip there's an idea. I was thinking maybe a wooden one to match the door frame and cover some of the large gap too

How big is the area you have to cover?

We had this and thought long and hard about what to do about it... in the end we went with "wait until the cat's not here anymore then replace it"!

Unfortunately we reached that stage last year but thanks to lockdown we haven't managed to replace it yet.

Replacement cats, however, thankfully have shown no sign of being carpet scratchers (just dining chair scratchers - grrr!)

Sorry this isn't of much help, but you might just end up conceding defeat like we did!

My carpets are like this in parts. I’m never having cats again after these ones 😂

Ours do this to. It is when they want the door opened because they have learned people leap up and open the door for them....they are useless and can’t hook their paw round a door which is ajar to widen the gap for themselves.

We have put down some unattractive low rise doormats i. The hope they dig them instead of the carpet. But there are a lot of doors. They also like to scratch or dig on the stairs too.

I have spoken to them sternly about it and they look blankly at me...like they do when I chastise them about anything.

How long are their claws? Would you be able to cut them?

My cat puts holes in my legs when her claws need trimmed.

Sooo much more comfy once they have been snipped and they don’t dig in to my legs (and presumably carpets) as much!

Could you have the carpet re-stretched, and combine that with new threshold strip?

@TheSpottedZebra

Could you have the carpet re-stretched, and combine that with new threshold strip?

This is the best for sure ^ had a similar issue and this made it look great again.

Thanks all for suggestions

What does re-stretching involve? I have found a 55mm threshold strip but it probably wouldn't cover it all

The cat in question is a pest but an adorable loveable one. He now only scratches to annoy my husband and doesn't bother me anymore as he doesn't get a reaction - so all historical damage

@Elieza they just shed naturally, he has a wall mounted approved wall scratching patch right next to the area which he uses and scratching posts which seem to keep them in check. I didn't realise you could trim cats claws, presumably they don't enjoy this much!?

OP many cats do not enjoy it! But some are fine. Mine used to deal with hers herself until she got old.

Now I have to do them with special clippers Or take her to the vet to get it done.

If it wasn’t covid times I’d suggest you take her to the vet so you can see it done and how short they cut them so you can copy it if you wish next time.

Claws have a ‘quick’ inside like we do in our nails and if you cut them too short it hurts them and they bleed. Just like ours. So it’s something probably best done by a vet so you can learn.

I never clip as far down as my vet does but it does make a difference to my legs, no holes in them when she snuggles on my lap! I prefer to do a little bit once a month. Less stress for me. She’s become used to it now too and only complains for a few minutes utes. She likes the dreamies afterwards!

No advice OP but glad to hear that my cat isn't the only one who expects to be fed through the night. I was awoken at 4.30 by howling then when that doesn't get me up he scratches anything precious until I do

That reminds me I've been meaning to check if there is such thing as a refrigerated feeding device which you can set on a timer to open at 4am to avoid this?

Mines done that she seems to have stopped going for carpet now so may risk replacing it

@Comps83 yes many of the times feeders come with refreezable ice packs to keep wet food cool then just set to open at 4am.

I would used to get them feeding out the feeder the rest of the day too so it's their "norm" also using the timer so they don't think you need to be up to fill it.

@Comps83 there are lots of timer feeders that use an ice pack.

If you have any left over pieces of your carpet then look for carpet repairers, they can do invisible patches for this kind of damage - its amazing how invisible they make them.

However that's no good if the cat keeps at it. One of my cats does this in one corner too - I've foiled her by getting a thick sheet of plastic- like the ones you get in self binding folders. Slide one end under the door bar and put a slipper on the other end - it has confused her no end. She still scratches the door at 4.30am, but no carpet munching.

Not an attractive situation, but I tape thick clear sellotape Where the cat scratches to deter her. She generally finds another patch, but it stops persistent scratching and doesn’t look all that bad as it’s the same colour.

Don’t close the door.

We dont close the doors to help the cats, but they are a pair of numpties and even a door which is pretty much ajar is too much for them to manage to either push with a face or paw or pull towards them. They are useless and especially in winter, doors mightnot be closed but they aren't wide open.

Ours also like us to serve them. They prefer the back door to be opened rather than to use the cat flap. If there was carpet there, they would probably scratch it to persuade us to open it.

Honestly, we are held ransom. The only good thing is ours spend the night shut downstairs with access to 2 rooms with no carpet, so they have nothing to dig and understand the routine. But they will dig at a cupboard door in the living room or in front of the wardrobe so the door can be opened for them to get in for a nosy about. Beasties.