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NWR-My cat is destroying my house! Help!

radleybooradleyboo member
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Girls- I have a 5 year old cat named Izzy who I never declawed because I feel it's cruel and unneccesary. She's a great cat, if not a little nuts, but we love her dearly. However, in the last 6 months, my darling kitten has taken to scratching the wood work/trim next to my doors, in addition to one of FI's chairs! My thought is that this may be due to the fact that she's been cooped up indoors all winter, it's been a very cold few months here in Michigan. In warmer weather she does go outdoors. I'm not so upset about the ugly chair because I don't really like it much (heh) and we are planning to replace it anyhow, but the trim around 3 of my doors is in need of repair. Oh and by the way, my house is only 8 months old! I bought her a $32 scratching post, and when she starts this nonsense I grab the stupid thing and put her near it, and she completely ignores it. Do any of you have any ideas of how to get her to use the scratching post? Any other thoughts? We want to keep property damage to a minimum. Just for the record-declawing her at this age really isn't an option. I appreciate any thoughts or ideas! Thanks!
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Re: NWR-My cat is destroying my house! Help!

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    Elle1036Elle1036 member
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    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_nwr-my-cat-is-destroying-my-house-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:096ca521-ce6e-4375-aa8a-992315caf691Post:c452567d-d44d-4009-95a9-6e6ca5c7c769">NWR-My cat is destroying my house! Help!</a>:
    [QUOTE]Girls- I have a 5 year old cat named Izzy who I never declawed because I feel it's cruel and unneccesary. She's a great cat, if not a little nuts, but we love her dearly. However, in the last 6 months, my darling kitten has taken to scratching the wood work/trim next to my doors, in addition to one of FI's chairs! My thought is that this may be due to the fact that she's been cooped up indoors all winter, it's been a very cold few months here in Michigan. In warmer weather she does go outdoors. I'm not so upset about the ugly chair because I don't really like it much (heh) and we are planning to replace it anyhow, but the trim around 3 of my doors is in need of repair. Oh and by the way, my house is only 8 months old! I bought her a $32 scratching post, and when she starts this nonsense I grab the stupid thing and put her near it, and she completely ignores it. Do any of you have any ideas of how to get her to use the scratching post? Any other thoughts? We want to keep property damage to a minimum. <strong>Just for the record-declawing her at this age really isn't an option</strong>. I appreciate any thoughts or ideas! Thanks!
    Posted by radleyboo[/QUOTE]

    Good.  Anyone who suggests this should have her own fingernails pulled out.

    Anyway, it sounds like she's just bored.  I think you're right and that spending the winter sequestered indoors has really taken a toll on her.  Do you have any other cat toys (other than the scratch post) around the house?
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    thejucheideathejucheidea member
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    My cousin used Soft Paws for her destructive kitten: http://www.softpaws.com/

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    buddysmom80buddysmom80 member
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    My cat does this until we bought him a cat tree and rubbed the whole thing down with catnip.  He now prefers the tree even though he tore our couch up.  If he's into cat nip see if rubbing that on the cat tree will help

    Also what we did (and it doesn't look pretty) is we took clear packing tape and put it on our other half decent couch sticky side up and he hated it.  I think aluminum foil may work as well. 

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    radleybooradleyboo member
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    @Buddysmom-good idea on the catnip, I will put some all over the post and see if she likes it!

    @Elle-yes, we have lots of toys around.  I think I pulled 8 of them out from under the bed the other day so she has them out and accessible.  She's actually fairly obsessed with the 'Red Dot' laser toy, which my 12 year old cat completely ignores.  You just have to say, 'Red Dot!' and Izzy will wake up from a sound sleep, ready to go.  Maybe I'll attach a toy to the post too and see if that helps.  My cats are spoiled rotten.

    @StillWell-I'd never heard of SoftPaws!  I will show that to FI when he gets home tonight.  Do you know if they are difficult to put on?  It's like a mani/pedi for cats, love it! 

    Thanks girls, I know there are a lot of fur-mamas here, I knew I'd get some good ideas. 
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    SwazzleSwazzle member
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    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_nwr-my-cat-is-destroying-my-house-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:096ca521-ce6e-4375-aa8a-992315caf691Post:9831cb19-fc82-4a00-85b2-e80f9260583a">Re: NWR-My cat is destroying my house! Help!</a>:
    [QUOTE]@Buddysmom-good idea on the catnip, I will put some all over the post and see if she likes it! @Elle-yes, we have lots of toys around.  I think I pulled 8 of them out from under the bed the other day so she has them out and accessible.  She's actually fairly obsessed with the 'Red Dot' laser toy, which my 12 year old cat completely ignores.  You just have to say, 'Red Dot!' and Izzy will wake up from a sound sleep, ready to go.  Maybe I'll attach a toy to the post too and see if that helps.  My cats are spoiled rotten. @StillWell<strong>-I'd never heard of SoftPaws!  I will show that to FI when he gets home tonight.  Do you know if they are difficult to put on?  It's like a mani/pedi for cats, love it!</strong>  Thanks girls, I know there are a lot of fur-mamas here, I knew I'd get some good ideas. 
    Posted by radleyboo[/QUOTE]

    <div>I've used SoftPaws on my cats. As long as they don't mind getting their nails trimmed, it's not hard at all.</div>



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    Elle1036Elle1036 member
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    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_nwr-my-cat-is-destroying-my-house-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:096ca521-ce6e-4375-aa8a-992315caf691Post:b9f2eaac-0b22-42b1-8bb2-cb525ba8e613">Re: NWR-My cat is destroying my house! Help!</a>:
    [QUOTE]My cat does this until we bought him a cat tree and rubbed the whole thing down with catnip.  He now prefers the tree even though he tore our couch up.  If he's into cat nip see if rubbing that on the cat tree will help<strong> Also what we did (and it doesn't look pretty) is we took clear packing tape and put it on our other half decent couch sticky side up and he hated it.  I think aluminum foil may work as well. 
    </strong>Posted by buddysmom80[/QUOTE]

    We did this, too, but we didn't even need to put it sticky-side up.  We just covered the spot they were scratching with tape, and they stopped trying to scratch it.  I guess they didn't like the new smooth texture.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
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    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_nwr-my-cat-is-destroying-my-house-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:096ca521-ce6e-4375-aa8a-992315caf691Post:35d2ca7e-7432-42d5-9ef3-32e32f56ef34">Re: NWR-My cat is destroying my house! Help!</a>:
    [QUOTE]My cousin used <strong>Soft Paws</strong> for her destructive kitten: <a href="http://www.softpaws.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.softpaws.com/</a>
    Posted by ahstillwell[/QUOTE]

    This was going to be my suggestion.

    I've tried these on my cat. The work great at protecting your stuff, but it really depends on the cat. My cat would gnaw at them until she chewed or pulled them off...but this may not be an issue for every cat. They weren't too hard to attach to her claws, but I have a cat who easily lets me trim her nails. If nail trims are tough in your house, this may be even more difficult. It's a good idea to have someone help since it may take more than two hands to hold the cat, the plastic nail covers and the glue. I think they're worth a try for the price though!

    Good luck!
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    GoldenPenguinGoldenPenguin mod
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I might have to try the Soft Paws when we begin the cohabitating process. Brady is pretty good about only scratching his scratcher, but BF is worried that he's going to scratch up his leather couch.



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    lyndsay782lyndsay782 member
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    You have to be careful with Soft paws.  They don't always come off like they are supposed to.  I used them once on my fur child, and while the rest of her nails had all grown, and the soft pasw came off as they should, one did not.  I caught her limping and noticed that the nail was starting to grow into her poor foot.  (they are supposed to last 4-6 weeks, and this was 3 weeks in, her nails grow quick, i guess).

    I took her to a vet for removal, and he said it happens all the time.  

    I now use the spray with lemon in it, and it keeps her off the hot spots.  She does get mad at me once I spray, cause she hates the smell, but it keeps her off the furniture. 
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    Knottie_22386076Knottie_22386076
    We use SoftPaws on our kitty babies!!!!! They are the best!!!! 
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    kmbirkelkmbirkel member
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    We haven't tried Soft Paws, but we have a moderately aggressive one year old kitten who we adopted from a shelter when he was two months old, and he loves to scratch/claw absolutely everything. We keep his claws trimmed (which he loathes) so he doesn't usually leave scratch marks, but the constant pawing sounds used to drive us batty. He has been SO much less of a pain in the you-know-what since we got him a fabulous cat tree. It was expensive, but so so so worth it... he loves it for scratching, sleeping, and generally going batshit crazy/leaping all over things, too. This is the one we bought:

    http://www.amazon.com/Armarkat-B6802-68-Inch-Tree-Ivory/dp/B003BYQ1L4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1363748104

    We've had it about four months now and it's still a major hit - he has not gotten bored of it yet. Hope this helps somewhat :)
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    OneLuckyNurseOneLuckyNurse member
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    edited March 2013
    My friend who is a vet Tech had a similar situation and she handled by try the soft paws, which she said worked ok for her. She also put a bit of cat nips/treat on the posts to train them that it was a good thing to scratch. She also spent a weekend with a water squirt bottle, squirting her cat when it got near the wood work with malicious intent :) Seemed to worked pretty well. Recently visited her new home and there were no scratch marks :) Good luck!

     

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