Scratching up our carpet Help.

Bengals uk · **Joined:** Sun Jun 12, 2016 9:58 am **Posts:** 4

Scratching up the carpet :cry:

My Bengal male nuted kitten that's 7month old keeps scratching up the carpet but in different areas of the house.
We give him lots of attention and lots of play time we have a large scratch post and a smaller one too.
We also have another Bengal cat that is nearly 3yrs old.

I have put Vicks oil down to prevent him doing it which the smell wears off and then he does it again.
I have noticed he does it if we stop playing with him, or when we go to bed. So I feel it might be attention seeking but he does get a lot of that and some times both cats do play together. But they don't always get on as the older cat gets fed up of him following her at times.

Not sure what the answer is to this :(.

Thank you

Lisa

Seraph · **Joined:** Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:24 pm **Posts:** 308

Have you tried using a catnip spray all over the scratching posts and places you are ok with him scratching?

Only other thing is maybe before you go to bed set up a treat ball or something that he needs to spend some time rolling around to wear him out when he's on his own.

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

As well as scratch posts I have scratch boxes in pretty much every room. They seem to like working their claws horizontally as well as vertically... You can get scratch boxes with balls inside and holes on the top and sides, which keeps them busy too.

You could put the scratch boxes on top of the areas he's scratching and see if that helps.

Bengals uk · **Joined:** Sun Jun 12, 2016 9:58 am **Posts:** 4

Bengals uk · **Joined:** Sun Jun 12, 2016 9:58 am **Posts:** 4

Seraph · **Joined:** Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:24 pm **Posts:** 308

Fingers crossed it helps, our little girl used to scratch up wallpaper on every windowsill she could get to but catnip on the scratching posts did help a bit.

brianj12 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 13, 2016 2:42 am

I think the way that you have to kind of look at this is that something is going to get scratched because cats have that need. And the thing that gets scratched is the thing that you cat likes best to scratch, based on whatever criteria she has.

So what can you do?

a) Try to make the carpet, or sections of the carpet less attractive to scratch.
That's not necessarily very practical if it is a vast area, but you might be able to "bitter yuck" parts of it that are the worst spots, or use area rugs that are less attractive to the cat for scratching.

b) Try to make other scratching options more attractive than the carpet.
This is probably more practical. So probably large, sturdy scratching posts in the areas where the scratching most frequently occurs. Catnip infusion like others have suggested is a good idea.

c) Give up and look at it more pragmatically. If your cat has determined, stubbornly, that the carpet is THE place to scratch, you might just have to concede defeat, and look at it as a necessary expense. You could replace the rug with something tougher and less attractive to the cats to scratch (maybe thinner or thicker ply or whatever).

CMYKjill · **Joined:** Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:38 pm **Posts:** 1838

Tile or wood work best with kitties.

Skyblue · **Joined:** Sat Dec 05, 2015 9:24 pm **Posts:** 42

You might try cardboard scratchers. My cat has several types of scratching post, horizontally and vertically, but it turns out corrugated cardboard is her favourite. A few flattened cardboard boxes standing on their edges in a block will give you an idea of whether your cat will take to it (that's how I accidentally found out for mine).

You can get all sorts of cardboard options, they are often very cheap, and tough. If you are in the UK, Purrs In Our Hearts do a tiny one http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/shop/ ... egory_id=0 that is great for dotting about, and Zooplus have loads. Alternatively, if you don't have lots to otherwise recycle, buying a few flat packed boxes makes for a good high rise cardboard scratch playground: the slight wobbliness when the cat stands on then seems to add to the fun!

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Definitely, you need a dozen or so scratchers around, especially if you have multiple cats. Scratching shows territory and perhaps this one doesn't like the scent the other kitties are putting down. You can also look for carpet remnants since cats seem to love carpet! Even mine will hop on the stairs to the bonus room every now and then and go to town. Those pictures show little devils in the making. :biggrin:

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I'd have all types of scratchers. You should have a couple of tall cat trees with sisal rope that they use. Cardboard scratchers are great -- Raiden loves his. I'm guessing you need at least 3 per cat. Vicks has a smell I really like ... I don't know about cats. But, spraying catnip on the scratchers may help and some cardboard scratchers come with catnip that you rub into the cardboard. When you see a cat scratching the carpet, a loud "no" and hand clap may do the trick. Eventually, you'd think they would understand. I'm sure they do and then continue to do what they want anyway. Bengals are like that.

laurel · **Posted:** Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:55 pm

My girl absolutely loves to scratch our new carpet , not so much any other carpet in the house.. It makes her so happy doing that ,that I can't say No to her. So we thought that once this carpet is worn out we will get a cheaper option carpet and let her enjoy it too at less expense to us. It has been 2 years with that carpet now and so far there are no visible damages to it, well apart from few threads sticking out - but that's really nothing in my world. I am happy to see my girl happy.

Bengals uk · **Joined:** Sun Jun 12, 2016 9:58 am **Posts:** 4

Hey,

Thank you for all your advice I'm gonna try different things you have all suggested and see what works the best. I'm hoping he grows out of it as he is only still a baby :wink:

Good idea with getting carpet pieces too ;)

Lisa

Scratching up our carpet Help.

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