Cat Scratching Carpet

[iloveglee]

We have recently re-homed an 8 year old cat, subject of a previous post. we have had her for almost 2 months and she now seems to be settling in well. she is still a little nervous and spooks quite easily but loves to get close to us when we're in bed, or sitting in an evening. she loves to be stroked and brushed and spends much more time exploring the house from when we first had her. then she spent 23 out of 24 hours under the bed. however she has a very bad habit of scratching the carpet, especially the stairs. she likes to sleep on the stairs at night and has two scratching posts, one new and one that came with her and which has been used. she refuses to scratch on either of them and is tearing one step of the carpet to shreds. does anyone know of any foolproof method to stop this. her claws are very sharp as she is not yet going outside, and i know cats NEED to scratch but what is this thing about not scratching the thing provided for them. i believe there are sprays of one kind or another but do they really work. i dont want to do anything to upset her as she is still getting used to being here, but all and any suggestions are welcome.

[josaphine32]

Bitter apple spray, orange, lemon, pineapple peel on stairs, or bitter apple in a spray open tub of vic works a treat, get some cat nip every pet shop has it, it looks like dry mint, rub it up and down post or where you want her to scratch, when your cat is due for waking, put paws on scratching post she/he will smell it and will automatic sharpen her claws, always food or love treat when she does it, only a small amount of nip as it looses its smell, re rub daily, x I have 9 cats

[iloveglee]

i think i must have the only cat in the world that isnt interested in catnip. when she came we got her some catnip mice and she has never shown the slightest interest in them. i suppose they may have been old but next doors cats love them. maybe i should try growing some in pots. its a dilemma because i dont want to put her off from going on the stairs, just to stop her scratching the carpet. i have read about feliway but am a bit unsure whether this deters or attracts cats.

[wolf63]

Cats are evil.

Sometimes they scratch carpets, walls etc to keep their claws in good condition and sometimes it is attention seeking.

My two are about a similar age to your young lady, they are brother and sister. Not only do they look very different ( http://tinyurl.com/o26z86c ) they have vastly different personalities and habits.

You will never understand them - just try not to throttle them

[baza]

you never own a cat . a cat owns you.

[Baldric]

We stopped our cat scratching where he shouldn't by using a plant-spray set on Jet and filled with tap water.
It keeps the Dobies in line as well.
;-)

[wolf63]

Baldric - I bet that your puppies are easier to "control" than pesky felines.

My two don't touch the sofa but some of the woodwork and the carpet at the top of the stairs are under attack.

[CatGirl4]

Have you tried just covering that particular step,maybe with a bit of material? are any of the scratching posts small enough to also put on this step? I'm quite lucky,none of my cats have ever done this,i have found that a "sharpish"NO stops any unwanted behaviour.

[Hopkirk]

Get one of these corrugated cardboard scratching posts.

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=5860&pf_id=64175

Cats love them, and rip them to shreds.

Ours has been known to sleep on his, he loves it so much.

[iloveglee]

I have looked at no end of products, none of which seem to fit the bill. i have rubbed catnip on both of the scratch posts we have, no interest at all. i have tried them standing up, lying down, no joy. she simply wants to scratch the stair carpet and it is very difficult to put anything on there that will deter her from scratching but wont deter her from going up the stairs at all. (she sleeps upstairs out of the way because she is quite nervous). she does most of the scratching in the middle of the night when we are in bed so its hard to catch her at it. it is clearly not attention seeking the reason for her doing it, just that she has to scratch. i have tried laying the scratch post down alongside her favourite stair, but she then moves to another one, soon i will have every step in shreds. does anyone know of any other substance that attracts cats than catnip because she has no interest in that at all. tried putting her food (dry) on the scratchpost board to attract her to it. she eats the food then goes to the stair carpet to scratch!!

[Hopkirk]

Our cat went through a phase of doing that.

I covered the area at night with a towel.