Cat Training and Behavior (Domestic and Feral)/cat padding carpet

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Expert: Dear Tabbi - 8/12/2008


Question
Our cat has plenty of scratching pads and has a buddy to play with all day, but she likes to pad the carpet near the bathroom door. Her padding results in little pieces of the carpet coming attached.  If I reprimand her, she just does it again.  Do you think it's a coping behavior or there is something else I need to do for her.  Thanks!

Answer
Debbie,

The first thing is to keep the cat's claws trimmed. Here is a site that shows you how to do the claws with pictures:
http://www.cat-world.com.au/catclaws.htm

Cats prefer scratching posts with sissel or hemp rope on it. It is more like the trees that the cats use in the wild. Also a kitty condo or a scratching post they can climb on or reach up to scratch their claws usually works better than a small post or a flat one.

Put some orange or lemon peels in a blender with a little water. Sprinkle that around the area in front of the bathroom door that the cat is scratching. Cats hate the smell of citrus and it is a deterrent.

Also put a sheet of plastic in front of the bathroom door like the kind they use under office chairs or computers.

I hope these ideas help.

Tabbi

Cat Training and Behavior (Domestic and Feral)

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Dear Tabbi

Expertise

My expertise is in helping people understand their cat (or cats) and their behavior. Questions are welcome even if you don't have a cat....just a question about them. Hopefully my experience, suggestions, and comments will be of help to you...and your cat (or cats). Looking through my past responses to questions will give you additional information and/or answers too. Domestic Cats = cats (no matter what breed) who are tame or not wild, or abandoned cats who were pets that became wild, but can be tamed again. Ferals = cats who are born with one or more parents who were wild stray cats. They usually have had no interactions with people. They have an inbred distrust of humans and are difficult to socialize. They are skittish, hide, and are afraid of people. They take a lot of time and patience to work with them. A lot of kittens from shelters had a feral parent.

Experience

Since I was a child, over 45 years, I have been owned by a LOT of cats and kittens of almost every temperament, behavior, and personality. I have had experience with neurotic, disabled (including blind), stray, and 'problem child' cats and kittens. (A few normal cats too!) Plus all the things a lifetime of owning cats and research has taught me. I also have experience in feral cat behavior (which is different from domestic cats), and some experience with feral colonies that includes colony feeding and feral cat TNR (trap/neuter/release).

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