[Lucas718]

I need help to get Gazoo to stop scratching the carpet. We'd like to get new carpet soon but I can't see the point in it if I know he's just going to destroy it.

We've tried all different types of scratchers - the cardboard type, the vertical sisal type, the sisal mats. He continues to scratch on the carpet. We put sisal mats under the bedroom door to keep him from tearing up the carpet there. He only scratches there in the morning when he wants us to get up. My feeling is he only scratches the mats there because he's trying to get to the carpet.

He has a sisal mat next to his cat tree and he used it when I first got it, but now he wont use it at all and will scratch the carpet right next to it, and sometimes under it. Yes, he'll push it out of the way to get to the carpet underneath.

I tried putting catnip on the various scratchers around the house and he has no interest in it. It's almost like he can't even smell it. Either that or he just doesn't care.

I sat on the floor with him scratching my nails on the mats to try to get the point across to him, but I may as well have been trying to teach him to speak Japanese.

I don't know what to do. In fact pretty much anything we've tried to curb his bad behavior has been useless. He still jumps up on the counters. He still whines outside the bedroom door at 5am. And this week he started turning over his water dish every day. So I got him a new one that has the large water bottle on it - and now he won't go near it.

So frustrating.

 

[catloverami]

One of those weighted water bowls should fix his overturning it.
As for his scratching, get a doormat piece of carpet (twist or cut pile or same as what he wants to scratch on now). Carpet doormat pieces are usually available from hardware or carpet stores and let that be his scratching carpet. It seems that he doesn't respond to catnip, and some cats don't, so I would put the carpet piece near where he prefers to scratch.....feed him all his treats on it, and scratch your fingernails on it and tell him this is his scratching mat. When he does scratch on it, lavish praise on him, lots of "good boy!"s every time you see him do it. You may need more than one carpet piece. For counter jumpers, Ssscat air deterrent can works well. Good luck!

 

[Nell]

but I may as well have been trying to teach him to speak Japanese.

:lol: Sorry, but this just cracked me up.

Do you have Berber carpet?
My cats have tried the digging under the door thing, and with other types of carpet, it was fine, but with Berber it was a disaster because their claws would hook on the loops and pull out the fibers. Like you, I had to put something under the door or I would have ended up with a big bare spot there.

Do you clip his nails? Keeping them clipped frequently will help control the damage. I just bought a new rug for my living room a couple months ago, a really lovely hand tufted rug that my cats are now slowly destroying one strand at a time. They never bothered with the last rug, so I had no idea this was going to be a problem. It's very frustrating. The only way I can keep it under control is by keeping their nails clipped short.

I second the idea of getting him his own piece of carpet, though. From the sound of it, he just likes scratching on carpet more than sisal or cardboard. (Or, you know, you could just replace the carpets with laminate and it would never be a problem again.)

 

[munchkn8835]

I've been trying to redirect Smudge's scratching. When she starts scratching something she shouldn't, I tell her "no" and take her to something she can scratch...I take her feet and make the scratching motion on the new place.

 

[Nell]

As for the other things,

The water dish - What kind were you using before? If you haven't already, try a pet dish (you might have to get one meant for dogs) that is wider on the bottom with the rubber ring on the base. Those are pretty difficult to overturn. Do a search for "no tip cat bowl" to see what I'm talking about.

Meowing outside the bedroom door -
Ignore him. Don't respond to the meowing or scratching in any way. I know that's a lot easier said than done, but you need to be consistent about it or it won't work. If it has no effect on you, he'll eventually stop. If you feed him in the morning, don't do so right after you get up. You don't want him to associate you getting up with food.

Jumping up on the counters-
Remove as many things from the counter that he finds tempting as you can so you don't give him any reason to go up there. Generally, a spray bottle or clapping or chasing the cat off the counter will only work when you're around because they associate it with you. There is a product called SSCat that is an automatic repellent (makes a noise and sprays a jet of compressed air or something when it senses motion.) I've never tried it so I can't comment on how well it works. I have a piece of furniture which I keep on of my plants on, and the way I kept the cats off was to lay down a piece of contact paper sticky side up. When they jumped up there, they didn't like the tacky surface and would jump back down right away. It only took a week or so before they stopped trying. I can't really see that working for counters, though, since most people still want to be able to use them... You may just need to accept the fact that you can't keep the cat off the counter and instead make sure you wash it or use those disinfecting wipes before you do any cooking.

 

[munchkn8835]

I'm concerned about Smudge getting on the island where the stove is. Help!!

 

[lovetimesfour]

I need help to get Gazoo to stop scratching the carpet. We'd like to get new carpet soon but I can't see the point in it if I know he's just going to destroy it.

We've tried all different types of scratchers - the cardboard type, the vertical sisal type, the sisal mats. He continues to scratch on the carpet. We put sisal mats under the bedroom door to keep him from tearing up the carpet there. He only scratches there in the morning when he wants us to get up. My feeling is he only scratches the mats there because he's trying to get to the carpet.

He has a sisal mat next to his cat tree and he used it when I first got it, but now he wont use it at all and will scratch the carpet right next to it, and sometimes under it. Yes, he'll push it out of the way to get to the carpet underneath.

I tried putting catnip on the various scratchers around the house and he has no interest in it. It's almost like he can't even smell it. Either that or he just doesn't care.

I sat on the floor with him scratching my nails on the mats to try to get the point across to him, but I may as well have been trying to teach him to speak Japanese.

I don't know what to do. In fact pretty much anything we've tried to curb his bad behavior has been useless. He still jumps up on the counters. He still whines outside the bedroom door at 5am. And this week he started turning over his water dish every day. So I got him a new one that has the large water bottle on it - and now he won't go near it.

So frustrating.

These aren't "bad" behaviors really, they are just him being a cat. It sounds like you are doing the right things, but he may need more time to understand.

However I have a question for you. What do you feed him? It's quite possible there is something in the food he is eating that disagrees with him, making him less amenable to your training.

 

[Lucas718]

These aren't "bad" behaviors really, they are just him being a cat. It sounds like you are doing the right things, but he may need more time to understand.

However I have a question for you. What do you feed him? It's quite possible there is something in the food he is eating that disagrees with him, making him less amenable to your training.

He gets a rotation of Wellness, Wellness Core, and Blue Wilderness wet cat food. 3 times a day with usually chicken or turkey flavors (no fish).

I did find some carpet scraps in the basement. I think I'll cut them up and place them around the house to see if he'll use those. I don't know if it is berber or not, but he can easilly pull strands out.

We generally do ignore him when he's whining in the morning, but my wife is up at 5:15, so it may appear to Gazoo that he's getting her up. I don't feed him until 8am so I know he's not whining for food. I don't think we can do anything about this.

I do try to keep his nails clipped, but he doesn't always let me. Usually after one or two, he's trying to get away.

The bowls are stainless steel, wider at the top than the bottom. I guess they are pretty easy to turn over, so I got him one with a plastic water bottle and a filter. He likes to jump up in the kitchen sink when I turn the water on, so maybe he'd like a fountain. I just don't want to spend a lot of money on one only to have him ignore it.

We play every night with a laser pointer and Da Bird, but it seems he's losing interest in them. He doesn't go nuts over them like he used to. He still wants to play though. Usually around 9pm he starts whining or doing things to get my attention.

Honestly though, if I could just get him to stop scratching the carpet and use his scratchers then I'd be happy and could overlook the other things.