I live in student apartments, and I got my cat in october 2021. He was four months old when I got him.
Since then, he’s either slept in my room or the living room, but I suspect my roommate is doing something to him because he recently starting pooping in my roommates bathroom on the floor. This is the ONLY place he does this at, and otherwise has no issues using a litter box. The litter box in the living room, and the one in my room are both clean.
Because of that, I’ve decided that he will now be staying in my room full time. This has not been an issue the past week, but yesterday while I was at school, he ripped the carpet up off the floor from near/under my bedroom door in what I assume was an attempt to get out. I stuck it back down with masking tape, because I don’t have the ability to run to the store and get carpet glue.
Last night, while I was asleep, he ripped it back up again.
As you all might imagine, this is really p*ss*ng me off. There is no reason for him to be doing this. He has a scratching post and a scratching board. He has toys. I play with him and cuddle him when I can / when he wants. He has clean litter and good food and clean water.
How can I discourage this behavior?
My apartment management is doing inspections right now (they only give us a month long window of time of when they might stop by instead of a set date so its harder to prepare and expect them which sucks), and I really can’t afford a fine for this right now. I’m really hoping they won’t notice, but I don’t know how to make this stop. It’s stressing me out a lot. Any help would be great.
Cat ripping carpet up off floor by my bedroom door.
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crazykitty
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Re: Cat ripping carpet up off floor by my bedroom door.
I’m going to say something unpopular here, it’s not intended as having a go at you, it’s trying to get to the root cause of the problem. Sometimes being honest is more constructive than being “nice”.
You need to look at this from your cat’s viewpoint. This may be annoying you, but not half as much as being confined to one room is annoying your cat. One room is simply not enough space to raise a young cat (or any cat), and he will be getting bored and frustrated and his clawing at the carpet by the door is a clear message that he wants to get out. It’s the equivalent of asking a two year old child to understand why he’s never let out of his bedroom and wondering why he’s behaving badly.
It may be that it’s human behaviour that needs correcting, not the cat’s. Instead of punishing the cat for the poops in your room mates bathroom, I would suggest you have a frank conversation with him/her to find out what may be triggering your cat doing this. If your room mate can’t be relied on to treat your cat with kindness and respect, perhaps this isn’t an appropriate household to raise a young cat, however much you may love him and want feline company. At the very least put a litter tray in there and offer to clean it out regularly. It has to better than pooping on the floor? Or maybe just get your roomie to close the bathroom door.
Meanwhile, for times when you really have to confine him to your room, put some double sided tape on the area of carpet he scratches. Make sure it’s well stuck to the carpet, as it’s even harder to peel off a freaked out cat.
But basically, your cat is bored and frustrated and scratching and inappropriate soiling can be the result.
You need to look at this from your cat’s viewpoint. This may be annoying you, but not half as much as being confined to one room is annoying your cat. One room is simply not enough space to raise a young cat (or any cat), and he will be getting bored and frustrated and his clawing at the carpet by the door is a clear message that he wants to get out. It’s the equivalent of asking a two year old child to understand why he’s never let out of his bedroom and wondering why he’s behaving badly.
It may be that it’s human behaviour that needs correcting, not the cat’s. Instead of punishing the cat for the poops in your room mates bathroom, I would suggest you have a frank conversation with him/her to find out what may be triggering your cat doing this. If your room mate can’t be relied on to treat your cat with kindness and respect, perhaps this isn’t an appropriate household to raise a young cat, however much you may love him and want feline company. At the very least put a litter tray in there and offer to clean it out regularly. It has to better than pooping on the floor? Or maybe just get your roomie to close the bathroom door.
Meanwhile, for times when you really have to confine him to your room, put some double sided tape on the area of carpet he scratches. Make sure it’s well stuck to the carpet, as it’s even harder to peel off a freaked out cat.
But basically, your cat is bored and frustrated and scratching and inappropriate soiling can be the result.