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Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:33 am
by Graham
Hello.

We could do with some advice. At night we keep our cat closed in the living/dining room. This has always been fine (had him a couple of months) but recently he's started pulling at the carpet by the front room door wanting to get out. In the last 4 nights he's ripped a big hole under the door leaving a pile of torn carpet and underlay.

Any tips at trying to stop this? My mum suggested white pepper on the area!

I tried letting him have the run of the house and just keeping our bedroom door closed but within 10mins he was doing the same to the carpet outside our bedroom door! We really aren't keen on him sleeping in our bedroom with us!

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 9:40 am
by greenkitty
I think he's decided he wants to sleep in your room!

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 10:05 am
by Janey
greenkitty wrote:I think he's decided he wants to sleep in your room!
I do too lol!

We have a stray cat staying with us at the moment, and we initially didn't let her in our bedroom. The reason we didn't let her in initially is because she's only fairly young, and a very active cat and tends to run round a like a nutter when the mood takes her. Anyhow, she was actually fine in the other room but we ended feeling sorry for her being locked out and let her in. I put a small cat mat/blanket at the bottom of the bed for her to sleep on and lifted on it. Touch wood she's been great she just goes on her little part of the bed and sleeps most of the night and through the day (when she's indoors). You could try that?
Failing that you could try the usual things e.g. playing with him before you go to bed to tire him out, leaving some toys, leaving some dry food/biscuits (or food in a timer) in case he's hungry, or getting a companion, if he likes other cats - and you can afford it of course. My stray cat scratches the bedroom carpet when she goes in so I need to get another scratching post for in there, but there are also things you can use to deter the carpet scratching, others may more suggestions on that.

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 11:26 am
by Graham
Oh there's no doubt he wants to be in our room! :) I'm just very reluctant! We have a 3 year old that wakes us early enough without a cat adding to it!!

Our vet told us she doesn't want him getting any heavier for health reasons so we've gone from topping his food bowl up as and when to following the guide on the packet with 2 meals a day. Being a rescue former stray I'm told they tend to over eat, it will come as no surprise his behaviour change has happened at the same time his diet did!!! ;)

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 12:11 pm
by Lilith
If anyone's familiar with the TS Eliot poem about the Rum Tum Tugger...'he's always on the wrong side of every door.'

I'm afraid that's cats for you. In this house all the doors have to be left open except in very cold weather and then the cats get CROSS. Asking to go upstairs, wanting to be downstairs...

Sorry Graham, this doesn't solve your problem, especially with a small child getting you up at the creak of dawn, as they say, but -

Perhaps once the cat comes to terms with his diet he may be calmer, does sound as if it's contributing to his behaviour (and rescues do get ravenous! Shame you have to diet him but of course that's down to the vet...could you save him a small snack for overnight maybe?) And if he's allowed to roam the house at night, he might just settle, not even necessarily on your bed. And even if he did, all you would get might be a greyish patch on the duvet cover...don't ask me why such a clean animal as a cat can inflict so much grime on the bedclothes, but they do. However, what are washing machines for?

Cats are very tactful btw - during my married life, cats on the bed would take the hint and disappear during intimate moments lol.

A cat on the bed is actually very soothing.

Myself, I couldn't sleep without a cat snuggled next to me :)

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 2:46 pm
by lilynmitz
I had cats who did this. By a length of that transparent plastic carpet protector, long enough to go lengthways ACROSS the width if your door. Cut it in half lengthways. Next place it across the doorway, half ion and half out of the room. Carefully trim it round the door frame and architrave so that it's a tight fit. That's really important as you don't want the cat's claws to get under it at the edges and claw any exposed bit of carpet. Practice with newspaper till you get the hang of it, or make a template. Next get some self adhesive Velcro and stick the hooky side of it right round the edge of the carpet protector, and then place it across the doorway. Make sure you can close the door ok. Result? The cat can scratch at the floor as much as it likes. It can't damage your carpet, so you can safely ignore it till the cat gets bored and gives up. Good to put a scratching post by the door as well, so it has something it can take its frustration out on! It worked for us for years.

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 9:07 pm
by Graham
Well we're leaving the door open tonight....... :roll:

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 9:38 pm
by lilynmitz
Lol Lilith re your last 3 paras. Mitz used to hop off the bed when it started getting a bit bumpy(!) and sit on the landing till it was safe to come back in again.

Tbh I prefer to have a cat sleeping on the bed too, but OH is a light sleeper so a decent nights sleep has to be our priority.

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 12:03 am
by Kay
my Tosker always wants to sleep on my bed, but damaged sinuses means he is just too noisy a breather to have up close when I'm lying down, so if he approaches the top of the bed I just grasp the duvet with both hands and toss him back down to the bottom, and after a couple of heaves he takes the hint and curls up near my feet, where he is no bother

I find training cats not to do things is a complete waste of time but nudging them into some kind of compromise can work .......... sometimes

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:09 am
by Sue Goddard
I think they call it " separation anxiety"...He just wants to be with you..aaaww..But doesn't do the carpets any good I know.
I'm sure once the bedroom door is open for him, he will soon either sleep happily on the bed or find somewhere near to you to sleep..as long as he knows your near.
I've had this a few times with the Siamese we have rescued...once they are allowed in they soon settle and you'll get a good nights sleep....hopefully, but the best laid plans etc..!!!

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:32 am
by greenkitty
Did you all have a peaceful night?!

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 7:31 pm
by Crewella
If the above don't work, another option might be to get him some company. My old Giddy used to dig up our carpets when we were out or in another room, but when we got another cat she never did it again.

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:07 pm
by notjustacat
When my rescue cat Cheyenne was in the bonding room she ripped several holes in the carpet, dislodged a piece of skirting board, pulled the curtains down including the tracks and managed to open a drawer in the room scattering the contents all over the carpet. I used strong tape under the tread of the door which stopped her pulling that bit of carpet up and taped the drawers shut. The curtains are still down. Things greatly improved when she discovered the great outdoors. I guess getting out there let her get rid of some of that pent up energy. However since then she has had a go at some expensive chairs in the living room albeit that there are several scratch poles dotted around the room. I had to resort to making some heavy duty polythene covers for each chair which are put on them before I go to bed each night. Good job I love her to bits.

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 8:10 pm
by Kay
has Cheyenne turned into a fully domesticated companion after all, Mick? when you last posted she was AWOL most of the time, and anything but friendly

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 9:49 pm
by lilynmitz
Oh no, I'm bringing a scared rescue home on Friday, hope she doesn't do the same to my bedroom!! :-(

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 10:19 pm
by Crewella
When I had foster cat Baxter in my spare room, one of the reasons I let him out to meet the rest of the gang was that he was digging at the carpet around the door ........ and then proceeded to start ripping chunks out of the wood! OK, it's a rough old plank door, but he was really starting to demolish it - I was gobsmacked!

It's pretty unusual for cats to be that extreme, though - I'm sure newbie will just hide like most scaredy rescues. Good luck, and gentle, soothing virtual fusses to her. xx

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 11:03 am
by sarie
http://www.amazon.co.uk/PetSafe-SssCat- ... rds=ssscat" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This. I let my cats have run of the house but I shut the bedroom door at night and this solves any issues with them coming up to the door in the night and trying to dig their way in :lol:
I used to let mine in with me but their behaviour got a bit out of hand during the night (lots of bed wrestling and leaping around) and they were having an impact on my ability to function on a morning so I had to start shutting them out.

It sounds a little harsh but in practice it isn't at all and it works instantly. My cats only ever set it off twice and they now know better than to go near it. The only reason it ran out of gas was because I kept setting it off myself by mistake haha. The other bonus is it's totally harmless and it isn't tied to you at all so they never associate it with you personally.

I hadn't had to use it for about a year but the other night Clive suddenly started shredding my carpet to get into the bedroom again out of the blue. I resurrected it last night to try to save my sleep and the carpet but realised it had flat batteries and the gas bottle was empty. However, just having it by the door was enough of a deterrent and Clive kept well clear of it. His face when I put it by the door... it was a look of "Oh Christ, why's that thing back?!"
He took one quick sniff of it and then decided to just stay away from the door :lol:

Clive is a very nervous cat so I was a little concerned about using it when I first got it as I worried it might make his nerves worse but it hasn't at all. It's a little expensive to buy initially but for me it was worth every penny. I've used it to deter them from a number of different places (cooker top, behind the TV where the wires are etc) and within a few days I can usually take it away and they don't go near the place anymore.

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 7:07 pm
by Graham
Hello. Sorry for the delay in responding, I've been away for a couple of days, first night was ok but I was up at 5am to leave so wasn't too bad. Things haven't been great for my wife while I've been away, he's up at various times in the night to have a mad moment and shes not sleeping. She struggles without sleep so it's not good.

We'll see if he settles down. The last two nights he's been out for a couple of hours before bed but it's not helped. He's quite shy and really doesn't go far, he's only been going out for about a month

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 5:00 pm
by sarie
Graham - I've got a 7 month old nutty kitten and I combine the Ssscat I mentioned above with earplugs at night as I can't cope without my sleep. Works a charm. Get your wife some earplugs haha.

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:04 am
by Lilith
Good luck - paws crossed that he settles.

I confess I get really mad if Molly tries to use me as a trampoline in the middle of the night - but now she's refusing to sleep in the bedroom!

I've just replaced my ancient duvet with a duck feather one (on offer in Argos, can recommend them) and last night she came up at bedtime as usual, jumped up - and looked horrified. The new duvet rustles and she Doesn't Like It. She balanced gingerly (pun intended; she is) on the end rail, every so often putting a paw down on the horrible object and giving me accusing looks. What had I done to Her Bed? She couldn't be reassured and I spent a Molly-less night and felt very lonely.

I know they say put tinfoil down to deter a fouling cat as it dislikes the rustling it makes; when she was new I had to do that with her - and she didn't give a damn about the foil, but she hates that duvet! Can only hope she gets used to it in time; I'm beginning to wish she WOULD come and jump up and down on me again...

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 11:41 pm
by Mrs Kane
I wish our cat was as snuggle friendly Lilith. She seems to come to bed about an hour before our alarms go off more often than not, then looks offended when we have to get up. (How do I know she's come to bed? because she's a walking, talking purring machine 24/7, no idea why, and she's very loud) She doesn't disturb us anymore by rolling around, which is nice I suppose but I kinda miss the first week she was here and used to come to bed and nip my hand and settle on me to sleep.

Don't get me wrong, on weekends when we sleep past 10 she's there hogging the covers like a pro. :P

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 10:51 am
by Lilith
Mrs Kane wrote:I wish our cat was as snuggle friendly Lilith. She seems to come to bed about an hour before our alarms go off more often than not, then looks offended when we have to get up. (How do I know she's come to bed? because she's a walking, talking purring machine 24/7, no idea why, and she's very loud) She doesn't disturb us anymore by rolling around, which is nice I suppose but I kinda miss the first week she was here and used to come to bed and nip my hand and settle on me to sleep.

Don't get me wrong, on weekends when we sleep past 10 she's there hogging the covers like a pro. :P
Hi there and congrats on your new girl btw - she's gorgeous and she sounds a darling :D

Bless her, she sounds a good girl and she seems to be settling in well - it's taken me 3 YEARS for Molly to allow me to stroke her belly and she still won't sit on my knee, but Moll does love her bed and we've had 3 forlorn nights with her sitting on the floor and looking up at me as if to say 'Why can you use my bed and I can't?' However, this morning - breakthrough! I'm still slothfullly propped up on the pillows and she's sitting here purring beside me as I type. I think she will sleep on the bed tonight!

How's it going with your lad, Graham? :)

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 2:12 pm
by Cussypat1974
Is she indoor only? If so, does she have a scratching post? They NEED to do their nails (for nails and their muscles) and they are generally more active at night.

Let her sleep with you, because it is LUUUUUURVERY! But failing that, spray a scratching post with catnip. Also, vary the scratch posts. They need to scratch both horizontally and vertically. So you need to provide both options! you can buy cardboard scratchers for a small fortune, or just get a cardboard box.......!

IMOH, cats and carpets/curtains just don't mix lol. It is just too much hard work! Or maybe I am lazy (plus I have 30-odd cats).

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:54 pm
by Mrs Kane
IMOH, cats and carpets/curtains just don't mix lol. It is just too much hard work! Or maybe I am lazy (plus I have 30-odd cats).
30?! Wow!! How do you manage to cope with them all?

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 11:23 am
by Jan
This is a problem I wished I'd solved long ago by thinking of taping down some plastic across the carpet in front of our bedroom door :roll:

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 1:52 pm
by Cussypat1974
Mrs Kane, I ended up with them..... At one point I had 48. I moved to the country to provide them with a safe sanctuary for life. I don't have carpets though! They were ripped out of the house before I even brought the cats lol. About half are semi-feral, so don't enjoy cuddles. So long as they get their grub and blankets and medical attention when needed, they really don't take up too much time. I spend more time cleaning litter boxes and "accidents" than anything else to be honest! Sme of them prefer to go beside the box than in it, and one has taken to making deposits just inside the door of their living room (they have their own living room....)

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 6:56 pm
by Graham
How's it going with your lad, Graham? :)[/quote]

Hi. Sorry I've not been on for a while. We've had good nights and bad. A few weeks ago I could have killed him and if it wasn't for the fact he's much quicker than me I may well have :) 1am I went to get up to stop him trashing something in our room and I smashed my shin on the corner of the bed so hard it bled. It's till in a bad way now! If that wasn't bad enough about an hour later I was just dozing off when he pounced (claws out) on my exposed foot. I chased him down the stairs in a rage, I launched one of his soft toys at him somewhere into the darkness where I thought he was (along with a few expletives) and stomped back to bed. 10mins later I heard him creeping back into our room, he tried to come and see me but I pushed him towards the bottom of the bed and he settled there and was quiet for the rest of the night. I think he knew he'd gone too far!!

Lately he's much better. He's up stupidly early but he's calmed down a lot. Feeding him a bit later seems to have helped.

As for your comments about cats having 'tact' during 'Intermate' times well ours doesn't have that skill and I've got the scars to prove it :o :roll:

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 7:52 pm
by Lilith
Ohh dear - sorry to hear he's not being very 'tactful' - or well behaved for that matter.

Yeah you do get some cats who just don't get the point without some strong language - my youngest is the same and I have to threaten to THROTTLE her (not that I would but I feel EVIL if my sleep's disturbed) before, like your little guy, she realises she's overstepped the mark and then she's all purrs and sweetness, ha!

Good luck and keep purrsevering! :D

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 9:39 pm
by Graham
I know, sleep depravasion makes things distorted and you do crazy things!

Re: Cat ripping up carpet at night

Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 11:36 pm
by Mrs Kane
Believe me on early weekdays I've wanted to kill Sofi as well. Jumping on the bed and needling herself on my stomach with her claws out is not how I like to be woken up in the night, even if I have PJs on.

"5am?! Seriously? Go bother one of your toys. Either sleep or get the hell out."