Cat owners please help

[fknhostile]

We have a 5yr old Maine coon who is destroying our furniture!

We tried multiple scratching posts, double-sided tape, and she gets regular clippings at the groomer. Right now we keep blankets over her regular spots but she's still finding a way.

We haven't tried any sprays yet. I don't know what's good to try.

Any suggestions? I do not want to get her declawed.

[klongoria11]

Have you tried nail covers?

Also, is she scratching vertically (up the arms) or horizontally (across the back)?
Depending on which it is, choose scratching posts/pads accordingly.

Foil in the spots MIGHT help, although my cat just scratched right through it because she gave zero effs.

[sudokufan]

Aluminum foil worked for some spots with our cat, and it's low tech and cheap - you can wrap it around table legs or lay it on counters, or stick it over spots with the double sided tape until she stops trying. My cat hates the sound and the feel; it stopped her from climbing our fake Christmas trees too.

Also, putting lots of catnip on her post and moving it nearer where she was already scratching stuff - some spots in the house she seemed to like more than others. We did have to give up on the carpet on our stairs though, just nothing that was safe to put there and she has to be able to climb them. We'll redo with wood at some point I guess

[fknhostile]

Feb 20, 2017 16:27:49 GMT -5 klongoria11 said:

Have you tried nail covers?

Also, is she scratching vertically (up the arms) or horizontally (across the back)?
Depending on which it is, choose scratching posts/pads accordingly.

Foil in the spots MIGHT help, although my cat just scratched right through it because she gave zero effs.

We have not tried nail covers. Do they work? She scratches vertically. She hates the posts we give her. I'll try foil. Worth a shot!

[fknhostile]

sudokufan she starting to scratch the carpet in front of our bedroom door now. But I hate the carpet (dark green floral) so I'm hoping that means we can replace it soon

[klongoria11]

fknhostile, depends on the cat. I had one cat stop scratching with them. I had another cat (same one that tore through the foil) sit and chew her nails until she got the covers off. She's one determined little cat!

[fknhostile]

Feb 20, 2017 16:32:47 GMT -5 @juliagulia said:

Have you tried balloons? Tape inflated balloons to the area. Most cats keep clear of them because they don't like the movement.

that's interesting. She's scared of pretty much everything so it may just work!

[sarahandeddie]

We used balloons to keep our cat out of the crib (before baby was born). He hates them to this day.

Hope you find something that works!

[adopteditalian]

We have a Maine coon as well, she is almost 15 now. I hope one of the suggestions above work for you, which are great ones. Unfortunately we did not have any luck with nail covers, foil or posts, toys etc. We made the really tough decision after 2 couches in 3 years and severe scratches to my FIL to get her declawed. I cried and cried but I felt like we did not have another choice if we wanted to keep her in the house, for at the time I was pregnant with our twins.

She is also very skittish and afraid of most people and objects. She is finally calming down a bit now that she is older but is still very nervous in general.

[brandiewine11]

Lurker and fellow Maine coon owner here.

Store bought scratching posts never worked because they were not tall/sturdy enough. We made one with a big wide base. The post is a 4x4 that is 3.5 ft tall, covered in carpet remnants.

They love it.

We also built a tower with a ramp covered in rope the can scratch.

We used those cans of air with a motion sensor to keep them out of inappropriate places. After 1-2 sprays they would stay away. Bit giving a good scratching area helps soooo much.

My oldest guy is now 13 and still fully clawed.

[sammygirl927]

I can totally relate! I have a 6 yr old cat with claws who loves to scratch our carpeted steps. We have never been successful with deterrents and have resorted to keeping them covered with towels. Not an attractive option!

The only scratchers he does like are those cardboard ones so we have a ton of them and try to switch them out regularly. We are lucky because he doesn't mind us trimming his claws, so I try to remember to do so regularly. We ended up buying a microfiber type couch bc anything with any sort of knap/texture he just loves. Pretty frustrating.

[gwapes]

Try a vinegar spray on where he usually scratches. Also cats hate citrus, you can leave orange/lemon peels around those spots for a bit or squeeze some in the vinegar.
You could try a spray from the pet store, IME they're not very effective and smell horrible, and most you have to spray every day.
+1 for catnip on a scratch post

[fknhostile]

Feb 20, 2017 16:50:05 GMT -5 brandiewine11 said:

Lurker and fellow Maine coon owner here.

Store bought scratching posts never worked because they were not tall/sturdy enough. We made one with a big wide base. The post is a 4x4 that is 3.5 ft tall, covered in carpet remnants.

They love it.

We also built a tower with a ramp covered in rope the can scratch.

We used those cans of air with a motion sensor to keep them out of inappropriate places. After 1-2 sprays they would stay away. Bit giving a good scratching area helps soooo much.

My oldest guy is now 13 and still fully clawed.

That's our problem. She's huge and when she knocks over the post she gets scared...she's scared of her own shadow. So she won't go near posts anymore.
She does her scratching when no one is around. Like when we're sleeping. So we never catch her in the act.

[fknhostile]

We have not tried the cardboard insert scratching post. That seems like the concensus here. I'll order one.

[prmommy]

my parent's cat (Ragdoll) did this and they got her to stop by getting her the cardboard floor scratcher and a really high post with a bed on top. Once she was above the world so to speak she stopped and also became nicer. They got the idea from some show they saw on animal planet.

[Deleted]

Trim her nails
Try nail covers
make your own cat scratch post that is twice as tall as she is, ideally with something on top to sit.

try instead of double sided sticky tape, the rolled up wide tape pieces tend to work best, especially if they stick to the cat's feet and come off when the cat tries to scratch and sticks to their paws.

spray bottle of water if they even go near those places they like to scratch, even during the day when you are around.
try varying scratching things, mine used to love a cat scratch thing that hangs on the doorknob, so it wouldn't fall off on them.

You can buy couch thick animal covers for arms and back of couch that in conjunction with sticky tape might keep the couch from dying while the cat is learning.
or buy pieces of vinyl at Joanne's in a similar color and use double sided sticky tape to cover the favorite places they like to scratch as protector and use things to make them not like it there at the same time.

Cat alarms that are pads that go off if they step foot near those areas can work too

[piccyami]

Also a maine coon mom. My guys are pretty good about their scratchers, but they're pretty picky.
We've used:
a 7 foot cat tree (and they need every bit of it)
angled scratchers (still not really big enough, but they stay upright so much better. We found them at petsmart and I couldn't find it on the website)
cardboard scratchers (they're not so fond of these)
cardboard boxes (so much better for some reason)
double sided tape (didn't work. they just rubbed up against it until it wasn't sticky, then kept scratching)
catnip spray (this helped attract them and stays put so much better than the leaves)
enrichment (some of the scratching was because they were bored)

We keep one of the angled scratchers near the corner of the couch they like to scratch on so they have to go around the scratcher to scratch the couch. Generally, they'll use the scratcher first.

They're big cats. Finding furniture big enough for them is a challenge. Keep trying different scratchers. Mine started out only using sisal and have sort of added cardboard. They refuse to scratch on carpet (I'm definitely not going to encourage it). My mom's cat only used cardboard. Cats are weird. They're also jerks.

[fknhostile]

I bought a cardboard scratcher from amazon today. I'll keep it near the couch and throw some cat nip on it.

I put a balloon on some of the double-sided tape that is on the corner of out couch and she rubbed on it. She likes balloons I guess.

I ran out of foil yesterday but I'm going to pick some up tomorrow and see if that scares her away combined with the scratcher. Hopefully she'll take the hint!

[sleepymonkey]

Late to the thread but I have 3 Maine Coon mixes and 2 of them are scratchers, though luckily they stay away from furniture (except for my dining room chairs which are old and I don't care about) and prefer the carpet. They definitely prefer the cardboard scratchers over the carpeted ones. I found the carpeted ones just seems to make them scratch the carpet more. Tin foil is not a deterrent for my cats - they'll lay right on top of it. I have heard that the feline repellent spray works well for some but it did not work for us. You will probably need to keep encouraging her to use the scratcher, especially if you can catch her in the act of scratching.

Like wedding, I highly recommend against declawing, especially an already 5 year old cat. It can be quite traumatic for them and if your cat is already skittish, it could make her worse.