It is a heartbreaking scene when you see your cat scratching the carpet, instead of sleeping and stretching on it. While a cat’s claws can be helpful in many ways for cats, like when climbing, hunting, form a firm grip on anything, nevertheless, they can be a weapon of destruction too.
Scratching is a type of healthy habit seen in cats, yet many cat owners face problems due to this. They often ask, “how to stop cat scratching carpet?”
A proper scratching place is good for your cat, but if this behavior increases, then it will be a worrisome issue. Carpets have a relatively soft texture, so they enjoy scratching them, and it is also useful for them in marking their territory, and it sometimes helps with communication with other cats.
Why Do Cats Scratch Carpets?
Cats are known to have weird habits, sometimes there is no justification for their actions and behavioral change. Scratching plays an advantageous role in a cat’s activity. It helps the cat to sharpen their claws, and also helps them to have a firm grip on a surface while climbing or holding onto something.
Generally, cats scratch on trees and or posts, as wood makes a perfect material to scratch. And since indoor cats don’t get to be outside more often, they seem to scratch the carpets indoors.
There are many reasons behind this scratching habit of cats, but the most common are: claw exercising, enjoyment, behavioral problem, curiosity, and boredom, to gain a sense of security, leaving their scent to present their presence.
The Problems Due to Scratching
Scratching is one of the good habits seen in cats, but sometimes, overdoing scratching might cause some problems.
Sometimes the nails or the paws of the cat might get injured. Scratching the same spot for a long time might lead to cracked nails or injured paws, and over scratching may be a symptom of excessive scratching behavior. So if your cats are adapting to scratching more than often, then take a look at the solutions.
Solutions to Prevent Your Cat From Scratching Carpets
It is unfair to expect cats to let go of this behavior, you can’t stop your cat from scratching, which may cause fear and aggression in her.
As a remedy, you should try to train your cats to scratch in the proper place, cat-proof your carpets, sofas, and furniture, use things like foil paper, double-sided tape, motion detector air spray, etc.
Despite numerous efforts, if you can’t reduce the scratching techniques, then try the following steps:
Scratching Post
A scratching post might be an absolute and one of the best solutions for this concern. Cats won’t stop scratching, easily and instantly so rather than stopping her, give your cat an alternative, so they can carry on their activity.
Scratching posts help to promote scratching as a healthy behavior and will keep your furniture, drapes, and carpets safe. A scratching post is an essential item for your cats to scratch. A cat tree with a scratching post may give them a soft texture like a carpet and a sturdy play toy to keep your cats busy.
As scratching posts are made from smooth and materials that are easily shredded, so it is good for a cat to scratch and carries on their scratching activity.
Provide Them With Proper Exercising
Having a hyperactive cat and not providing her with sufficient activity can also be a reason for this scratching problem. Cats get bored easily and due to the boredom, their curiosity level also increases, therefore they start channeling their energy to this type of habit to satisfy their boredom and curiosity.
Providing your cats a way to channel their energy and curiosity in exercising and physical activity may reduce this behavior and will keep them fit and healthy.
You can help your feline pal with exercise or by playing with them, providing your cats with activity toys, or building a scratching outlet to improve their hunting instincts. You can provide your kittens with training on how to use toys that contain a scratching facility so, you can help them to continue their habit properly.
Clean the Scratched Place
Cats like to create their dominance, as it gives them an essence of power. They create or mark their territory by peeing or leaving their scent, it gives them a sense of security and presence, they often do this as a manner of keeping other cats or pets out of their territory.
While scratching in the corner, cats tend to leave their scent on the spot, and she is more likely to return to that spot due to scent. As cats leave their smell through the scent and sweat glands, therefore they like to scratch with paws.
To further avoid this type of activity, make sure to clean the spot with detergent or scrub with spirited solution, or try motion censored air spray. This remedy will stop the cat from visiting the same place due to an unfamiliar smell.
Reduce Her Stress and Anxiety
Generally, cat likes carpet scratching more if they feel stress or anxiety, there can be many reasons for her to feel this way. But you can reduce this feeling by applying some methods.
To acquire her place or to fight the anxiety, cats will start scrapping the walls or scratching the carpets and furniture. It gives them a sense of security and a sense of authority towards a newly adopted pet or other cats.
Making cats relaxed or providing them affirmation that there is no threat may help reduce their stress and anxiety, resulting in less or no scratching. As a solution, you should let your cat play freely, allow her to leave the scent, provide cats with treats or give them open space to use the kitty door by themselves.
Claw Trimming
It is not compulsory to trim your cat claws, but it is good for the health and to improve the behavior of a cat. Scratching posts might be helpful to maintain the claws, but if they don’t use a scratching post, then the habit of scratching on furniture and carpets may elevate.
Claw trimming or maintaining the cleanliness of the claws is important to reduce the habit of scratching. When the claws grow, they become curved, and it becomes difficult for cats to climb or leap from one place to another, so they start scratching to sharpen their claws.
As a solution, you should start trimming the claws of your cat if you know the process or provide your cat with the claw trimming service, so they can have their fun and activity.
Can Declawing the Cat Be the Solution?
Declawing is an unnecessary and painful process for your cats. The cats go through various changes in their lifetime and playing around, jumping and climbing are significant to their growth.
Declawing them means a process through which the nails will never grow back and due to this, they may face problems in climbing or jumping. Some studies say that after declawing cats, while some cats have to learn to walk again. Declawing the cat is an equalizer to getting rid of your toes.
Cat behavior experts suggest that declawing cats can cause major behavioral changes like meowing, low mobility, knocking things over, etc. Cats like to leave their scent around and assert their dominance, and due to low mobility, they are not able to cover their area of dominance.
As a result, they start to pee outside the litter box and in unusual places like beds, sofas, and furniture corners. On a personal note, I think there is no need for declawing, instead, you can maintain the claw by trimming or providing them with nail caps or a scratching place.
Last Note
Cats are expressive creatures, they like to express their emotions in a very distinct way. Scratching is not something new a cat does, and you can’t expect a cat to stop scratching according to you; it requires patience and time.
If your carpet is suffering from the scratching habit of your cat, then don’t stop the cat rather than provide them a proper and effective place for scratching that is attractive and appealing for a cat.
Once your cat gets habitual of the scratching post or the scratching place you built, clean the carpet your cat used to scratch that will wipe off their smell. I hope this educational guide will be the ultimate answer to your question “how to stop cat scratching carpet?”
References
- Feline behavior problems: Destructive behavior — Cornell University
- Destructive scratching — ASPCA
- Cat behavior problems: Scratching behavior — VCA