Cat Scratches Roommate’s Bed, But She Has a Declawed Cat

[Kvla]

My cat, Ophelia, really likes a certain fabric to scratch on and turns out my roommate has a couch and a bed that have that type of fabric. Ophelia will wonder into my roommate’s room and scratch her bed and it’s a brand new bed so obviously and rightfully, my roommate is upset about it

I trim her nails, and in the past we have tried nail caps but it caused further trauma and will avoid those at all costs. The easy solution would be for my roommate to keep her door closed, but she also has a cat, so it makes sense that she would want to keep her bedroom door open. However, her cat was declawed when she was spayed, so she doesn’t have claws and does no damage when she scratches.

I have no right to tell my roommate to put a scratching post by her bed, because I have one by the couch that she likes to scratch and sometimes she even avoids that (one of her favorite scratching fabrics, it’s like rolled rope) to scratch the couch, so we now have a couch cover on it.
We actually ended up trying a scratching post by her bed but we live in very small spaces (college housing) and there’s no room to put a cat scratcher there. We also tried this sticky plastic that protects/deters the cat from scratching but she just picks a new part of the bed to climb on, and the sticky tape isn’t that durable and falls off with blankets shifting during sleep or something else causing

We work together to keep her out of my roommates bedroom for right now, but when my roommate is carrying things into her room she needs two hands sometimes and Ophelia will BOLT in and hide under the bed because she knows she’s not supposed to be in there anymore.
I have two other roommates and Ophelia doesn’t try to get in there, but both cats are not allowed in those rooms and haven’t ever been allowed in there since we moved in. This keeping Ophelia out of her bedroom is new for her.

How can I get her to stop scratching the bed?? Or is it possible to keep her from wanting to go into that room, while the other cat is still allowed to come and go? Or even if the other cat cant come and go freely, how can I keep Ophelia from bolting in?

I feel terrible and don’t want Ophelia to ruin her new bed or constantly bolting in

 

[Jcatbird]

I just saw something on Chewy that might help. It’s a scratching pad that is made specifically to protect furniture. The cat can scratch there without doing damage. It’s called a sofa scratcher and looks like it would work on the arm of the sofa and maybe the corner of a bed. They have flat ones too. It might be worth looking at.
The other thing that came to mind is keeping your kitty in your room. Could that work? Or..... maybe making a specific play area for her. Use some catnip to lead her to a different area? You could also try clicker training for her. She is probably just enjoying being in where the other cat goes. If both cats are drawn to another spot, she may decide to hang out somewhere else. My last thought is to put some of the same kind of fabric somewhere that she is allowed to go. No matter what, don’t get her declawed! That is inhumane even though many people don’t yet understand that it cripples their cat for life and can lead to a lot of serious issues. In many places that is not allowed and we hope to have it banned in all states soon. Other countries have already banned it. Many vets now refuse to do that surgery. As they should. A life is more important that a bit of fabric. I understand that no one wants furniture ruined. Me either, but I know you are dedicated to finding a better way to manage this. Bravo for trying the claw caps! I’m sorry they didn’t work but you have my great admiration for going that route! You could try trimming her nails. I’m sure other support will be along with more ideas. Please do keep us updated.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Have you tried something like these? They can be cut to size and affixed with twist pins for better adhesion (or, depending on the type of surface, even tack type pins would work).

Amazon.com : PURRRFECT PAWZ Cat Scratch Furniture Protector, Couch Protector from Cat Scratching : Pet Supplies
Amazon.com : Cat Furniture Protector 12 Pack - Cat Couch Protectors for Furniture, Furniture Protection from Cat Scratching, Couch Protector from Cats, Cat Scratch Deterrent Includes Cat Glove : Pet Supplies

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

Re: clicker training. I'm just starting this with my Juno, in the hopes of being able to use it to keep her off surfaces I have not found any other successful method for. We're still in the initial stages (learning to touch her nose to a chopstick, ha!), so I can't say if it will work, but I'm happy to report back on my progress. Regardless, might be something worth trying, because kitty loves it. She gets super excited whenever I pull out the stool I've been using for it, and sometimes she purrs through the whole session.