Cat uses claws to move

[uniqms95]

Hey everyone, so ever since my kitten became an adult she has been using her claws to move.. by that I mean, she will be lying on the carpet and instead of standing up and walking, she would grip the carpet with her claws and pull herself to wherver it is she wants to go. Or when she's on bed, there's a mattress next to the wall and she does the same thing to navigate from one side of the bed to the other!! How do I stop this behaviour? She is ruining my carpet and mattress!!! She's very healthy, gets playtime and lots of attention. Its the only carpet in the house and I thought about removing it but there has to be a better solution for this problem. any ideas? It's not like she is scratching it purposely she's just too lazy to move!

 

[margd]

Wow, that's a new one on me.   I'm not sure what you do but am bumping your post up in hopes someone else will.  In the meantime, if you can't break her habit, you could get those claw covers for her.  Do you keep her claws clipped and does she have a scratching post?  Both of those will help reduce the damage.

 

[volia]

you said that she is very healthy, does that mean you have taken her to the vet recently? I ask because I have to wonder if perhaps some type of pain when she walks? If you haven't taken her in recently I would suggest taking her in and asking the vet to check to see if that could be the cause? Honestly I've never heard of this before. Does she play and chase things?

 

[jcat]

Our last cat did that all the time. He especially "played mechanic", dragging himself along the underside of furniture with his claws. We never completely broke him of the habit, but did manage to lessen it quite a bit by getting small sisal rugs and wall mats that he could use to flex his claws. Does she have a large cat tree? This article gives some tips on finding suitable alternatives: Problem Scratching and How to Stop It

ETA: I've just noticed that you're in Germany, too - maybe it's a German cat thing. :lol3: Seriously, though, I think she wants to hook her claws into things and stretch her full length, so a tall cat tree or a long cat scratching board or mat on a wall or the floor will probably help. Our current cat doesn't do it, but he has the tall stuff we got for our last cat. I see the "stretch and pull" behavior fairly often at the shelter, and putting a tall cat tree in the room helps.

 

[grrr cat]

Have you tried cutting her claws short?