Clawing the box spring under bed - NEED HELP

[kcarlson0814]

I have a female cat that is just about 1 yr old. She is very spoiled and does whatever she pleases regardless of how much we try and discipline her. She has been going under the beds and clawing at the box spring and tearing it apart. We have tried spanking her bottom, spraying with water, putting her in timeout, etc.... and as soon as we are done discipling her, so goes right back to it.

My husband is getting VERY TIRED of her because this is only one example of MANY different things that she does that we can't seem to change the behavior. If I don't find a solution soon, my husband is going to make me get rid of her and I don't want to. Our other cat does not do any of this...

PLEASE HELP.. any advice is welcome.

 

[lotsocats]

Spanking a cat doesn't work! Instead, what you want to do is to make the box springs an unpleasant place for her to be. So....after you tack up the fabric, try covering the fabric with double sided tape. Cats hate sticky stuff, so she will avoid touching the fabric in order to avoid the tape. Or...try spraying the fabric with Bitter Apple, which you can get at Wal Mart or any pet store. Or...spray or sprinkle citrus scented room deoderizers (carpet fresh or solid room scent stuff) under the bed. Cats hate the smell of citrus, so she will stay out from under the bed in order to avoid the smell.

Let us know what her other naughty behaviors are so we can help you with those as well.

 

[swalker]

I have a four year old who does the exact same thing. She has completely torn the fabric off the underside of my boxspring and took all of the stuffing out. It is completely destroyed. I am sure she does it when I am not there, which if I don't see it, I don't really care. It's when I am trying to sleep and it sounds like she is trying to claw her way through the matress to get me! :LOL:

Good luck with anything you try. It's been four years and I have been very unsuccessful! But, I don't think I have tried very hard. You could try to put boards up so she is unable to get under the bed. What I have learned living with cats, is if they want something bad enough they'll get it.

I usually yell really loud. Make a lot of noice so it freaks her out. I agree that you definitely need to make it an unpleasant place for kitty under the bed.

I sure do hope you upset husband doesn't make you get rid of a "family member" because it has a nasty little habit. Just remember with time and patience habits can be broken. It just depends on how much work you are willing to do, to break the habit.

Good luck to you. Let me know if you find a solution. I would love to hear it. It might be worth trying!!

P.S. My 4 year old doesn't mind the bitter apple, I actually think she may like it. My 10 week old hate it. Go figure :confused3:

 

[catspride]

First, tack (using lots of tacks firmly set into the wood supports of the innerspring) or glue (use a semi-permanent one) a strong sheet of phyboard to cover the entire bottom of the innersprings. Make sure that the lumber yard cuts out random holes (size of silver dollars) in the plyboard, since the innersprings have to "breathe."

Second, you don't dump a child out because it goes through various stages of being annoying or destructive. You try to find out the psychological (or physical) reasons for the behavior. Observe the cat. She may just be jealous of your husband. You mention that she has a number of annoying habits. Try to arrange things (breakables, and other damageable things) so they are no longer as accessible. If you don't want to coat your precious furniture with strong anti-everyting shellac, use the old plyboard again, dye it and varnish it so it is reasonably attractive, and cut it to fit tops of the most precious pieces (like, if you have antiques). Sticky tape is a great idea for deterrance. But throw covers (colorful ethnic blankets -- we use the lovely Beduin blankets here) can be used to serve a bedding or as nice covers for stuffed chairs and sofas. You can put all these useful items away behind a door when you have company, after all.

Think positive solutions rather than how very annoying everything is. I know you love your cat, but be sure you are not finding solutions because it annoys your husband. That is one of those little subconscious games that married people sometimes play.

Mainly figure out under what conditions and what type of mischief your cats gets into over the course of several weeks. I bet you will have a pretty clear picture by then about how to protect yourself against the damage and also about how to help your cat act more appropriately. And avoid the mindset that uses the word "discipline" for a cat. Rather, think in terms of persuading him that he doesn't really want to do those things and would rather do something else more appropriate.

I would be interested in your progress, since animal behavior is a particular interest of mine.

 

[illusion]

Go down to K-Mart, Wal-mart or any store like that, and buy enough tough plastic underbed storage containers to fit underneath your bed. It really helps, and serves as a place to stash stuff as well.

 

[dodo]

You can put a scratching post on just where she insists on scratching !

Also trimming the nails regularly will definitely decrease the damage. My cats are so spoiled because I never tried disciplining them, because I love them the way they are, so they scratch the coach & bed & carpet & (although rarely) the scratching post but don't do any damage to the furniture somehow !? (Perhaps because I cut their nails very often ?? )

Many times we get angry towards cats just because they are being cats actually ! Scratching is a completely healthy behaviour of cats; so is spraying in unaltered cats etc...Cats sure don't know anything about a very expensive furniture and stuff. They are just dictated by their instincts & so they are just being cats. If their natural behaviours start bothering us somehow, we should be the ones to change or search for solutions (while being patient for the results to kick in) since we are the ones who are being bothered, I think.

 

[catspride]

Dear Illusion -- what a great idea! Such an obvious solution, once you brought it up. Better than plyboard...

 

[midnightbride]

Oh please don't get rid of your cat!

I can't believe someone else had the same problem. My sweet 8 yr. old did this when she was younger and completely destroyed the box spring. She eventually outgrew it, and then I moved and got a new bed anyway. She also had a fixation with chewing hard plastic and wooden things. It was almost like stress release for her. I used to squirt her all the time when she went under the bed, but I have found the squirting doesn't discourage them that much. Please try all the suggestions you have gotten. My cat definitely outgrew most of her strange destructive habits but she was still worth it! She just chews on the blind strings now and is actually so good, she never touches the furniture and LOVES her scratching post!! So you never know how it will turn out.

P.S. Is she a black cat? Just curious. I heard they're high-strung. Mine is black and is a very nervous, scaredy-cat.

 

[samalexander]

Our cat has made a project of tearing up the black fabric liners under the beds. He even climbed up inside the box springs.

It is a lot of trouble, but we went to Lowes and had lightweight boards cut to the size of the box springs and sandwiched them between the box springs and the bed frame.

Now there is nothing to scratch. He has now started on some chairs, so we are going to create a barrier

in a similar fashion. We are trying to keep our sense of humor about this, because we love him dearly. He is just

bored and seeking attention. As a temporary measure I put cayanne pepper up in the chair bottoms so it will fall down if he scratches.

I'm sure he will go away when he encounters that. I also spray him with a water bottle whenever I catch him being naughty, but he obviously

knows he is being bad because he runs when he sees me coming.

I'm looking for a spray repellant, but I see that they mostly get bad reviews for not working.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[la johnson]

Buy a trundle bed.... they can't get under it...

 

[samalexander]

We mounted plywood under every bed we own.

I measured and cut out black hard foam core to fit flush and around the legs and nailed it to the bottom of every upholstered

chair in the house. Kitty has found other things to do that are not as destructive.

 

[tiptopper]

Spanking? Please don't spank your kitty. She is only doing what makes her content. Make it your goal to deter her behavior but please don't punish her. She needs something to focus on besides your beds. Does she have a cat tree and cat toys? How often do you play with her? She sounds bored and she knows she will get attention from you by going under the bed.