Door scratching and other nightmares

[RosemaryK]

We are recently retired seniors, with three cats and two dogs. The cats are 15, 2 and 18 months. The older girls are settled and seem content. The youngest is the issue. He was a feral kitten, born at our vet’s. Lovely boy and he has grown into a solid (22 pounds!) healthy handsome critter. He is the most interactive of the three but sometimes,this is not good. He doesn’t interact with the others. What he does best is create havoc. We cannot leave anything out. He will clear tables of all objects. This includes mugs of tea or coffee, and he cares not if they are full or empty. He climbs, he plays with a huge variety of toys, he plays with the younger dog. He does not show any interest in going out which is just fine with us! I prefer indoor animals. But his scratching is driving us nuts. Furniture, carpets, and the worst, doors! We had new interior doors installed last year and his mission is to destroy all of them. He has scratching posts and he does use them, but mostly the doors. And at night! Why, I ask, is he noisily scratching doors in our bedroom? I thought he wanted attention and was bored. We play, we feed, we cuddle, we get nowhere.
P.S. I also do a lot of crafts, especially with wool. His favourite thing after the doors, is destroying whatever I’m working on. He can unzip bags to get at the stuff.
And we love him to bits. Sigh.

 

[nycats]

Try putting double sided sticky tape on the door. They sell big sizes for this purpose on Amazon. And try putting a scratching post right by the door to say, scratch on this instead! Make sure you have tall scratching surfaces, as at 22 lbs, he sounds like a big boy. You can put some catnip on it to entice him as well. Scratching is also a form of marking territory, so bedroom entrance is probably significant to him in terms of territory.

With a young cat, you just have to cat proof your house. I have everything in covered plastic bins or cubbies and only leave items that won't break on the surfaces (stuffed animal etc.) Some kittens are just very very playful and hyper. He will calm down, but not for a few more years. Oh cats.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hello! I'm so glad you're here!!

You'll need to box up your craftwork and/or get a small filing cabinet to store your things in, I hate to say, but doing so will remove that frustration for you.

There are members, as mentioned by nycats who have emptied their house of all breakable knickknacks, because the ensuing zoomies of the cats puts everything at risk.

I'm assuming you keep his claws clipped as much as possible?
I don't think claw caps would work with him, he'd just pull them off. What if each time he scratched something he shouldn't, you immediately put booties on him, (similar to when a misbehaving child is sent to sit in the corner). Then remove them and let him be.

You could also try carpet runners, turned over so the little prongs stick out, he likely won't find the feeling pleasant on his paws.

Would you consider taking him for walks, or hiring someone to do that? He would benefit from the mental and emotional exercise

 

[FeebysOwner]

Is he scratching the bedroom doors at night to get in or out of a room? Where do all your animals sleep, and is he separated from them, or kept with them? Perhaps he is separated from his toys at night? Does he have cat trees to climb on, preferably ones that would be set up next to windows he could look out? How about horizontal scratching posts in addition to vertical ones? It just sounds to me like he is a bit bored; and if he is being kept out of a room, or in a room, at night, he might be 'protesting' by scratching the doors.

 

[She's a witch]

some cats are simply active and playful, and adopting a kitten comes with the price of not knowing what he will grow up to be. Yours seems so full of life, I really enjoyed your description! but I do understand some things are frustrating, cat proofing as mentioned above will solve most of the ones you described.
When it comes to scratching, since he’s a big boy, the normal scratching post may simply not hold his weight, that’s why he may prefer more stable surfaces like door or couch. I learnt that some cats simply need bigger, more stable post that would hold their weight. The one I linked below should, although I’m not sure if it will be enough for 22lbs you can even try some diy post made from trees. Basically he may need something strong that will not bend under him, and something high enough so that he could stretch his whole body on it.
Have you consider leaving the door open in your home? Some cats scratch as they simply hate closed door.

He doesn’t want to destroy anything on purpose. He’s just a healthy active young cat with lots of energy to play with whatever he will find, and it seems he’s creative at finding toys

SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Post

 

[RosemaryK]

Try putting double sided sticky tape on the door. They sell big sizes for this purpose on Amazon. And try putting a scratching post right by the door to say, scratch on this instead! Make sure you have tall scratching surfaces, as at 22 lbs, he sounds like a big boy. You can put some catnip on it to entice him as well. Scratching is also a form of marking territory, so bedroom entrance is probably significant to him in terms of territory.

With a young cat, you just have to cat proof your house. I have everything in covered plastic bins or cubbies and only leave items that won't break on the surfaces (stuffed animal etc.) Some kittens are just very very playful and hyper. He will calm down, but not for a few more years. Oh cats.

I wonder what the tape would do to my doors. We tried it on the counters. Until recently he would jump up and then lift the door to the appliance garage and hide inside. He likes the cupboards too, if he can get there. And the fridge! .

Try putting double sided sticky tape on the door. They sell big sizes for this purpose on Amazon. And try putting a scratching post right by the door to say, scratch on this instead! Make sure you have tall scratching surfaces, as at 22 lbs, he sounds like a big boy. You can put some catnip on it to entice him as well. Scratching is also a form of marking territory, so bedroom entrance is probably significant to him in terms of territory.

With a young cat, you just have to cat proof your house. I have everything in covered plastic bins or cubbies and only leave items that won't break on the surfaces (stuffed animal etc.) Some kittens are just very very playful and hyper. He will calm down, but not for a few more years. Oh cats.

Is he scratching the bedroom doors at night to get in or out of a room? Where do all your animals sleep, and is he separated from them, or kept with them? Perhaps he is separated from his toys at night? Does he have cat trees to climb on, preferably ones that would be set up next to windows he could look out? How about horizontal scratching posts in addition to vertical ones? It just sounds to me like he is a bit bored; and if he is being kept out of a room, or in a room, at night, he might be 'protesting' by scratching the doors.

We’ve done all of these suggestions. He doesn’t seem to care if the door is open or closed. He has access to all rooms and all his stuff. Lots of both horizontal and vertical scratching posts. I know he’s bored but I’m just not prepared to play with him from 2 a.m. on. He stops the moment I get up.

 

[nycats]

We understand your frustrations. It's really trying when they keep you up at night and destroy your things. But we can't really change the cat, so we have to adjust to accommodate their needs as much as possible, unless you're willing to re-home him.

For the double sided tape, I understand your concern for the door. How about wrapping them with aluminum foil? I know it won't look pretty, but hopefully he will learn to stay off of it after a while, and you can take them off.

And you said you play with him a lot, but obviously he still has a lot of energy. Try playing with him even more and get some interactive toys that he can play with on his own such as puzzle treat feeder and motorized toys with laser etc.

Hang in there. It's only a few more years! I'm sure he's lovely otherwise

 

[Furballsmom]

Have you tried a ripple rug? It isn't an answer for everything but it might help a little;

SNUGGLYCAT Ripple Rug Cat Activity Play Mat - Chewy.com

Buy SnugglyCat Ripple Rug Cat Activity Play Mat at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

 

[RosemaryK]

Great suggestions and I thank you. This cat! We’ve tried to figure it out and I think it’s four things. 1. He has been like this since the time change. Hopefully his internal clock will adjust.
2. He’s hungry. We’ve been feeding him extra at bedtime.
3. He wants to play and his kitty sister’s don’t. He wants me. Last night I got up 5 times and he raced me to the stairs and then went down. I crawl back to bed and a millisecond later, he’s back, I get up he races to the stairs. I’m not playing, Thor, get over it.
4. He loves reflections. Windows, glass cabinets, mirrors.
All these things help. We’ve covered the mirrors upstairs, put a mirror for him near his tree, fed him extra, given him new toys. We also discovered that he likes watching cat and mouse videos on YouTube. He is the dearest boy, crazy or not. He sits on my,lap and lets me trim his claws, no moving, no fuss. What can a girl do? We’re a work in progress.

 

[RosemaryK]

Have you tried a ripple rug? It isn't an answer for everything but it might help a little;

http://[URL]https://www.chewy.com/s...um=cpc&utm_content=SnugglyCat&utm_campaign=hg

[/URL]

Thank you. This looks right up Thor’s alley.

 

[misty8723]

I think he's just still a kitten and will settle down. Our little guy can still be a holy terror at times, but he's much less of a P.I.A. than he was when we first got him.

 

[Furballsmom]

What a beautiful boy!!

 

[Babypaws]

Have you tried a ripple rug? It isn't an answer for everything but it might help a little;

http://[URL]https://www.chewy.com/s...um=cpc&utm_content=SnugglyCat&utm_campaign=hg

[/URL]

FYI. I have 10 indoor cats, 8 are rescue cats. Someone gave me me of those ripple rugs. It was nice for awhile but then it wouldn’t stay up, cats would just sleep on it.

 

[Babypaws]

We are recently retired seniors, with three cats and two dogs. The cats are 15, 2 and 18 months. The older girls are settled and seem content. The youngest is the issue. He was a feral kitten, born at our vet’s. Lovely boy and he has grown into a solid (22 pounds!) healthy handsome critter. He is the most interactive of the three but sometimes,this is not good. He doesn’t interact with the others. What he does best is create havoc. We cannot leave anything out. He will clear tables of all objects. This includes mugs of tea or coffee, and he cares not if they are full or empty. He climbs, he plays with a huge variety of toys, he plays with the younger dog. He does not show any interest in going out which is just fine with us! I prefer indoor animals. But his scratching is driving us nuts. Furniture, carpets, and the worst, doors! We had new interior doors installed last year and his mission is to destroy all of them. He has scratching posts and he does use them, but mostly the doors. And at night! Why, I ask, is he noisily scratching doors in our bedroom? I thought he wanted attention and was bored. We play, we feed, we cuddle, we get nowhere.
P.S. I also do a lot of crafts, especially with wool. His favourite thing after the doors, is destroying whatever I’m working on. He can unzip bags to get at the stuff.
And we love him to bits. Sigh.

I feel for you, I’m a senior also and have 10 indoor cats (8 are rescue cats) I recently took in a 1 1/2 year old cat (she’s the sister of the othER cats that I gave to someone and they ended up giving her back) wonder why.. LOL anyway. I have 6 cats separated from the other 4 because I’ve had them since they were kittens and I really needed to cat proof that section of the house. House plants, antique dishes etc etc. We had to put a 3” piece of wood under the dishwasher because they were reaching underneath it and pulling out fiberglass sealer. But that was goof because now they use that wood to scratch. They still scratch the side of the couch. I tried the double sided tape, didn’t help, didn’t stay on very good. But the most recent cat which is in the other section of the house with 3 other cats. Some days it looks like they are playing and other days its holy terror. I keep my bedroom door closed at night with 2 cats with me. The new cat will scratch at the door frame and threshold. Guess I’ll try leaving the door open and see if that helps...good luck with your cat.

 

[Furballsmom]

maybe something here might be useful?
Couch Corner Cat Scratching Post 18 inches Tall, Stained Pine, Sisal Rope

 

[RosemaryK]

Thank you. We have decided not to shut Thor in another part of the house, for now. He basically had two issues. One, he was reacting to the time change. Our response was to get up and feed him but that was wrong. He really wasn’t hungry. The other issue was that he just wanted to be with us. Not sleep with us. He’d have to share with two dogs and one other cat. He wants me to get up and either play or cuddle. I didn’t want to.
He developed Feline Idiopathic Cystitis. Basically stress related, peeing outside the box. We adjusted his hours through the feeding and play schedule. I also read an article through this site which was fabulous and used the suggestions there for schedule adjustment. He is much improved. No peeing. Still early mornings but not quite so early.

The things we put up with, eh? I have friends who don’t understand. But we are committed to him. He is an affectionate little jerk. I’d love more cats but I think Thor has fixed us for that. Your household sounds wonderful.

 

[RosemaryK]

maybe something here might be useful?
Couch Corner Cat Scratching Post 18 inches Tall, Stained Pine, Sisal Rope

Those posts look wonderful. Thor doesn’t seem to care about the furniture so much anymore, it’s just the doors. I don’t think it’s the actual scratching, either. He just wants to be with us. If we’re around, he leaves the furniture alone. Mind you, if he’s hungry he tells us by jumping into tables or the fireplace and systematically sweeping things off.

 

[Furballsmom]

Mind you, if he’s hungry he tells us by jumping into tables or the fireplace and systematically sweeping things off.

lol. I love this cat

 

[Babypaws]

maybe something here might be useful?
Couch Corner Cat Scratching Post 18 inches Tall, Stained Pine, Sisal Rope

Interesting, I didn’t realize they make thin like that. Kinda expensive though. Think I’ll show them to my husband, bet he can make them a lot cheaper. Now I need something to protect the door frames.
thank you