Earlier this morning, I discovered that my cat Sibylla had pulled up a loop on the other area rug during the night.
A little background: there are two large (6' x 9' or thereabouts) thick-pile wool area rugs on the main floor of the condo, and I've had to completely cover up one of them to keep her from scratching it, so she's begun to scratch the other one. She has a scratching post on this floor (that she does use quite often) and one on the upper floor, and two cardboard scratchers (one inclined, which she doesn't use despite catnip, and one horizontal, which she does), both on this floor. I've also provided her with a jute floor mat, and she does not scratch that despite its roughly textured surface.
She has scratched the wool rugs while I was present, but this is usually during one of her "excitable" episodes, in which she runs around like crazy; most of the damage is done during the night or during the day while I'm at work, so I have no idea what frame of mind she's in when she scratches in my absence (I assume it's boredom or stress). I would get her a kitty playmate but for my allergies and tight financial situation, so I got her toys to keep the boredom at bay; unfortunately, many of those are not the kind I would feel comfortable leaving out for her while I'm not there to supervise.
The Feliway spray seems to work on her, but it's too expensive for me, and knowing her, Soft Paws wouldn't last a day. I'm very skeptical of herbal remedies, and they're also pricy enough that I don't want to take a gamble on them. Also, I'd have to buy a huge number of boxes of Sticky Paws to cover the rugs, so that's not economical. I've thought of the carpet protectors with spikes, but as the rugs are rather large, this may not be economical either. Declawing is absolutely out of the question, but when my parents see the damage to the rugs, I'm concerned that they will force me to declaw her or give her up. And seeing as she's a very well-behaved cat otherwise, I'd hate to have to do either of those things to her just for scratching.
I'm not quite ready to accept the reality that my cat and wool area rugs just aren't compatible. I have heard mentions of citrus sprays being very effective, so I'd like to know if there are economical options (ideally, ones I can make myself) that will not damage the rugs or harm the cat but will deter my cat from scratching them.
Thank you!
A little background: there are two large (6' x 9' or thereabouts) thick-pile wool area rugs on the main floor of the condo, and I've had to completely cover up one of them to keep her from scratching it, so she's begun to scratch the other one. She has a scratching post on this floor (that she does use quite often) and one on the upper floor, and two cardboard scratchers (one inclined, which she doesn't use despite catnip, and one horizontal, which she does), both on this floor. I've also provided her with a jute floor mat, and she does not scratch that despite its roughly textured surface.
She has scratched the wool rugs while I was present, but this is usually during one of her "excitable" episodes, in which she runs around like crazy; most of the damage is done during the night or during the day while I'm at work, so I have no idea what frame of mind she's in when she scratches in my absence (I assume it's boredom or stress). I would get her a kitty playmate but for my allergies and tight financial situation, so I got her toys to keep the boredom at bay; unfortunately, many of those are not the kind I would feel comfortable leaving out for her while I'm not there to supervise.
The Feliway spray seems to work on her, but it's too expensive for me, and knowing her, Soft Paws wouldn't last a day. I'm very skeptical of herbal remedies, and they're also pricy enough that I don't want to take a gamble on them. Also, I'd have to buy a huge number of boxes of Sticky Paws to cover the rugs, so that's not economical. I've thought of the carpet protectors with spikes, but as the rugs are rather large, this may not be economical either. Declawing is absolutely out of the question, but when my parents see the damage to the rugs, I'm concerned that they will force me to declaw her or give her up. And seeing as she's a very well-behaved cat otherwise, I'd hate to have to do either of those things to her just for scratching.
I'm not quite ready to accept the reality that my cat and wool area rugs just aren't compatible. I have heard mentions of citrus sprays being very effective, so I'd like to know if there are economical options (ideally, ones I can make myself) that will not damage the rugs or harm the cat but will deter my cat from scratching them.
Thank you!
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