# Wallpaper scratching - any tips?



## CDC (Jul 20, 2010)

My kitten is attacking my wallpaper! 

At first I thought hey ok fine, not too much damage should repair ok, thank goodness its durable wallpaper (we only decorated a few months ago). 

So I covered the areas he'd scratched over with some foam underlay which he doesnt like very much so he's stopped scratching - but now I've just found some major scratches somewhere else. 

He has a brand new scratch post which he knows how to use so its not like there is nothing else in the room. 

Any tips on how I can stop him doing this?

A little bit of damage I can cope with and sort of expected, but now I have at least 3 major scratched areas to repair and he's going to be confined in that room at least overnight for the next 10 weeks. :confused1:


----------



## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

CDC said:


> My kitten is attacking my wallpaper!
> 
> At first I thought hey ok fine, not too much damage should repair ok, thank goodness its durable wallpaper (we only decorated a few months ago).
> 
> ...


you can buy these or you can make them from a very thin plank of wood covered in sisal rope and then screwed to the wall.

Apart from lots of alternative places to scratch (and I do mean lots, different fabrics, heights, vertical as well as horizontal)... and when you catch him in the act of scratching the wallpaper, taking hm and putting him on a scratch tree or post... I wouldn't really know. I have a wallpaper free house for the simple reason I find (found) it very difficult training some cats not to scratch wallpaper.


----------



## lisa0307 (Aug 25, 2009)

Make sure you put plenty of dried Cat Nip around the base of the scratch post... and pick up a large cardboard box from the supermarket each week when you're doing your shop...for some strange reason cats love scratching and tearing away at cardboard boxes I always found ..it will keep him away from the wallpaper but means you may have a bit of cleaning to do each day with the bits of cardboard he tears off but that's ok as long as he leaves the wallpaper alone


----------



## CDC (Jul 20, 2010)

No chance of screwing anything onto the walls - as soon as he can go out this room will be off limits as it is our guest room - its just the easiest room to keep him in at the moment. 

So far I think I can probably repair what he's done as he's not gone too deep - a little filler and the paint should do it hopefully. 

Just would be nice to keep the room as intact as possible in the meantime. 

There are plenty of things he can have a go at - the wardrobe, a chair, duvets and fleeces on the bed - his scratch post plus he has a variety of different toys too. 

He does it when we're not in there though - some of it is because he's been playing and it was an accident, but the worst spots are near our bedroom and the wall onto bathroom - maybe he can hear us in the other rooms?


----------



## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

CDC said:


> There are plenty of things he can have a go at - the wardrobe, a chair, duvets and fleeces on the bed - his scratch post plus he has a variety of different toys too. ?


I don't mean to be a pain, but these types of things are no substitue for wallpaper. You have to provide the cat with alternatives that will appeal to him MORE than the wallpaper does, and sorry, but duvets and chairs just don't cut it. I always have at least 7 or 8 different scraching trees/posts/baskets/mats on the go at any one time. And my house is just a normal sized 3 bedroom home. I find if (when) I am stingy on the scratching poles/posts/trees for my cats, that's the only time they turn to things they're not supposed to scratch on.



CDC said:


> He does it when we're not in there though - some of it is because he's been playing and it was an accident, but the worst spots are near our bedroom and the wall onto bathroom - maybe he can hear us in the other rooms?


It could be.... but cats do just scratch. Even when you are giving them your full attention, they still want (have the need to) scratch.


----------



## CDC (Jul 20, 2010)

The minute he can go outside (as of the end of Sept) he has access to all our garden trees, fences etc which my other two cats adore - they barely ever touch their indoor scratch post. 

Lisa0307 - I really like this idea, plus he'll probably love hiding in them too - think I might go and rescue some boxes from the recyling in the store room at work tomorrow. Hopefully he'll take a fancy to them instead of the walls -thank you for the tip.


----------



## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

CDC said:


> The minute he can go outside (as of the end of Sept) he has access to all our garden trees, fences etc which my other two cats adore - they barely ever touch their indoor scratch post.


I have one who much prefers to sctach tree trunks and fence posts in the garden, I have another who can be outside all day then come in and scrach first her sisal pole then her banana leaf cube then a wicker basket and finish her daily scratch with a good old tearing into on a sisal doormat.

life would be so much easier if all cats were the same, lol. Then there would be hard and fast rules to answer to questions like this :thumbup:


----------



## Julia90 (Jul 28, 2010)

Our kitten's a bit strange with the wallpaper. She has a post and she's allowed to scratch pretty much everything (the upholstery doesn't seem to get damaged), but she also likes our bathroom wallpapers. Curiously enough, it's not the wall by *her* toilet, it's by *our* toilet and she only scratches it when, well excuse me, but only when someone's ahem using the toilet. once she hears someone come in, open the lid, she RUNS in and starts scratching.
Luckily, our wallpaper needs a change anyway, so it doesn't bother us, but it's a very curious, though harmless, habit of hers:confused1:


----------



## CDC (Jul 20, 2010)

I have pretty much 'blocked' off all the wallpaper he could get to now as I found some more patches! He's going to have to be a bit of an acrobat to get what hasn't been covered lol, and by the looks of it he's only been doing in places where he's got firm ground to stand on anyway. 

However, he now has 3 cardboard boxes and a roll of brown parcel paper which I have torn chunks off - he loves to roll around on it and of course scratch it. I also found an old mat that he is enjoying scratching and he's definately been using his post now his prime wallpaper spots have been blocked off. 

Some serious repair work to do but hey ho - part of having a kitten.


----------



## NEW2CATS (Aug 28, 2009)

My 2 cats decided to scratch the wallpaper after we decorated and only stopped once they decided they had done enough damamge and got me into enough trouble!!

good luck getting yours to stop


----------



## CDC (Jul 20, 2010)

Now he cant really get to it and he has his boxes and brown paper instead he has stopped - all except for the bit by the door when we leave him alone - however the wallpaper here is protected so its all good.

I'm itching to repair the damage though lol but cant until he is allowed out of that room full time.


----------

