Cats and doorjams

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Lord Vader III - 23 Aug 2004 14:47 GMT

I posted earlier about hardwood floors and cats and I appreciate all the
responses. However, I have another question. Our cats are both front
declawed and one of them is constantly climbing the doorjams in our
apartment. He is putting huge scratches in them and they look
absolutely terrible. Since we are in an apartment we don't care about
it too much but we are moving into our new townhouse in a couple
months. Obviously, we don't want him climing (and ruining) the doorjams
there also. Is there anything we can do to get him to stop (besides
closing all the doors)?

LVIII

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Camilla Baird - 23 Aug 2004 15:14 GMT

> I posted earlier about hardwood floors and cats and I appreciate all the
> responses. However, I have another question. Our cats are both front
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> LVIII

Does he have a climbing post or two? Cats like to be in high places and
enjoy climbing, so this is natural behaviour. Floor-to-ceiling climbing
posts with shelves/beds/hammocks are usually a great success.
Camilla

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Sherry - 23 Aug 2004 16:08 GMT

>I posted earlier about hardwood floors and cats and I appreciate all the
>responses. However, I have another question. Our cats are both front
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
>LVIII

By allowing him to climb in apartment, you've allowed the behavior to become
"acceptable", and it's going to be hard to change it. You could try building
him a very tall cat tree, that resembles a doorframe, and cover the wood in
fabric or carpet to make it appealing to climb. Just scold him every time he
tries to climb, and remove him to the cat tree. Cats are pretty smart. He'll
get the idea.
You could also try treating the wood frame with orange or lemon oil. Cats are
supposed to hate citrus scents, and it wouldn't hurt the wood. My cats don't
seem to mind citrus though.

Sherry

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Wendy - 23 Aug 2004 17:37 GMT

> I posted earlier about hardwood floors and cats and I appreciate all the
> responses. However, I have another question. Our cats are both front
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> LVIII

I'm a little confused. How is your cat climbing your door jams without front
claws?

W

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Lord Vader III - 23 Aug 2004 18:09 GMT

> > I posted earlier about hardwood floors and cats and I appreciate all the
> > responses. However, I have another question. Our cats are both front
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> W

He jumps up about 4 feet, jams his rear claws into the doorjams, holds
on with his front paws, and then just holds himself there for a couple
seconds and then jumps down.

LVIII

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Wendy - 23 Aug 2004 21:58 GMT

> > > I posted earlier about hardwood floors and cats and I appreciate all the
> > > responses. However, I have another question. Our cats are both front
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> LVIII

OK tricky cat!

Get a good cat tree (as others have already said) so the cat has something
to climb on. Get the double sided sticky tape (they sell it in pet stores
and it can be removed without leaving sticky residue) and put it on the door
jam.

You also might want to clip the back claws. Blunt claws do less damage.

W

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AC - 25 Aug 2004 03:52 GMT

I would say NO!

Cats need to stretch using their claws as "anchors". It's simply part of
their instinctive behaviour. If you clip their claws, they will be
frustrated, and who knows what psychological problem you will be
breeding...?

The preferable situation is, let their claws grow out. TEACH them what are
appropriate clawing points, and you will have a much happier cat!

> > > > I posted earlier about hardwood floors and cats and I appreciate all
> the
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
>
> W

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Wendy - 26 Aug 2004 02:38 GMT

> I would say NO!
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> The preferable situation is, let their claws grow out. TEACH them what are
> appropriate clawing points, and you will have a much happier cat!

If you have an inside only cat and I hope these are as they are front
declawed, you are going to have to clip the hind claws occasionally as they
don't wear them down as they would outside. They may only need to be done
once a month or so but they will need to be clipped. I had neglected to do
one of my cats rear claws and they ended up so long her claws were out even
when she wasn't extending them and were getting stuck on the carpeting. They
still have plenty of claw left to climb with and anchor themselves just the
sharp points get trimmed off.

W

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equalizer - 24 Aug 2004 10:02 GMT

>> > I posted earlier about hardwood floors and cats and I appreciate all the
>> > responses. However, I have another question. Our cats are both front
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
>LVIII

Since declawing didn't work, why don't you just amputate his front legs?
That would be the next logical progression in the mutilation.......

eq

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MaryL - 23 Aug 2004 19:04 GMT

> I posted earlier about hardwood floors and cats and I appreciate all the
> responses. However, I have another question. Our cats are both front
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> LVIII

I would recommend a good cat tree. Drs. Foster and Smith have one with a
step arrangement that your cats could use for jumping from
position-to-position in addition to climbing. I got a *great* cat tree from
www.crateacatcondo.com. They will build to your specifications, so you
could have the beds made closer together since your cats do not have their
front claws. You can see my cat tree if you scroll through the photos in
the second link under my signature (actually, it is *Duffy's* cat tree, and
he shares it with Holly).

Both Holly and Duffy have all their claws, and they are very good about
using scratching posts and cat trees. However, Holly will scratch at the
wall beside one door frame when I am in the utility room because she wants
to get to me. We solved that problem by mounting a small piece of plexiglas
over that area (using very tiny screws). It is clear and can hardly be
seen.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: >'o'<
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

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