"PawsForThought" wrote in message
...
From: (Elijah)

Have a supremely annoying and occasionally affectionate 9-month old
kitten and an older and loving tuxedo cat. Was just given a
magnificent persian rug but it'd be a shame if the kitten tore it to
shreds and there's no way I'll declaw them. Is there any kind of
effective deterrant? I was thinking of waiting a few months until the
kitten isn't so destructive anymore, but that isnt 100% effective,
cause she'll still probably occasionally scratch it like when she's
bored, stretching or deliberately misbehaving. Any advice?

I would highly recommend a good tall sturdy scratching post, one of those
cardboard scratching pads, and a cat tree. I have these for my cats and
they
do not scratch my rugs. The key is to give the cat something more
enticing
than your rug to scratch on. Glad to hear you won't consider declawing!

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

The Turbo Scratcher is especially attractive to kittens because it has a
ball they can bat around as well as the cardboard to scratch on. It would
probably work better to place it relatively near the rug you don't want
scratched so it will always be a more attractive alternative.

You can also buy an inexpensive scissors-like tool at the pet supply store
to trim the cat's claws. Have someone show you how to do it because you can
injure the cat if you trim too much. There's a blood vessel in the claw you
might hit. It's only necessary to snip the end of the claw to blunt the
sharp point.

Bill