dgk wrote:
On Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:47:35 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

dgk wrote:
On Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:29:54 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

chaniarts wrote:
Rhino wrote:
I have a conventional box spring and mattress that I am looking
to replace because it is just too hard.

I'd like to know if anyone knows any ways that I can reliably
cat-proof the new mattress so that my two cats, both of which
have their claws, don't sharpen their claws on it the way they
did with the current mattress. (I say "did" because they don't
scratch it a lot any more but I suspect that is because they are
out of places that they can scratch on the mattress that aren't
already shredded.)

While the mattress still works fine, it looks *awful*. They have
shredded it so badly that they can literally stick the top half
of their bodies into the holes they have made - I saw Bebop, the
larger of the two cats, do it once!
I will not consider declawing them so please don't even suggest
it. I do not want to banish them from my bedroom or bed either.
I'm looking for some way to deter them from sharpening their
claws on the wood frame of the mattress. In case it makes a
difference, they are both 10 years old, one is male and one is
female, and they are both neutered.
Does anyone have any reliable techniques for protecting the bed
from their claw-sharpening? If so, I'd love to hear from you!

soft claws

Put a sharpening post covered with carpet at the foot of the bed,
and keep the door to the bedroom closed, so the only time the cats
can get in there is when you are in there, too. Then, when they try
to sharpen their claws on anything except the sharpening post,
throw a small pillow at them and scream at them. After a bit, they
will start using the sharpening post, and only the sharpening
post....

Instead of screaming at them, it's probably best to take them when
they scratch something else and bring them to the scratching post.
Actually, if you put catnip on the scratching post, they will train
themselves to use that.

I've always used blankets that overlay the mattress anyway so no
part of the mattress is accessible to their claws. In fact, I have
one comforter (being full scale winter here) that overlaps the
entire bed to the floor (Queen bed, King comforter). Because it's a
platform bed, it forms a "secret tunnnel" under the comforter that
they love to stay in that goes all around the bed. I like to play
"there's a monster under the bed", poking stuff under the comforter
that get attacked by the monsters.It is important that no bare feet
come too close however.

Yeah, I do that too.....

But you know, they have found out that a certain amount of stress is
actually good for living things. You can spoil your kitties to
death. Its good for them to get screamed at once in a while. And
"forget" to feed them once or twice every month, too. They really
need to learn that life isn't a bowl of cherries.....

I don't think that it's humanly possible to never yell at them. But
I've read that they really don't understand being yelled at and don't
associate it with whatever it is that they've done. They just learn to
fear you as unstable.

It's also no good to scold a cat after the deed has been done; they do
not understand that you're referring to something that happened at an
earlier time.

True. But 3 seconds after is not, "an earlier time". At least, not to a cat.
I only scream and throw a pillow at them when they are actually engaged in
the act.....Otherwise, I keep the door to the bedroom (or wherever) closed
until they learn the main message.