"John Ross Mc Master" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 13:15:10 -0500, "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!

Are you still reading this thread.

The short answer is that I read the first batch of responses, took action,
and then went away. But I came back today to report on my results.

Its simple.
I mbought a $15 vinyl matress cove, that zips over the entire mattress
top and bottom, enclosing the whole mattress. and on top of that I
have a mattress liner and fitted sheets. The claws can't get throgh
the mattress liner and nothing can get through the vinyl.
The liner makes it comfortable so I can't tell the vinyl is there.

My solution was pretty similar to yours. My initial solution, to put long
L-shaped bendable plastic strips over the box spring, protected the box
spring but turned out to be problematic in other ways: 1. the cats
constantly attacked the package tape that I used to secure the L-shaped
strips to the box spring, causing me to have to retape it fairly frequently
2. The L-shaped strips made it harder to make the bed.

So I went to Plan B and bought an 8 foot by 10 foot plastic tarp for $10. I
centered the tarp on the box spring in all directions and had the excess
plastic dangling over the edge of the box spring. I tied the top two corners
together underneath the bed, then tied the bottom corners together, also
underneath the bed. This resulted in everything but the underside of the box
spring being completely covered in plastic. Now, the cats don't even try to
scratch at the box spring. I also have a "scratching board" on the floor
beside the bed which they can use - and do - use when they want to scratch.

There is no "maintenance" involved in this solution - nothing to retape or
readjust - and it is just as easy to make the bed as it was when I had
nothing to protect the box spring. The only down sides to this solution a
it is less attractive to have the box spring covered than to leave it alone;
there is a bit of a rustling sound if my legs contact the plastic when I'm
getting out of bed. Neither of these is remotely important to me.

Plan B was definitely the best solution for my needs!

Thanks to all who replied to my question.

--
Rhino