Bitter-apple spray and painted surfaces

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One of my cats, Katie, has started sharpening her claws on the jamb
of my bedroom door, despite having a large sharpening post which she
has used for years. She seems to do this only in the mornings, when
she is meowing impatiently at the door, waiting for me to get up. So
far, she hasn't scratched any other surfaces in the house.

Is the bitter-apple cat-repellent spray safe on painted surfaces? If
not, can anyone recommend a chemical to use to make this door frame
smell unappealing to her?

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--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

in article , John F. Eldredge at
wrote on 10/2/03 8:37 PM:

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One of my cats, Katie, has started sharpening her claws on the jamb
of my bedroom door, despite having a large sharpening post which she
has used for years. She seems to do this only in the mornings, when
she is meowing impatiently at the door, waiting for me to get up. So
far, she hasn't scratched any other surfaces in the house.

Is the bitter-apple cat-repellent spray safe on painted surfaces? If
not, can anyone recommend a chemical to use to make this door frame
smell unappealing to her?

I don't think it would hurt the paint.

Karen

Suggest you apply it to a small, descrete patch of paint (behind a shelf
perhaps) and see what happens.

--
Alan Erskine
alanerskine(at)optusnet.com.au

Trial or release, Mr Bush, trial or release.

"John F. Eldredge" wrote in message
...
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One of my cats, Katie, has started sharpening her claws on the jamb
of my bedroom door, despite having a large sharpening post which she
has used for years. She seems to do this only in the mornings, when
she is meowing impatiently at the door, waiting for me to get up. So
far, she hasn't scratched any other surfaces in the house.

Is the bitter-apple cat-repellent spray safe on painted surfaces? If
not, can anyone recommend a chemical to use to make this door frame
smell unappealing to her?

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Version: PGPfreeware 7.0.3 for non-commercial use http://www.pgp.com

iQA/AwUBP3zSnzMYPge5L34aEQJerwCgwAqxjZ8E/7vwuCuUC2HMZYa72UUAn1tI
+9YRL6DEsv1FoRMeoRZIVh47
=N1qy
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

"John F. Eldredge" wrote


Is the bitter-apple cat-repellent spray safe on painted surfaces? If
not, can anyone recommend a chemical to use to make this door frame
smell unappealing to her?

Feliway spray should discourage cats from scratching, not because it's
repelling, but because it smells of the feromones that cats use to scent
their surroundings, so the cat will go up to the sprayed surface, find that
it already smells "marked", and doesn't need to be marked again. I don't
know if it's available where you are, and I don't have personal experience
of it, but if nothing else works, you might want to try it.

--
Marina

Hi John,


I think bitter apple primarily works when the surface is being chewed
on. We use it to discourage Oilver from chewing on electrical cords but
he still puts them in his mouth and then spits them out once he taste
them so I don't know how well it will work as a repellent for scratching.

I do highly recommend feliway spray. It isn't a repellent but a
pheromone that tells them they don't need to scratch here as it is
already marked. Oliver was scratching new sofas and the feliway spray
stopped it almost immediately although the directions say it could take
a month.

Margaret

John F. Eldredge wrote:

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One of my cats, Katie, has started sharpening her claws on the jamb
of my bedroom door, despite having a large sharpening post which she
has used for years. She seems to do this only in the mornings, when
she is meowing impatiently at the door, waiting for me to get up. So
far, she hasn't scratched any other surfaces in the house.

Is the bitter-apple cat-repellent spray safe on painted surfaces? If
not, can anyone recommend a chemical to use to make this door frame
smell unappealing to her?

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Version: PGPfreeware 7.0.3 for non-commercial use http://www.pgp.com

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--
Margaret Fine

Have you tried Feliway?

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

She seems to do this only in the mornings, when
she is meowing impatiently at the door, waiting for me to get up. So
far, she hasn't scratched any other surfaces in the house.
Is the bitter-apple cat-repellent spray safe on painted surfaces?

Bitter apple is only used if they will be tasting it. It doesn't smell bad to
them. There are some cat away sprays sold at Petco. I don't know if they're any
good. I had this problem with my cat. He basically wants you to get up and feed
him and play with him. I first started by not feeding him the second I get up
so he wouldn't associate me getting up with eating. Then I had to get a squirt
gun. I'd get up and squirt him if he scratched the door. Then he got smart.
When he'd hear me get up he'd move around the corner so I couldn't squirt him.
After a while he stopped when he realized that scratching on the door will not
get him fed earlier. Is he hungry or does he just want attention? Maybe you can
leave some dry food out for him the night before?