Kitty Keeps Clawing Drapes.

you can clip the front paws' nails by using a nail clipper. don't clip where there is pink (blood supply) - if you do accidentally nick the pink part and there is bleeding, rub some coffee grinds over it. i know this sounds cooky but it works.

also there is a product called "NO" that they sell at petsmart. sometimes this works on already established kitties, sometimes not.

also the water bottle spray. enough times should train the cat.

good job trying not to declaw the cat.

Hi, J..

I'd just tell your cats to stop chasing each other in the living room.

Hope this helps.
J.

Hi J.,

Do you have a cat "tree" for your cat. It may give him the climbing activities that he needs and he will stay away from your drapes.

I have bought two, I think one was from walmart and one from Petco. It goes from floor to ceiling with perches on it so the cat can sit, sleep and play. They are not too expensive.

My other suggestion would be to tie your drapes up off the floor so he can't get to them at night.
Good Luck!

Hi, I have 9 cats and have had many cats for about 25 years. I've seen about every suggestion here and most of them didn't work with my kitties (not to say that they won't work for you. Really what you want is a distraction from the curtains. One other mom suggested a cat tree and I want to second that. Cats have the most energy in the morning and late in the evening. What you need is plenty of toys or other stimulation for them. I have a huge cat tree that has worked great for us. They are pretty pricey, but are worth it if you can fit it in your house. I ordered mine online many years ago. Don't just go by what is in the stores. You can find a much better selection online and many times, you can get the color you want. I've seen some cheap ones, but they are not made well and they aren't very heavy. You want something that will be weighty and with good construction because kitty will shred it if it's not. I also like to use catnip spray to encourage them to climb on it. It works the same as regular 'nip but it's not messy. Another thing you can do, is crumble up tin foil balls for them and leave it in the kitchen. Cats like the noise things make on a hard floor. And yet another thing to try is tissue paper. My cats love playing with it and rolling in it. Crumble it a bit so it's puffy and let them play with it. Oh, paper bags work good too. Anything that's crinkly sounding is good. Whenever we get packages in the mail, I let my cats play with the box and any tissue or paper that came with it. It's like they got something in the mail too. Hopefully I gave you some good ideas and something works for you. My cats have broke/ruined MANY, MANY things. Can't have anything nice. Good luck.

We had a similar issues with one of our cats insisting on climbing the drapes. The solution that I found is to have a squirt bottle or as a previous poster said a squirt gun and fill them with water. Keep the bottle in the area of the curtain so that when you see him in action just squirt him. The trick is do squirt him secretly but don't let him see that you are squirting him. If he sees that it is you squirting him, he will associate the unpleasant burst of water with you and not connect it with the drapes. If you squirt him so that he does not see it's you he will associate the burst of water with the drapes and loose interest. It does not hurt him but it will deter him. If he only does it when you are not around try taping / pinning painters tape to the curtain with the sticky side out. We used the painters tape sticky side up to discourage our cats from jumping onto the mantle and other higher elements. The painters tape is safe for the furniture, does not hurt the cat and is easily removed (with out assistance).
Good Luck

Rather than declawing our cat, we used a spray bottle to train him. Any undesireable behavior (getting on the table, clawing furniture, etc) was met with a squirt of water. Harmless and very effective. After a short time, we could just make the sound that the squirt bottle makes and he'd stop what he was doing. It did not take long to get him trained and he was the greatest cat ever.

I never had this problem, but when our kittens climbed onto the table, we would scoop them off, tell them no and send them flying in no uncertain terms. They learned to steer clear.

Actually, our cat never climbed the curtains. Is there any way to shut them out of the LR at night, so it can't happen ?

Since squirt guns don't work at 2 am when you're asleep in bed :P and cats are by their very primal nature nocturnal creatures, are they afraid of the vacuum cleaner? Maybe put that out by the drapes at night? (as long as it's not a safety hazard, of course)

try soft paws - little plastic claw covers you can glue on. kitty then won't be able to climb drapes (or dig claws into anything else).
good luck

Squirt gun?
Pin some tissue paper to the curtains at the launching level.

When we were training our dog to stay off of the furniture, he would not go on it if there was newspaper or tissue paper so maybe it would work enough to give the cat a neg assoc with the curtains?

Have your vet teach you how to trim kitty's claws. Kitty will probably NOT like it, but it may help keep it from getting snagged.

What KIND of works for me is clipping their (I have 2!) nails pretty regularly... and lots of diff textured scratchy things. I have 2 scratching posts, one with your normal carpet material, and one with half wood, and half rope, both i put cat nip on, and a scrap piece of carpet flipped upside down + cat nip. GOOD LUCK!!!

Hi ,I have 2 and got them at different ages. They each have there own destruction loves.One picks at my pillows on the couch and one destroys the corners of my wood kitchen table.Try a squirt bottle filled with water and leave it near the place the kitty loves to ruin and when you see kiiy near it give a little shout no and a squirt.You will need to repeat often.They hate the squirt.However they are most devious when you are not around so unless you plan on declawing ( I don't for my cats) you need to get use to destruction in the home.I think they they are worth it .

Many years ago my first cat slashed the bottom of an antique .Now that he is gone I actually treasure the scratch,I know it sounds crazy.But its love them as they are or do not bring them home as pets.
Goodluck!
L.

my cat hates aluminum foil, she used to claw the furniture so i put the foil on the floor and she won't step on it. after a few weeks, I could remove the foil and she stayed off the furniture. This also worked in keeping her out of my son's crib and the plants! good luck!

J., although I never tried this, I recently read that if you put a dryer sheet underneath the Christmas tree skirt, a cat will not climb it. What if you either pinned or taped one to the bottom back side of each drape?
You didn't mention where your drapes are,but an option might be to apply the frosted cling on window coverings instead of drapes.They also make a covering that looks like stained glass.These are super simple to apply,measure, cut and apply. I use these on my basement windows to provide privacy since those windows are a non standard size and they work great. Even gives me less windows to clean.

Please, if you care about your cat, don't even consider declawing. Most vets won't even do the procedure anymore. It is cruel. As you said, they remove part of their fingers. You wouldn't do that to your child, why would you do it to your cat? Hopefully you wouldn't and that is why you are writing. They have some things out on the market that claim they will keep cats away if you spray it on the furniture. I have not tried these, you can try them if you haven't yet.
If it was me, I would do away with the drapes. You can get blinds, and your kitty won't get stuck in them hopefully. lol
Getting a pet is a big commitment, for life. If you decide to have them in your home, and be part of your family, you need to take steps (just as you would do a child) to make the place safe for them. If it's not working for the cat, get rid of it. That is my motto. I have done several modifications to my home for my cats over the years. It is a happier home because of it. All cats are different and have their little unique ways of getting into stuff. That is what makes them so special. Get rid of the drapes and enjoy your kitty. Don't worry about the petty stuff in life. Best wishes! :D
PS they have those things you can put over their claws too, don't know how well they work either, but you can try them.

I read through the replies you already got and a lot of people suggested spray bottles, removing the cat and saying no, etc. But I noticed in your question you said this happens in the early morning hours, during which I am sure you are sleeping (or trying to), so these may not be the best solution. There is a product that you can find through Cat Fancy magazine thay covers your cats nails (kind of like tips for cats). They are painless to the cat and they cover the nails so they can't scratch or claw things. You may want to give these a try!