sig is chewing up the furniture

he's nearly ruined our loveseat by chewing and ripping up the corners all around, and now is starting at the sofa. i have been able to repair it, but i want him to STOP and when have caught him doing it, i say NO! and he will quit. he actually understands no very well. but he pulls this crap at night when we are sleeping and i have no idea why. he's nearly two years old now and i have never hear of a cat doing this.

whether we have had change or not in the household, he has been doing this since he was a baby. i thought he would outgrow it eventually, thinking it was a kitten thing. like i said, he dosen't do it when anyone is around. it's like he waits for us to leave the house or go to bed.

i have smelled the furniture, thinking one of the kids wiped food or something on it. you know how kids don't think sometimes.

i just have no idea. and my husband is furious about it. i am afraid that the next time will be the last time one way or another. i will be just SICK to have to rehome him over a sofa, but what can i do. i can't have him destroying the house. and quite honestly, if my husband decides that he has to go, i have no choice. :(

i have heard of some green apple spray that you can use to deter chewing. has anyone tried it? any help would be appreciated. i want to stop this before he chews his way out of our home and my heart.

I do not know if this will help, but try putting blankets over the chairs, also try playing alot with your boy before bedtime. Maybe you can tire him out so he will sleep instead of working on the furniture.

I'm sorry to hear this.:( Do you have any small scratching posts? If you do then try to put them in front of the furniture and spray them with catnip spray to help entice him to use these instead of the furniture. I'd also get some heavy blankets or buy some furniture covers to help protect your furniture. I've never used the green apple spray so I don't know if this will help or not. Most cats don't like the smell of citrus so you could also spray some kind of a citrus spray and this might also help.

Both my couch and recliner are also in bad shape. I bought corduroy furniture covers and they really helped a lot. I also have plenty of small scratching posts all around and they've learned to use these instead. If all else fails you could try using soft paws on him. Here's a link:http://www.softpaws.com/. Good luck.:)

actually it's not scratching he's doing. he's biting and literally tearing off hunks of fabric and stuffing. he's not eating it tho. he leaves the shreds on the floor at the scene of the crime. essentially he'll keep biting at the same area (a new one each time) till there is a hole that he can rip open till it's a crater.

at first he started this when he was teathing. he chewed up all the corners on the bottom of the love seat. now he's moved onto the arms and the area where the arm meets the seat, incidently the hardest dang area to try to sew back together. :rolleyes:

i found a recipe for a cayenne pepper spray online that supposedly works. it's just water and pepper in a spray bottle and it said it won't hurt him, just he shouldn't like tasting it. i am gonna make some and try it on a test fabric to see if it stains and when dry if it's still hot before trying it. that and check and make sure it won't hurt him other than a hot mouth.

thankfully the furniture has dark fabric and the areas that i have repaired (and not real good considering the damage) really don't show that much unless you're really close to it or run your hand over it.

~aki

oh snap!

look what i found :eek:

NOT RECOMMENDED:
*** chili powder, red crushed pepper, cayenne pepper (NOT recommended), it gets on the cat's paws then they wash themselves and they get it in their eyes, beware cats have literally scratched their eyes out because of this. Even if it's one cat out of 500 infected in this way, that's one too many for me.

that's horrible. i want to cry just thinking about it. will go to the store for the bitter apple spray tomorrow. read all kinds of good stuff about it today. and it won't hurt him.

pray he won't wreck anything overnight!

~AKI

What about crating him over night and when you are gone?? That would be the simplest solution to the entire ordeal. If I didn't want to lose my cat because my husband said he must go (and there's an issue I won't go into on this thread...) I'd find a way to keep him confined when he's not able to be watched.

Get a foldable dog cage, put in his litter box and some water and a little food for over night and when you aren't there, and put him in it.

Better a caged, not so happy kitty, than no kitty at all.

jenn that's not a bad idea actually. thanks!

I had to do that with one of my former cats, Sadie, because she would poop outside the box when I was away. Gotta love separation anxiety, lol.

i wish mine missed me more! haha!

ok i got the Grannick's Green Apply spray. tried it on a test fabric to test for staining and smell. when it was dry, i tasted it :rolleyes: :eek:

yuck city hahaha! the things we do, no?

but it did not stain, and when dry has no smell.

so last night i sprayed all the areas he's been chewing and i fixed. plus anywhere else he might try it. nothing ruined overnight.

please pray that this is gonna work. it just has to.