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Cat-proofing my mattress?



 
 
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  #21  
Old January 25th 11, 08:47 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Bill Graham
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,065
Default Cat-proofing my mattress?

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.....

  #22  
Old January 25th 11, 08:55 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
MLB[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,298
Default Cat-proofing my mattress?

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....




Cherries they can do without, but don't forget the tuna. MLB
  #23  
Old January 26th 11, 03:43 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Bill Graham
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,065
Default Cat-proofing my mattress?

MLB wrote:
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....




Cherries they can do without, but don't forget the tuna. MLB


Well, I knew one that liked melon balls, but cherries? - No.
  #24  
Old January 26th 11, 04:39 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
dgk
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,268
Default Cat-proofing my mattress?

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.
  #25  
Old January 26th 11, 11:13 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Bill Graham
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,065
Default Cat-proofing my mattress?

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.

  #26  
Old January 27th 11, 04:37 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
John Ross Mc Master
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,125
Default Cat-proofing my mattress?

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.
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.
  #27  
Old February 20th 11, 08:05 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Rhino[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 34
Default Cat-proofing my mattress?


"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


  #28  
Old February 21st 11, 01:15 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Bill Graham
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,065
Default Cat-proofing my mattress?

Rhino wrote:
"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.


You may have a problem this Summer because the vynal cover doesn't, Breathe"
like a bare mattress does. But you may be able to fix that with a pad over
the vynal.....

  #29  
Old February 24th 11, 06:09 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Cheryl[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,078
Default Cat-proofing my mattress?

On 2/20/2011 2:05 PM, Rhino wrote:
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!


Late to this thread, but I flip the box spring and put a fitted sheet on
it then put it back on the frame. Sometimes you have to readjust it.

  #30  
Old June 16th 11, 05:45 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
John Doe
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 381
Default Cat-proofing my mattress?

If you use a cheap air bed, IMO air beds are by far the most
comfortable mattresses in existence, you can use the shell of
mattresses past to cover a new mattress.
 




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