Ripping Up My Carpet

I have a very intelligent 4 year old Maine Coon who has trained my entire family to open doors for him. Whenever he wants to enter or exit a room, he jumps up and reaches for the door knob and stares at you. He doesn't cry. He just stares at us. He is a very quiet cat and rarely meows at all. This behavior is fine and encouraged, but now he figured out a way to get everyone up to open the front door for him whenever he pleases. I try not to let him out at night, but he will throw a fit and rip up the carpet in front of my bedroom so that someone will stand up to tell him to stop it. Then once they are up out of their seats, he runs to the door and everyone automatically lets him out because he is "being a brat." I tell everyone to stop letting him out and they have, but now he keeps going at the carpet once they sit back down and he runs back and forth between the carpet and the door. Ugh! I am going to have to replace it this summer. I have tried everything to break this habit!

 

Wow, that is one smart cat! Bella was ripping up my carpet but it wasn't because of anything that smart! LOL

 

Haha he is hilarious SheWolf! He tried it today when my stepsisters came to visit. They got a kick out of it and let him out. I think I'm going to have to put foil down over my carpet or find something wild and scary to get him to stop.

 

My cats have pulled up some of my carpet trying to get into closed doors. I'm glad we have laminate in some of the house!

 

Try visiting one of your locally run carpet places for scrap pieces of carpet and start encouraging the cat to scratch at that piece instead of the actual carpet. Then as it responds start to convert it to a scratching post even if a self made two by four wrapped in a carpet scrap near the front door. Much like how you slowly potty train them, do it in steps. Once you get them to that point, either try switching the let me out from scratch the carpet to scratch the fake carpet to scratch to fake carpet pole near the door, to even maybe make a small piece of carpet attached to a nouse on the doorknob and have her stretch and scratch that on all doors. Might prevent your molding from being your next victim.

My best advice is try to change, and succeed in changing the behavior before you bother replacing the carpet. After all it is trashed already right?
Mine as well try out every possible way now before you get new and try something that has you wanted to wrap your kitty up in a spare piece of carpet.
Joking of course.