Cat scratching drywall

[regentrude]

Any remedies? Cat has scratch post and a cratchy surface. Cat scratches drywall above his litter box, so I am hesitant to use repellent spray because he needs to use the box and it cannot be relocated.

[Pawz4me]

Double sided sticky tape, or take regular packing type tape and make big loops and stick on the wall. Or tape a big piece of aluminum foil over the area.

None of those are aesthetically pleasing, but they usually work.

[regentrude]

1 minute ago, Pawz4me said:

Double sided sticky tape, or take regular packing type tape and make big loops and stick on the wall. Or tape a big piece of aluminum foil over the area.

None of those are aesthetically pleasing, but they usually work.

Thanks. That won't draw their attention even more to the spot?

[Pawz4me]

1 minute ago, regentrude said:

Thanks. That won't draw their attention even more to the spot?

Most cats hate the feel of tape and foil, so they won't mess with it. He could decide to scratch on the drywall in a different location, though.

ETA: We had a cat who was a true pest about trying to wake us up at night, so we decided to close him out of the bedroom. Then the little bugger decided he'd bang and scratch on the door all night long. Some loops of tape stopped that behavior immediately.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Pawz4me

[regentrude]

1 minute ago, Pawz4me said:

Most cats hate the feel of tape and foil, so they won't mess with it. He could decide to scratch on the drywall in a different location, though.

I will try that. It seems that the initial scratch ( which might have been accidental) is what draws him to the same spot, so maybe he won't start a new patch

[itsheresomewhere]

My neighbor used a piece of plexiglass leftover from a project.  It seemed to work as the cat has never done it again.  

[stephanier.1765]

38 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

My neighbor used a piece of plexiglass leftover from a project.  It seemed to work as the cat has never done it again.  

That's what my son and his wife use for their cat. Being clear, it doesn't really draw the eye to it. I would also consider a high walled litter box or a covered one. That way his scratching would be limited to the plastic of the box.

[regentrude]

Update: sticky tape worked for that one spot - he simply opened a new spot. Ripped off that sticky tape because it stuck to his fur.
He has now started scratching in yet another place on another wall. I cannot cover all the bathroom walls in plexiglass.
Stumped.

He's using his scratch post and scratch board just fine. I added a coir mat in the bathroom for him to wipe his feet, to no avail.

[stephanier.1765]

1 minute ago, regentrude said:

Update: sticky tape worked for that one spot - he simply opened a new spot. Ripped off that sticky tape because it stuck to his fur.
He has now started scratching in yet another place on another wall. I cannot cover all the bathroom walls in plexiglass.
Stumped.

He's using his scratch post and scratch board just fine. I added a coir mat in the bathroom for him to wipe his feet, to no avail.

Is it around a litter box or the bathroom as a whole? If it's the litter box, I would try to find one that's too deep for him to scratch over the walls or a covered one. Other than that, I'm stumped too. So odd.

[regentrude]

3 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Is it around a litter box or the bathroom as a whole? If it's the litter box, I would try to find one that's too deep for him to scratch over the walls or a covered one. Other than that, I'm stumped too. So odd.

It's near the litter box. 
The spaces where the box can go are very narrow, so I'm not sure a covered one would fit.
I can't picture a box too deep for him to scratch over the walls - this is a huge 10 lb cat who will balance on the rim of the litterbox to scratch the wall.

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by regentrude

[Carrie12345]

22 minutes ago, regentrude said:

It's near the litter box. 
The spaces where the box can go are very narrow, so I'm not sure a covered one would fit.
I can't picture a box too deep for him to scratch over the walls - this is a huge 10 lb cat who will balance on the rim of the litterbox to scratch the wall.

 

My hunch is that the box in this case may be too small for the cat to do his post-business scratchy cover up.   
My large cats had a large, covered litter box and usually scratched the box walls inside as part of their bury the poop ritual. 

[Pawz4me]

 

53 minutes ago, regentrude said:

It's near the litter box. 
The spaces where the box can go are very narrow, so I'm not sure a covered one would fit.
I can't picture a box too deep for him to scratch over the walls - this is a huge 10 lb cat who will balance on the rim of the litterbox to scratch the wall.

 

Ten pounds is an averaged size cat, not huge by any means.

If you can't manage a larger size box then how about hanging some sort of scratching thing on the wall right behind the box?

Edited November 23, 2022 by Pawz4me

[regentrude]

7 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

Ten pounds is an averaged size cat, not huge by any means.

okay, then he just appears huge to me since he's growing so fast 🙂 
10 lbs felt enormous for a 7 months old (and he is growing to be much bigger)

[regentrude]

40 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

My hunch is that the box in this case may be too small for the cat to do his post-business scratchy cover up.   
My large cats had a large, covered litter box and usually scratched the box walls inside as part of their bury the poop ritual. 

I'll try. Any advice on how to get the other cat used to it? The other one is extremely scared and skittish and I'm afraid changing the litter box won't be easy on her

[gardenmom5]

can you use the 'cat scratch deterrent tape'?  

make sure claws are trimmed (which is all I have to do for mine to keep him from going after carpet.)

silicon tips for claws (supposed to last about a month before they need to be replaced)

[gardenmom5]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:31 AM, Pawz4me said:

Double sided sticky tape, or take regular packing type tape and make big loops and stick on the wall. Or tape a big piece of aluminum foil over the area.

None of those are aesthetically pleasing, but they usually work.

lol.  kitty got tape on him once, he was freaking out trying to get it off.

 

[regentrude]

1 minute ago, gardenmom5 said:

lol.  kitty got tape on him once, he was freaking out trying to get it off.

Mine got a loop stuck on him and walked around like that all day until  got home from work. Totally didn't faze him.

[City Mouse]

My cat found a spot inside a closet where he clawed at the drywall and unfinished trim for years. Since it was an out of the way spot where no one can see, we gave up trying to deter the behavior. Once he found that spot,he stopped scratch furniture and other places. The battle has been gone now for over a year,but I haven’t bothered making any repairs. 

[stephanier.1765]

Is it possible to have another place for a litter box so you can  put a bigger box there for the naughty kitty and keep the one you have in its usual spot? You should have at least 2 boxes for 2 cats anyway so that might help alleviate some of the problem. Have you noticed if he does it more when the box has more poop and pee in it vs when it's been newly scooped or changed? He might not want to scratch on top of that. Some cats don't care while others are more particular. You could try scooping twice a day to see if it helps.

[regentrude]

50 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Is it possible to have another place for a litter box so you can  put a bigger box there for the naughty kitty and keep the one you have in its usual spot? You should have at least 2 boxes for 2 cats anyway so that might help alleviate some of the problem. Have you noticed if he does it more when the box has more poop and pee in it vs when it's been newly scooped or changed? He might not want to scratch on top of that. Some cats don't care while others are more particular. You could try scooping twice a day to see if it helps.

I scoop several times a day, it's almost always freshly scooped when he goes. I notice that he doesn't bury his poop anymore- any idea why that might be?

We have two boxes in the half-bath on the main level and an additional box in the basement bathroom as backup, but the use it rarely.  Because of the toilet and the sink, there is no space for anything wider than 14.5 inches

There really is nowhere else - I can't put it in the middle of the kitchen. 

Where do y'all have your litter boxes if not in the bathroom?

[Starr]

We had one once that was covered in a large hallway but there was a corner where the hallways met in an old house. We had to change to an open box as they got older and that had some wall repercussions. I had a friend who kept hers under a big chair in her small apartment living room.lol Does your cat have any health problems? Old?

[momto3innc]

We’ve never had litter boxes in the bathroom. The idea of pieces of litter on the bathroom floor bothers me.

We have one box in the basement, tucked away in a corner. Then we have one on the main floor. It’s kind of tucked in a weird corner of a hallway that goes to our garage and laundry room.
We don’t have one on our second floor.

Both spots have worked well for our cat although he uses the one on the main floor the most. We do have boxes with high sides to try and keep the litter contained. Not totally successful but it helps.

[Pawz4me]

We've had litter boxes in various places, depending on the layout. At the house where we first had cats I kept one box tucked behind the couch and another one in the master bathroom, in the big tub none of us ever used. In our previous house we had a spare bedroom that we were able to devote to the pets. The cats' litter boxes were in one corner and their water fountain and food were placed in the opposite corner. They also had a couple of beds in that room, and I kept my dog grooming stuff set up in it. It was so nice to have that space to devote to the pets and their stuff. In this house I kept one litter box in my closet (door had to be left open all the time, of course) and one behind the couch in the sun room.

Edited November 24, 2022 by Pawz4me

[Clarita]

4 hours ago, regentrude said:

I scoop several times a day, it's almost always freshly scooped when he goes. I notice that he doesn't bury his poop anymore- any idea why that might be?

The alpha cat in our household does not bury her poops. I think I saw a documentary that big cats like Lions also do not bury their poops so it could be that your cat is just comfortable in your home and feels like the big macho cat. 

4 hours ago, regentrude said:

Where do y'all have your litter boxes if not in the bathroom?

 In the middle of the master bedroom. Not where we would prefer it but our issue cat is at least willing to occasionally use the litter box there. At least we've set it up to a point where at least she won't pee where we really don't want her to pee.

[Selkie]

We have six cats and half of them bury it and half of them don’t. It seems to just be preference, as far as I can tell. Our litter boxes are in several locations - the mudroom, a spare bathroom, and several in the basement.