What kind of carpet should i get if i have cats with claws??

Question

What kind of carpet should i get if i have cats with claws??

Answer 1

It shouldn't matter if you provide tall, sturdy scratching posts and cardboard scratch pads for horizontal scratching. I have 5 cats and  they love to use the rope covered scratching posts with carpeted platforms on top so they can climb up the post and lie on the platform for a view out the window. They also love to use their cardboard scratch pads. They haven't touched my carpet, which I would call generic basic plush carpet. The 2 youngest cats will sometimes (rarely) start to scratch my small Persian-style throw rug. (maybe that's because it is a small throw rug on top of the carpet, and they think it is a scratch pad!) Trimming your cats' nails with cat nail scissors will help if the cats try to scratch your carpet despite the scratching posts and pads. You just trim the sharp "hook" off the end of the claw. Here is an illustrated guide to trimming nails from a vet's website: http://declawing.com/htmls/trimming.htm

Personally, I wouldn't attempt to use the guillotine style trimmers. They are too bulky and I'd be afraid of cutting too deep. I like the small nail scissors available at pet supply stores.

Answer 2

Pretty much any carpet that isn't shaggy....

Those non-stain rugs work nicely, because not only do the cat's claws not get stuck in them, but if the cats decide to run around and knock something off the table, it's an easy clean up!! Haha.

Answer 3

persian (not the cat) or oriental  

Answer 4

For your cats with claws, try a good quality low-pile carpet.

Answer 5

The carpets you don't want are those with loops, so stick with carpet known as cut pile.

That means stay away from mixtures of cut and loop pile, or berber.

Cats normally retract their claws while walking on carpet, but if there was a sudden movement, with any carpet with loops, they could get caught and tear their claw.

The link has a run down of the different carpet terms, and whether they are cut pile, loop, or mixtures of both types.