Cats, Claws, and Encasements « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Cats, Claws, and Encasements

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buggyinsocal

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Posted 4 years ago
Thu Jul 10 2008 15:53:18
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I'm curious to hear from anyone here who has encased their mattress and who also has cats.

My cat has a bad habit of sharpening her claws on the corner of my bed. (And the futon, and any cardboard boxes, which after all this there will be a lot less of).

After the first PCO treatment, I'm ready to encase my mattress, and I want to use the high quality encasements. But I'm concerned that if I spend all that money on expensive ones, if my cat does use her claws on the encasement, it will be ruined.

Anyone else have this experience or any advice? Would it make more sense to buy cheap ones and change them often? I can clip the cat's claws weekly, or investigate Soft Paws (the claw covers), but I'm afraid that if I miss even a week, my expensive encasements would be ruined.
kjdrga

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Posted 4 years ago
Thu Jul 10 2008 21:27:17
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My cat is banned from the bedroom now that the bed is encased, it's sad he sleeps outside the door sometimes, but he'll have to get used to it!

I keep the bedroom door closed at all times and he's allowed to wonder the rest of the house.
buggyinsocal

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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Jul 11 2008 1:02:01
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Unfortunately, the bathroom, where her box is, is only accessible through the bedroom. So exiling her from the bedroom really isn't an option. Thanks for the info though.
bugbasher

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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Jul 11 2008 13:06:09
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Buggy,
There's a product called soft paws that can work for you.You get it at the petstore,it's a plastic covering to go over the nails secured with glue.You will need to reapply every 3 weeks or so,but worth it.Just make sure to do a daily check to make sure there on :).If the cat is relatively young and not overweight,you could also have it declawed.Some think it cruel but I don't,there would be many more homeless cats if you could not declaw them.Good luck
buggyinsocal

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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Jul 11 2008 13:40:35
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I'm afraid that I'm definitely in the camp of "declawing is cruel," so I could never consider that as an option for any cat I owned.

I'll consider the soft claws, but unfortunately, that doesn't seem any more fool proof to me than clipping her nails regularly. I cannot imagine checking her claws each and every night for the foreseeable future. For a month or two, sure, but every day for the rest of her life? And making a cat sitter do it every day when I'm away?

Maybe when I'm not in the middle of total BB worry this won't seem so impossible.

It is good to know that Soft Paws only have to be placed once every 3 weeks or so. Thanks for sharing.
Nobugsonme

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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Jul 12 2008 2:20:47
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I would exercise great caution. If banning the cat from the bedroom is possible, it is your safest bet.

If you can't, then part of your solution might be to keep something thick on the bed (over the encasement)-- however, you'd need to ensure it did not harbor bed bugs. And thick items are hard to keep bed bug free.

For example, you could use a cover of some kind that he can't claw through, which will of course be aggressively dried regularly (to kill bed bugs). A comforter would work but is hard to render bed bug-free, so I would not recommend that. I am just throwing around ideas.

I love cats, but they're a PITA where encasements are concerned.

A quality encasement can easily rip if clawed by a cat, rendering it useless. A non-quality encasement probably will not work even unclawed.

Here's a thought: in cases where cats MUST be on the bed, and treatment is progressing, you might try to replace the mattress temporarily with an Aerobed (there are examples of types of Aerobeds here). Some Bedbuggers have used Aerobeds either on a metal frame or on the floor. My idea would be that you use the Aerobed at least until you're fairly confident you can buy a new mattress and not have it infested.

You'd have to do some research about the claims Aerobed makes about cats with claws, but they used to feature a tiger clawing at one in their ads, or so I am told. YMMV, don't let those tigers out just yet!

Maybe others have tried Aerobeds with cats and can weigh in. (And yes, clipping nails with the Aerobed would seem to be a definite yes.)
pleasenotme

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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Jul 12 2008 10:37:39
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If there is a certain spot she claws, there is a product called Sticky Paws that is basically large pieces of double sided tape. You place them in the spots she likes and she won't like the sticky feel of it.
good luck!
belle72

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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Jul 12 2008 10:56:05
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OT - declawing...long story short, we have a much beloved (now 13 yr old) cat who in the first year of his life was bent on destruction. He ruined all the woodwork in our home, among other things, which cost thousands of dollars to replace. We tried numerous products but in the end, we gave up. Luckily he has thrived and while I don't recommend it, declawing worked for him and he's led a happy life. And he shows no signs of slowing down.

When the encasement issue came our way the cat was one thing we didn't have to worry about.
buggyinsocal

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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Jul 12 2008 11:20:24
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Nobugs,
Unfortunately I live in a one bedroom, one bath apartment that isn't that large to begin with. The bathroom is only accessible through the bedroom, so practically speaking, I can't come up with any good place to relocate the cat box that would allow me to keep her out of the bedroom without, literally, putting the cat box in the kitchen or the living room, which even for the sake of BB I don't think I can live with.

Pleasenotme,
Sticky Paws seems like it might be the best solution. Combined with picking one day a week to clip her claws every.single. week. that might be an option. So far, it's only been one corner of the bed that she seems to favor, so that might work. Of course, if she begins to move to another spot, I may have to rethink things. I also like that the sticky paws would have the added bonus of being hard for the bugs to get over. That sounds like a win-win situation.

Belle72,
I've really drunk the Kool-Aid on the whole declawing is cruel thing, so although I'm happy it worked out for you and I always leave it to others to make their own decisions, even if it meant ditching the bed and sleeping on an air bed for a year, I could never, ever declaw any cat I owned. I should also add that at 8 or 9 years old, I really think she's much too old for it, even if I could stomach it, so it's sort of a moot point. (Although I am happy to add that after a long several years of working on it, she's finally lost enough weight that I'm happy to say being overweight wouldn't be an issue any more.) Strangely, since I put a cheap encasement on the futon in the living room, she's not sharpening her claws there either. So the whole unpleasant sensation thing of Sticky Paws might be enough to work.

Thanks for the info everyone. Weirdly, since this whole thing started, she hasn't been sharpening her claws on the bed at all. Possible because since treatment, the bed hasn't had sheets on it. (OR at least, since I've been home. I obviously have no idea what she did while I was gone.)
belle72

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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Jul 12 2008 12:28:46
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Yes buggy, your cat is much too old. And I doubt if we'd ever do it again.

As for the BB war, we know traumatic this issue is - the one place you want to feel safe and secure, in bed - without that, it's just terrifying. Good luck to you!