Protecting walls from claws?

Baby Eyes often likes to stretch upward when sharpening her claws and has

MaryL...

This is also what I did, but I only needed a narrow strip of plexiglass on
each side of the door that leads to the utility room. Holly reaches up and
scratches when I am in there. That is the only room I keep closed to the
cats because that room leads directly to the garage and serves as a
protective "buffer" to ensure that Duffy and Holly cannot ever get into the
garage.

As to the plexiglass: We cut two narrow strips and mounted one on each side
of the door (beside the molding and on top of the wallpaper as protection).
We used very tiny gold screws to attach it, and it can be barely be seen.
Plexiglass is *not* cheap, but I needed very little. Anyone wanting to use
it would need to measure the amount needed and then make a decision
concerning cost.

shredded several spots on wall corners. I didn't bother trying to stop her
before because it makes no difference here, the whole place is a wreck
anyway and will soon be trashed, but in the house I bought, before I bring
over the kitties I want to do something to protect the spots that Baby Eyes
will find attractive for scratching. But how?

I thought of two options: (1) some sort of repellent spray, which may or may
not actually work and might be too expensive, or (2) fasten something to the
walls that will frustrate her efforts - but what would work and be cheap,
easy to apply and not damage the walls to install?

The only answer I've come up with so far is aluminum flashing attached using
double-sided carpet tape. It won't be pretty, but it also won't need to be
there forever, I think she will learn that wall corners are not good places
to sharpen claws and start using the sisal scratching area of the cat condo
I'm making. The aluminum is thick enough that she won't be able to puncture
it, but I'm still not totally happy with this idea and open for other

badwilson...

Why not just make an area where she's *supposed* to scratch? Get some
cheap plywood or particle board and some old carpet samples and glue or
staple the carpet to the wood and then mount it against the wall. That
would be pretty cheap and easy and you could put several such areas up.
Then she would probably only scratch those areas and not the others.

suggestions.

sriddles...

It still amazes me that my cats don't scratch anywhere except the
scratching posts. I think she might be easier to "train" than you
think. Since you know she likes corners, you could fix up *one* corner
for her--with cardboard/carpet or whatever she prefers. Her personal

sriddles...

You can have a big cat tree, but it would have to have an awfully wide
base to stabilize it. Or maybe you could bolt it to a stud in the wall?
The first cat tree DH made, he didn't really put a wide enough base on
it. I'm thinking about removing it till we can figure out how to
stailize it better--it wasn't so bad till we got Bosley. He is a
twenty-pounder, and when he takes a running leap and jumps on it, it
teeters. I catch my breath every time he does it.

Monique Y. Mudama...

Belated response -- I hadn't thought of the stability issue, but of
course you're right. I do think I'm going to put some sort of cat
tree in our bedroom; just haven't decided which, yet.

scratching corner--I think she'll get the idea and won't ruin the rest
of the corners. One bizarre-looking corner would be better than every
corner in the house looking bizarre.
Or the plexiglass suggestion sounds good, too. It comes in different
thicknesses--I wonder if the thinner stuff would work just as well--it
would be cheaper and easier to affix to the wall. In fact, I think I'll
do this for my front door. They're always reaching for the doorknob
(like they can open it!!)...and are scratching the wood in the process.