Is your cat using your box spring as a scratching post? Or maybe they are climbing or squeezing into it somehow and using it as a hideout.
This was a problem I had a couple of years ago and it was driving me crazy.
My one cat would use the corners of my box spring to sharpen her claws and would lie on her back scratching at the underside of one of the draws.
Needless to say, if she did this at night it would annoy the hell out of me. It was annoying at any time of day or night to be honest, seeing little bits of shredded material was not a welcome sight.
My lackluster efforts of giving her a firm “No” and moving her to a different room. Trying to lure her away with treats, and keeping the door to my bedroom closed didn’t work.
(Don’t get me started on how annoying her scratching at the closed door was.)
So, I looked up how to cat proof a box spring. I read through loads of different suggestions, most of which were not the most practical or guaranteed to work.
But I figured it out.
In this post, I’m going to share some ideas, tips, and what I did to cat proof my box spring. My cat no longer has any interest in scratching or investigating my bed and we live happily putting this bad habit of hers to bed (an awful pun that I couldn’t resist).
How to Cat Proof a Box Spring
Step 1 – Make Any Necessary Repairs
If your box spring has been used as a toy or a scratching post by your cat for some time I bet it’s looking a bit shabby.
Your cat may have even ripped a hole in to give them access to the underneath of your bed. Patch up any holes, cut off loose threads, and tidy it up if necessary because it’s going to be safe from your cat after you follow the rest of these steps.
Step 2 – Cover Your Box Spring with a Protective Cover/Material
I wish there was a simpler option. But I tried using certain scents cats dislike to deter her, telling her off every time she went near my bed, and a few other shock factor things. But nothing worked long-term.
To truly cat proof a box spring you need to wrap or cover it in some cat proof material. Anything less is going to be a short-term solution that won’t work unless you have an incredibly lazy cat that’s easily deterred.
So, you have two options; buy some material and cover your box spring, or buy a product designed to cover and protect it.
- I went for the latter for a number of reasons, namely:
- It wasn’t too expensive
- It was the quickest solution
- I’m rubbish at DIY and making things that fit
- It’s a tried and tested solution with customer feedback that it’s cat proof and works!
This is the box spring cover I used;
Not only is this a cat proof cover that encases your box spring, but it’s also going to increase the lifespan and quality of your bed base too. If you’re wondering if you can feel, hear, or notice it when you’re in bed, don’t worry you can’t.
Click here to see the latest price of this Full Size SureGuard Spring Encasement on Amazon.com!
Step 3 – Plenty of Other Scratching Areas for Your Cat
Stopping your cat from scratching your box spring is only going to move the problem somewhere else in most cases. So, if you don’t have a good cat tree or scratching post yet, pick one up now at the same time as protecting your bed.
Spend some time with your cat helping them get to know and use their new tree/scratching post. I’ve never had a problem directing my cats to use their posts after spending some time with them, so it shouldn’t be too hard.
Additional Tips to Stop Your Cat Scratching Your Box Spring
If you want to try a couple of simpler things before going down the route above and encasing your box spring to protect it, there are a couple of things you can try;
Keep the Door to Your Room Closed
This sounds like a really simple fix, doesn’t it?
I tried this and it didn’t work. The problem for me was that my cat was used to going in my room so when the door was closed she would scratch at it and rip at the carpet under the door.
I was patient at first. I tried to ignore the occasional scratching noise at night, which was incredibly annoying! But she was ripping up tufts of carpet and causing too much damage to the carpet and the bottom of the door to keep ignoring her.
Give it a go and see if your cat takes the hint. Cats are curious creatures though, most of them will want to know why the door is closed and what’s going on in the room.
A Firm “No” and Correcting Their Behavior
Correcting your cat’s behavior is another option. In an ideal world, we would just tell them not to scratch the box spring and live happily together in the knowledge that by just telling them not to scratch it, they won’t.
If you can detect some sarcasm in my voice here it’s because I tried so hard to change my cat’s behavior, without success.
This isn’t to say you won’t be able to do it however. Just follow the same basic rules to teaching a cat to do something. Give them a firm “No” when you catch them doing it, put them somewhere else in your home, and only reward them with treats when they don’t scratch it.
Hopefully, you found this article helpful. It’s a frustrating kitty problem to deal with, trust me, after weeks of having my cat obsessed with my bed base and trying all these solutions – I can sympathize.
If you have any additional tips on how to cat proof a box spring or correct this behavior please share below to help others, thanks!
