My Cat is DESTROYING the moulding onthe doors.

[Melladh]

I've heard tinfoil works for a lot of people, but you may be disappointed. I tried putting foil in front of the door (I heard they hate the feeling on their paws) and turned around for a second. When I turned back, she was curled up in the middle of all the foil.    So I balled it up and turned it into kitty toys, which they loved. Of course.

They only dislike it if you don't expect them to
I heard that you could put a sheet of plexi or similar because they dislike that too... but one of my cats starts scratching the glass on our windows when she's bored, so I doubt that would work here

[Samsara]

Melladh- Oh my god lol my cat eats plastic. HE Love wrappers and bags the most then he pukes it up and i feel bad and worried one day he may get really sick from it.

My other cat does that, we do our best to hide plastic from her, but it's not easy.
 I suspect they can do the same thing string can do, to cat intestines: block them until they burst. But I'm not sure.

One of my cats eats plastic and paper - well I'm not sure if she actually eats it or chews it up and spits it out! She ate or shredded the cover of a new paperback book that I had bought as a gift for my Dad for his birthday - needless to say I had to go out and buy another one! *lol*    An yeah, she has tons of toys and other playmates, so it's not out of boredom.

[indieanajess]

I've heard tinfoil works for a lot of people, but you may be disappointed. I tried putting foil in front of the door (I heard they hate the feeling on their paws) and turned around for a second. When I turned back, she was curled up in the middle of all the foil.    So I balled it up and turned it into kitty toys, which they loved. Of course.

They only dislike it if you don't expect them to
I heard that you could put a sheet of plexi or similar because they dislike that too... but one of my cats starts scratching the glass on our windows when she's bored, so I doubt that would work here

Yeah, mine likes to scratch on plastic and glass. There was a full-length mirror in the hallway she liked to paw on. Then, one morning around 4 am, one of the nails came out and it fell down. She wasn't hurt, but now she's scared of it.  That sort of thing happens to her a lot actually....

[starshine_shroom]

do you know what kind of cat you have?? My cat looks VERY similar to your cat but I'm not sure what she is because we adopted her from the SPCA.

[BatGrrl]

I would certainly try the tin foil--it successfully kept Pandora from scratching the chair and the unfinished coffee table that we had the fish tank on.  She didn't mind it as a substance in general, but she didn't like sticking her claws into it.  I've had zero luck with citrus oil.

Whatever you do, if you plan to keep him out of your room at bedtime, DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR for his scratching.  The longer he doesn't get a response from you when he does this, the more likely he is to give up.

I second (third? fifth?) the suggestions for more scratching posts, as well.  The cardboard waffley ones are pretty good, even though they look pretty odd.  My cat, however, doesn't scratch it--she just licks the catnip off it, which is actually kind of disturbing to watch.  Carpet-covered scratchers are her favorites.  The one she loves the most is actually just a plain thin board with maybe a 10" width that a former owner wrapped strips of cheap carpet around.  It's at least six feet long, and she'll climb it if it's leaning up against something.  You could do something similar to deal with the door--instead of putting holes in the door/wall, attach the carpet to a board, maybe 12" wide and as long as the area you want to protect, and put the board in front of the door when you go to sleep.  (Of course, this will be easier if your door opens inward..... )

You could also try hanging a blanket over the top of the door at night, one that would hang over far enough that the scratched area would be covered.  We've had success with pieces of fleece to keep the cat from scratching leather.  At the very least, it may protect the area if he still tries to scratch.

As to cat toys, Pandora shuns them entirely unless we are playng with her--she sees playtime as an entirely social event.  If she catches something we're playing with, she let's go right away so that she can chase it again.  If it stops moving, she looks up at me as if to say "get back to work!"  You might try more interactive toys like Cat Dancers and similar toys.  String is great with supervision, but you want to be sure not to use something that you wouldn't want him to attack if you were using it in a different way.  This is why you shouldn't use yarn if you're a knitter, because he may become confused about which is playtime and which is "oh my god, let go of that right now!" time.  Case in point:  Pandora's first owner was an artist, and she thinks paint brushes and pencils are great toys--she'll even go after those on her own if she thinks no one is looking.  (Pandora's first owner also named her "Punk Ass," and sometimes I can clearly see how she got that name.)  You could also try wearing your kitty out with a laser pointer, though you'll want to be careful to make sure you don't shine it in his eyes.  Pandora will try to run up a wall to get to that little shiny red light, though you might want to stick to passes across the carpet since you're trying to deter wall-marks.   

Hope some of that is useful.

Pieces,

Joanne

[Fabric]

you've gotten a ton of replies...
but if you get through all of them, and still nothing has worked, I've got one more suggestion for you.

When my kitten used to do that, I'd cover the spot with duct tape, and then put a bunch of tiny loops of duct tape (looped so the outside is sticky) across the area.
That way when she'd paw at the spot, her fur would get tugged a little and she would leave.

The good news is my cat stopped when she got out of kittenhood,  hopefully yours will too

[iheartmyTHO]

i have 2 all black cats and they're both assholes as well.  they did the same thing to me as well.  instead of destroying the moulding they actually ripped up a big chunk of carpeting.  apparently they didn't like it when i shut my bedroom door while i was sleeping.  i ended up having to leave the door open all the time.  even when they were preventing my sleep.  i tried using some of the no-scratch spray you can get at pet stores.  but that didn't work at all.  what actually ended up working was double-sided tape.  the cats don't like the way the tape feels on their paws.  you can get the wider tape at pet stores.  i just used normal double sided tape.  i also replaced it every few months when it started getting gross looking.

[shoegazer]

 
Cats arent assholes. They are kind & compassionate companion animals. But they are animals. Natural cat behavior involves clawing to condition their nails. Cats have no concept that certian items are ok to claw on and others arent. Your cat isnt trying to annoy you, your cat is just doing cat stuff. By understanding normal cat behavior you can modify area that they find pleasing to satisfy destructive behavior.
Please talk about your cats like you love them dearly. If cats knew what love was Im sure they would say they loved you.

[TessTessi]

My Calico cat often wants my attention at night, so she'll scratch the box springs to wake me up. As soon as  I bolt up to stop her, she runs to the kitchen to get me to feed her.  She does this despite having plenty of food, water, a sister to play with, and scratching posts in every room.  I used to lock her out of the room, but I like her company and she would lay on her back and scratch underneath the door.

My solution was take cookie sheets, and fill them with water, and put them right where she was laying to scratch. I covered the edge of the bed with regular old packing tape.  She tried once, got wet and she stopped. She'll usually stop for a few weeks, and when she starts up again I just put the cookie sheets of water back.

The cookie sheet and tape method helped me to train them not to jump on the counters in the kitchen. They have plenty of other places to jump, we actually have little kitty climbing areas to high cabinets and other fun things like that

I agree with shoegazer, your cat isn't vindictive or an asshole. I love animals and I have to remember they have needs and emotion, but they are different than mine.  Just  because my kitty scratches my bed it isn't because she hates me and wants me to not ever sleep, it's that she's bored and she needs some loving! After setting up my kitty scratching deterrent, I usually snatch her up and give her some snuggling!

[latortuganegra]

Again thanks to everyone for the comments, i am trying the duct tape tonight it seems the quickest to test out until i can gather other materials.
And as for calling my cat an asshole if i really didnt care for him then this thread would not have begun, and i wouldnt be concerned about him eating plastic and the use of cat repellants. Im no trying to snap back its just something i want to clear up. I am an avid animal lover but i do make use of strong language and i never meant for it to seem like I thought my cat was out to get me.
The cats name is Dobey by the way and i have no idea what breed he is because he was a rescue (his mom was mauled by a dog). I give him attention and love and food water clean litter, and i think Dobey is meant to be my cat hes a weirdo i love him and i know he loves me , (i do think all animals understand love) One thing tha the does thats funny is as soon as i get up from my bed to get something he curls up in my seat that ive warmed up, hes a lil vulture when it comes to this he will wait a while look all cute and innocen and pounce when the chance comes. Of course i move him over and we share. =D

Well off to find some duct tape, i know i have some but since i moved ive misplaced a few things. =0 Sigh*
thanks everyone