Are modern wooden floors cat unfriendly? If they are, rugs are certainly the opposite. Cats love ’em.
In Britain a lot of people have ripped up their carpets and put down artificial wood flooring. You have that sheer, spacious, modern look. It can also be a cold look and I say that cats don’t like it because cats have an affinity towards the humble rug. Especially a rug that is near a fire and well used by your cat or cats and a dog. Rugs are going to retain a cat’s scent and hair. When hard floors are hoovered and cleaned all remnants of a cat’s presence are removed.
I realise that wooden floors are more hygienic and also, incidentally, much better with respect to the dreaded flea. Fleas love carpets. They sit at the bottom of them and wait for a cat to walk on by at which point they jump on. But you have got to have that rug if you have a cat.
If you had a fitted carpet and put down wooden flooring, I’d be fairly sure that your cat would be upset! This is mainly because cats are very sensitive to a change in the appearance of a home and, of course, they love rugs, carpets etc.
Perhaps the best combination is a hard floor with some judiciously placed rugs for your cat to lounge on. Rugs can be cleaned more easily than fitted carpets to remove fleas etc.
Smallish rugs are probably best because cats can also play in, under and around a small rug. Underneath a rug is a nice place to hide and cats like that.
There are lots of cat toys around. The rug is a nice, instant cat toy, a place for a cat to migrate to and sleep on and it is useful for humans too. Cats aren’t fussy either. It doesn’t have to be anything special. In fact the more used and beat up it is the better.
Update: This is a little video of Lilly who lives with Marc in Switzerland playing with a cat mat. It just backs ups what the post says. Cats think rugs and mats are toys, places to play around and on, and places to sleep on:
That’s a neat solution. Where it is hot the cooler wood floors are good to keep a cat chilled a bit. I believe cats can actually become too hot on some materials such as duvets that partially envelope them. After all, they are wearing an overcoat all the time.
Michael I sent you a video of Lilly freaking out on her favourite rug. I like the photos 🙂
Sorry, my pain meds get me a bit off this time of night. I wanted to explain the dirt issue and than relate it to cats. I think that our cats loved the smell of the dirt that is under the carpets. That is why Ithey preferred areas that weren’t able to be vacuumed as thoroughly as others. EG… under the end tables.
Sorry, I rambled…
you kind have lost me.i,m not sure if you are talking about what you or cats think of carpet.???
I know cats love rugs. Mom had a piece of carpet she set behind her chair for Fluffy to roost on. She lived there when mom wasn’t home. She even scratched at it some. That was atop or regular carpet. Cats are funny that way…
As a former janitor… for Arizona, wood floors are beautiful but are very high maintenance. There is always a thin layer of dirt (not dust, dirt) on everything by the end of the day around here. This drys out wood floors. They need cleaned with the lemon or orange oily stuff and their fine, but you have to do this every day/every other day. With tile (I LOVE Mexican tile) you strip, put down many, many layers of wax once a year and dust mop nightly with a wet mop (clean cool water only) once a week. You can buy something that is ph balanced not to hurt the wax so you can leave a scent down. (Stupid) Carpets (which we have) are the worst. The dirt actually goes under the carpets and builds up over the years. Yet carpets are the least work. The dirt isn’t necessarily unhealthy under there?? I guess? It’s just weird here. All our cats preferred the carpeted areas that were under tables here in the Valley of the Sun. I always wondered what it was like under there.
Thanks Michael.
I agree,I have always used a combination of carpet,tile and laminate flooring.I live in new york,where the winters are cold and the summer is very hot.my cats use the carpet during the winter and use the tile and wood floors when it gets too hot.Also,I have 2 jungle gyms for them too,which are also carpeted.