Cat and Rug Pictures
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.
Cat and Rug Pictures. Photo credits: top left by tigertwo. Top right by AntÃfama. Middle left by ellyjonez. Middle right by photogirl7.1. Bottom left by Howard Dickins. Bottom right by seedoubleyouaretoo.
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.
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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:
We’ve got wood with carpets/rugs – a big one in the living room, then smaller ones that the cats love to play with. Chatri especially has a thing about the one by the front door. He likes to roll around with it, wrestle with it and grab it and kick it. So it is often crumpled up after yet again being defeated in “battle”.
Here too it gets hot in summer and then they like to lie right on the wood floors.
Cats on light rugs in Bedouin tent http://www.mobypicture.com/user/tartqueen1/view/9999653
That’s a cool photo – very relevant too. Sounds like your Chatri is like my Lilly when it comes to mats. I love to see them having fun with things and I always encourage them. Sometimes I find my mats completely flipped upside down. 🙂
Cats and rugs,yes they go together well.
I like the old fashioned carpets in our house,wooden or tiled floors can be a bit dangerous for pets skidding on them when having a mad half hour.
Good point about danger. I reckon the best combo is rugs on wood but there is no clear winner. I am buying a flat and I fancy putting down carpet tiles! They are more industrial and I hope don’t harbour fleas so well.
Michael – have you found a flat? I know you mentioned something a while ago – Putney?
Yes, it is very cat-friendly, near Richmond Park and on the ground floor. I saw two Siamese cats wandering around the extensive grounds, which are a long way from the road and thought, this will do. It is on the ground floor with its own front door. There are shops nearby and transport too. I might let it out to tenants but it is very cat friendly ;). I am buying it for Charles. Sometimes I think I might live abroad because I don’t really like England anymore. It has changed forever. The flat is not expensive and the grounds are grade 2 listed. It’s a bit messy but human, if you know what I mean. You never know though until you have lived in a place for a while.
Wow that sounds great. Richmond is green too comparatively. Charlie will be happy there in which case you will be. And if you leave England you can rent it out. The fact that there are grounds and so on seems like you really scored. I can’t imagine being able to find such a place in London so quickly. There are hardly any grounds in London for a start. Well done and congratulations.
I agree Rose – I sometimes worry with all the skidding around. It certainly makes it hard for them. I have hardwood floors with rugs so it works out ook in the end.
We have a fitted carpet in our living room and a rug by the fire where Jozef loves to lie and toast his tummy and toes. Walter never lies on a rug, he prefers the carpet which is nice and soft and cosy with a thick underlay.
When we had Bryan he loved to go under the furry rug by the fire, he’d lie flat and many a time frightened visitors when the rug moved lol
Michael I sent you a video of Lilly freaking out on her favourite rug. I like the photos 🙂
Great, I’ll add it now.
Marc, Lilly is absolutely gorgeous, what a beautiful shiny coat she has.
I love your rug with the cats on too.
Yay – thanks Ruth. Yes, she is wonderful. She’s a very fun and playful cat. Very friendly and curious. She likes people. She’s great.
Marvin plays exactly the same way. He is a riot. Lilly is beautiful.
I love the sound of Marvin – you know I do and I’m a sucker for those orange boys. I’d love to see a video of Marvin or a photo update. He must be nice to spend time with 🙂 – a real free spirit.
I think Michael will add one of him here today. Meanwhile, I tried to find Lilly’s Facebook page, but couldn’t. Perhaps you can send it to Michael so he can pass it on to me? Don’t put it here. Too many not nice eyes look.
Dorothy I have sent it to Michael. If you go into albums you will see alot of stuff I have collected from the internet. But in there are albums with Red and Lilly and all the kittens when Red was little, his siblings. Those albums have names like “2 litters of kittens week …1, 2 ,3 etc” I can also send Michael links to the albums directly if you get lost 🙂
Lilly looks a lot like Monty. You can tell she is a very happy, healthy cat. Monty’s tail is longer though, with a kink at the top of it.
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…
shohom67,thank you for clarifing that previous post,i just hope i did’nt offend you.I now know what you were refering to.thanks again,.kevin r
Kevin Roche: No worries. I’m glad you asked.
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.
you kind have lost me.i,m not sure if you are talking about what you or cats think of carpet.???
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.
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.