Digging movements on rug?

Question

What does it mean when a cat uses his front right leg to make a digging sound on the rug? Marshall has been doing it on my rug and his room's rug, just by going back and forth with his front right paw, looking and searching or digging for something. What does it mean? Is it normal? It baffles me. Wylie does it on the side of a box or a box lid too, just not on the floor. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Digging is instinct. Your cat probably smells something, and wants to find what the smell is. If your cat was in the wild, they could dig through the dirt, and find whatever they smelled. My cat does it all the time, and I just laugh.
Take Care!

Answer 2

Cats have nails that actually shed. They shed a layer of old nail. So each cat will find something to scratch on to get the old layer off & the new layer sharp. Each cat is different too, I have 2, one uses anything wood although he has his favorite spots to scratch, he get right up next to where the leg of my kitchen chair attaches to the seat. Believe it or not, in a year there is not one visible scratch. My other cat prefers upholstery for scratching but she has never made any noticeable sign on the furniture either. If i did not see & hear them doing this I would not know.
I have several cat houses for them with the rope wrapped on the poles. They very rarely use it for scratching.
It is normal & neccessary.

Answer 3

I don't know about your cat, but my cat does that all the time. She uses these objects as rough surfaces to scratch on, kind of like a scratching post. If you want him to stop I'd suggest investing money in a cat condo house, where your cats can run around and use it as a scratching post, or just get a scratching post. It might be a little expensive, but think of how expensive a new rug will be? Hope this helps!

Answer 4

i'm unsure. How long have you ever lived interior the abode? i comprehend the home is one hundred years previous, yet are you new to the abode? Did this purely those days start to take place or has it been happening for a protracted time. For some reason it feels like it has to do with water and the vibrations from the RR. working jointly to loosen the soil. i think of you should to call somebody in to envision it out. you're making have a cracked pipe someplace under the abode. be certain you haven't any water working and then flow verify out your water meter. some have a leak detector. yet while not if the meter is shifting you have a leak. it must be sufficiently small to not get observed,, yet over the years that is coming up some land shifting.

Answer 5

I have seen both of mine do this on the carpet but more often on a rough area rug. Usually I find pieces of the sheath from their claws after they do this. After I vacuum they also do this (but not as vigorously as when cleaning their claws) as if they are remarking their territory. It could be yours are doing the same, and if you don't have several scratching posts (or a kitty-condo) they might be using the carpet more.
My siamese mix also does this on the counter door-but with out claws-by their food bowls, and only after she uses the litter box-which is in another room. That is an idiosyncrasy of hers.

Answer 6

Not only do cats have glands in their paws and use this as a way to mark their territory, they make the "digging motion" (kind of stretching out the front paws, digging their claws into the carpet, and pulling out repeatedly) to sharpen their claws. You might want to get a couple scratching posts so that he has somewhere to sharpen them without damaging your carpet, furniture, or wallpaper.

Answer 7

Could be he is trying to sharpen his nails. My sister has a declawed cat from the SPCA (he came that way) who instinctively tries to sharpen his no-existent nails. My girl LOVED cardboard boxes - if she saw one, she scratched it to pieces (Better that than the furniture.) Sounds like they may be trying to bury, but what? I have seen my lovely, sweet angel drag her bottom across the floor... Yes, cats do it too. They could smell something like that. Or the scent of catnip could cause that behaviour too... At any rate, sounds normal to me. (ps Do you have a scratch post?)

Answer 8

My older male cat does this when he smells something offensive. Such as a past "accident" by another pet that was cleaned, but an odor is still picked-up by his sensitive nose. He tries to cover it in his own helpful way :)

Answer 9

My cats (and I have had many) have to scratch on anything like a basket or carpeting in the doorways-either to get into something or to sharpen their claws.It's interesting now because my cats are all declawed--but they still have to do their 'thing'.

Answer 10

Kittens knead (digging movements)at their mother's teats to speed the flow of milk and continue this behavior as adults...also cats have glands in their feet and knead to mark there territory.