I am sick! I just discovered my cat scratched my bonnet and slightly scratched and tore one of my bonnet stripes. Has anyone came up with a cheap and easy way to prevent this from happening? I have considered a car cover, but I don't want to have to put it on and off every day and also have to worry about scratches from putting it on a dirty car. I may try attaching some contac paper sticky side up to a blanket and drape that on my bonnet. The cat would jump up there and get sticky feet, and hopefully hop off and never go up again. Any suggestions are appreciated

 

buy a dog.

 

I have seen somewhere a cat electric mat made for this very purpose. If the cat steps on it, the mat releases an electrical charge enough to scare the cat away but not injury it.

You may want to Google it.

(This is one of those instances where I think cats are a true menace)

 

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

pull the nails out? Or..soft paws

 

Car cover or a mechanics mat over the hood and spray it with water any time it gets on the car. Or keep the garage critter free.

 

R56,
Have you tried the soft paw. I am wondering how well they stay on.

 

Just keep its nails clipped. That's how I keep my furniture cat safe...

 

I don't have a cat.

I was being sarcastic then felt responsible for the insensitive remark so I did some research and found it.

 

the soft paws do work. had em on a cat that I had a long time ago.

the best way is to keep our garage cat free

 

!!!

Not a fan of cats.

 

Had the same problem. Tried tucking a blanket under the windshield wipers to cover the bonnet; just made him more comfortable. The final solution was simple. If it's in the garage, just leave the bonnet open; the cat won't get on it. Of course, you can't do it if it stays outside.

 

That cat would be soooooo homeless if it was my car!

 

The car is in a carport - wish I had a garage.

 

There are lots of cats in my neighborhood, and I don't have a garage... I'm not going to get a car cover, because we've decided that would make me a target, but I'm picking my car up this afternoon and... can you buff those cat scratches out? What if you wax the hell out of your car? That might just make them slip and dig in with the claws, right?

It would be sweet if there was something that covered just the bonnet and top that wasn't a full car cover or didn't have that "I have my car under a cover" look.

 

Do NOT buy a dog to fix this problem!

A friend of mine put his dog in the garage (as usual), not knowing that a neighborhood cat had found his way in there as well. The cat ran for high ground (the top of the beloved Honda DelSol) and the dog danced around the car for an hour, scratching at the sides of the car, trying to get to the cat!

I love dogs, but this isn't the fix for you...

Maybe you could buy a BB gun instead?

 

Have the cat declawed.

 

Front and rear. Go to the detailing forum and post pix of the stratches. They'll tell you how to get 'em out.

 

That's why I no longer have stripes on my Mini's. The scratches bothered me.

 

I meant to give a bit of advice on the 'how to get them out' front...

Run your fingernail across the scratch at a 90 degree angle. If it catches on the scratch, you will probably need a professional's help if you are going to be able to remove them by polishing alone (if you are lucky). If your nail doesn't catch, you might be able to buff out the scratches by hand or with an orbital polisher.

Heh... I just found out that I'll be in Portland this week on business (Beaverton, actually). Send me a PM if you would like an enthusiast's eyes on the scratches. I should be free most evenings.

 

Oops... just saw that the scratch/tear is in a bonnet stripe. You can patch in vinyl, but can't really fix it. Some scratches can be buffed out a tiny bit, but the buffing usually changes the texture of the viny to possibly make it even more noticeable.

The factory stripes aren't that expensive... frequently you can get them from new buyers (check with your local club) who get them as a part of a package but don't want them on the car (the dealership will give them to them, if asked, in case they want to have 'em installed at a later time).

If the paint is scratched, feel free to send me a PM as mentioned in the previous post.

 

The paint scratch is not too bad, so I think I can fix it myself-thanks for the offer to look at it. At some point I will get a new bonnet stripe but I want to make sure there will be no more damage before I go fixing. I am going to petsmart right now to see what deterrents they may have.

 

I have tried softpaw. The point is to make sure they do NOT stay on permanently. You're supposed to replace them as they fall off. Cats shed their claws every so often so they should come off. A coworker of mine applied too much glue on one of her cats claws and it got below her claw on the skin part. The softpaw never fell off that claw because it was stuck to the skin. Needless to say, her cat's claw eventually grew backwards into her pad which resulted in some vet bills and a very unhappy cat

 

Oh and to answer the OP's question. +1 on softpaw. They work great!

 

I was at my inlaw's this past weekend and looked at the gouges-not scratches-their dog left on their vehicles. I'll take the scratches from a cat over the gouges left by a dog any day.