how to repair carpeting?

April 16, 2005 5:49 AM

We've had new carpet in our living room for all of two weeks, and our kitty decided to eat a spot of it, about the size of a quarter.

All of the fiber in that spot is gone - you can just see the bottom part it was attached to. We have lots of extra from the installation - is there any way to make some kind of small patch that won't be noticeable? And furthermore, anything I can do with the cat to keep my husband from taking him to a shelter?

posted by ferociouskitty to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

Gee, ferocious, how ferocious can you be, if your husband would DARE remove your cat to a shelter? WTF? Over a little spot of carpet?

The repair trick is rather simple. There used to be a specific product around, I couldn't begin to recall the name. You take fibers from your spare bits, an amount to occupy the new hole. Adhesive is applied to one end of the fibers, and glued to the hole. Getting it just right may take a little cleverness, I never had to do it. My cat preferred typewriter ribbon (yes, it was THAT long ago).

You must make better effort at applying appropriate reward/punishment to your husband, clearly he requires better training. I suspect your cat has already learned that carpet is rather nasty stuff. Watch the cat to be sure she is moving her bowels properly. Consider some Petromalt (flavored petroleum jelly for cat laxative/anti-hairball treatment) to be sure.

Certain shops sell collars to help you keep hubby under control. A good hubby is a well disciplined hubby, I always say.

(I have been sick for the past week, and am feeling better. Hence, I'm being goofy)
posted by Goofyy at 6:17 AM on April 16, 2005

what is the carpet like? if it's quite a deep pile then you can probably cut the patch out and glue a replacement in the hole. but you'll see join lines if the carpet isn't sufficiently deep, or is already warn/faded.
posted by andrew cooke at 7:24 AM on April 16, 2005

A professional shop can probably reweave the unused fabric in. Makes for a really permanent solution. You probably want to contact who sold the carpet to get some really good names.

I hope you're kidding about the shelter ultimatum. If not, I shudder to think what he'd be like with toddlers. A quarter-sized hole in the carpet is nothing compared to the damage an innocent tyke can do. Normal people go 'oh, well.'
posted by nj_subgenius at 7:24 AM on April 16, 2005

Ate it or clawed it out? If it is clawed then you can get that ferocious kitty declawed. If it was eaten you have trouble. You may need to get a different rug or different kitty.

This reminds me of the ad recently posted about here or somewhere in which the wife offered either a cat or a very nice husband for sale as one of them had to go.
posted by caddis at 8:33 AM on April 16, 2005

There are numerous animal deterrent sprays available at pet stores if the cat actually chewed and ate this. I would also take the cat to the vet to see if there is a medical issue going on, especially if your cat hasn't done this before, he may be missing something in his diet or may have an underlying problem. Declawing is premature even if this was claw damage, it's entirely possible to train a cat to scratch only appropriate things (like a very enticing scratching post, for one).
posted by biscotti at 8:50 AM on April 16, 2005

You might try a product like this (also here, with a more helpful image)

It cuts a perfect circle out around the problem area, and an identical circle out of a scrap piece, and you plug the new piece into the old hole.

As for the husband: this product is also useful for removing defective portions of cat-haters, and replacing it with a more sympathetic piece. :)
posted by misterbrandt at 8:52 AM on April 16, 2005

declawing kitties is cruel ... please don't do that
posted by pyramid termite at 10:58 AM on April 16, 2005

I saw this new thing on "Queer Eye" once (don't laugh!), where they don't declaw the cat- they put little plastic thing over the sharp parts, so it can't destroy stuff. I haven't heard of it anywhere else beyond that- anyone know what I'm talking about?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:37 PM on April 16, 2005 [1 favorite]

Perhaps you are thinking of Softpaws?
posted by Alylex at 4:57 PM on April 16, 2005

Yea, that must be it, Alylex. Although how you get your cat to sit still long enough to put those on.....
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:15 PM on April 16, 2005 [1 favorite]