Can cats scratch car paint?

From reading your statements here, it isn't too far a stretch to imagine it could be your cat.

You've also attracted everyone on this site who's had their car scratched by a cat, thus, the source of all the ire.

U Bet they can. Still love them though, just gotta be careful.

a cat wouldnt deliberately strop it's
claws on the metal of a car or vehicle as the cat
wouldnt benefit from doing so.. they do dig their claws
into anything made of wood.

The car owner probably saw your cat lying
on his car ran out yelling and caused
the cat to use its claws to get traction
to get away.. and that is how he would
know it was your cat. Left to itself
the cat would have just gotten off the car
without using its claws.

cats are easily trained to stop using
their claws on anything by just
throwing a cup of cold water at them every time
...they learn real quick.

It's impossible for the cat to scratch beyond the clear coat.
If the car is faded and the clear coat has worn just about down from the sun...then you will have scraches in the paint it's self.
If this occurs then the car will need painting.
unless you have a lion or tiger..they can't scratch beyond the clear. Most times you can buff these scratches out.
They don't need painting..they use a light sandpaper over the marks and then they should just buff out.

I know this because I used to be a sraypainter.
There similiar to brushing past some branches that leave marks on the car..the majority just buff out.

yes, but cats frequent favourite spots and Ive never heard of a cat stretching on a car. it wouldnt appeal to them.

a cat could mark a car with its claws no problem.

It is possible. Dogs are more likely, though, because they jump up and come down...

They also leave little oily paw prints, so I would ask to see what he is talking about. It would have to be VERY faint, and I can only see it happening if the cat were sliding off, and those kind of scratches would obviously tell that story.

Oh , they can scratch paint , for sure . They can also be kicked square on the fanny .

Call the cat over in front of the neighbor. Ask the neighbor if this is the cat that scratched his paint.

Then rip the cats head off right there in front of your neighbor.

They will leave you alone.

Never have I seen a cat scratch on any of our cars. Muddy paw prints, yes.
I would try and keep your cat inside. Mine are indoors or in an enclosed back yard.
Their are a lot of sick people out there.

only if you tie a file to it tail.

Cats can and have scratched car paint....I know from experience. What I don't undertsand is cat owners who think their cats have the right to roam free killing birds, crappin in flower beds, destroying lawn furniture. leaving hair all over the place, etc. Their excuse is "Oh its just their nature." Have some responsibility. That excuse would not work for my dog.

hand him a sheet of 3000 grit and some polish and tell him to harden the fuck up.cats are cats with a mind of their own .
nuff said.

tell the douche bag to and leave you alone. unless he has proof that it was your cat that scratched his paint then he needs to go and quit being a baby. could have been a wild animal like a raccoon or something like that. hell half the people cant tell the tracks apart anyways.

I ask you can a foot make a shoe stink?

The point I was trying to make here was, cats have a mind of there own and if it decides to wander, it can be exceedingly difficult to find it or encourage it to come inside. Our fat cat is a homebody which is fine but our other cat is a hunter no matter what we feed her. I cannot change a cat's instincts. I can manage them as best I can as I really don't like finding her gifts of small animals but thats it. get over it.

I was wondering if it was a possum and he saw the scratches after he chased my cat off the hood of the car? if the cat went there that is. The guy lives next door to a vacant lot filled with knee high grass and weeds, with a couple of trees. Lots of cats in the neighbourhood do get attracted to that lot because it is a haven for rats, mice, snakes and other critters. I have seen lots of cats hunting on the lot next door to him, which is opposite from my place.

My two cats mostly do spend the nights inside the home. Sometimes I cannot get them to come inside before I lock up but not too often.

As well as rats, mice, snakes, and possums we also have goannas around. My cats are 'working' animals whose 'job' it is to keep the rat and mouse population down. I, as do many other neighbours, keep chickens, and chickens attract rats and mice who come for the grain.

I have apologised to the guy provisionally "well if that was my cat I am I truly sorry that that happened" and I am making a bigger effort to get the cats inside before night fall.

I will look into getting my yard fence heightened though, to keep the cats on my property. At least my yard will have some vermin control happening.

I LIKED that line. Cats need to be won over.
Your correction makes them sound like carnival prizes...lol.


Sorry, OP...I have no experience with cats scratching cars...no comment on that.

Last Edited by weegie on 10/14/2011 04:46 PM

Some kittehs have Adamantium claws......

I have a lifted Suburban. Beautiful paint job. I found cat scratches going down the fender. Obviously, a cat tried to jump on the hood, it was too high and the cat tried holding on. Oh well, what are you gonna do? Besides buff it out.

cats love the warmth of the hood after the car has been driven. and yes they use those damn nails to try and keep them in the warm spot on that expensive, slippery paint job. I am going to sue.

cats love the warmth of the hood after the car has been driven. and yes they use those damn nails to try and keep them in the warm spot on that expensive, slippery paint job. I am going to sue.

The point I was trying to make here was, cats have a mind of there own and if it decides to wander, it can be exceedingly difficult to find it or encourage it to come inside. Our fat cat is a homebody which is fine but our other cat is a hunter no matter what we feed her. I cannot change a cat's instincts. I can manage them as best I can as I really don't like finding her gifts of small animals but thats it. get over it.
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well just dont get mad when I shoot your precious pet with my beebee gun while it is defacing my property. I have more legal rights to shoot a person walking on to my property than I have against vermin destroying it!?! its a crazy world that we live in

Gee, I hope your neighbor never follows a semi or a gravel truck.
Never parks in a shopping center, gets stuck in a hail storm,
has a bird crap on the hood, drives thru a sand storm, hits a
big bug, hand washes it or takes his "work ute" out of the garage.
Oh..wait.. he doesn't have a garage.

If your neighbor was that "proud" of his vehicle, it wouldn't be
a work truck, he'd have a garage and there would be a POS work vehicle.

That's not to say it doesn't piss me off when there's 3 cats
sitting on my fresh washed car (I've got 7) but I've never noticed any
scratches, just foot prints. That's bad enough.

I think happy dogs when you get home from work or the
one's that want to go bye-bye is worse. "Ooh, ooh, If I
scratch hard & fast enough, the door will open!!"

re; Cats are more likely to lie on a car hood in the day time when the sun has warmed it up.

-or on a hot hood for the engine heat, on a cool night.

re; How does he figure that it was
A a cat,

-paw prints and hair on car.
-dogs don't lay on cars.

B my cat

-he sees it there, or he matches the hair color.

why create ill feeling by complaining to a neighbour about that?

-YOU ARE 'creating ill feelings' BY DAMAGING HIS PROPERTY, by being irresponsable with your pet..
-would you like him to shoot your cat with a b-b gun ?? it only hurts, it doesn't kill.

I don't understand people.

-first thing you got right !!

re; Can cats scratch car paint?

-yes. especially when jumping from the car, to the roof of a house, and then back down to the car.
they can also have SAND on their paws, and scratch it that way, even if de-clawed.

re; They don't need painting..they use a light sandpaper over the marks and then they should just buff out.

-use sandpaper to buff it out ???
ha ha ha ha !!

see also;
My Neighbor Trapping our Cats;

Thread: My Neighbor Trapping our Cats (Page 5)

The Magic 8 Ball said YES when I asked IT if your cat had walked through a fizzing puddle of spilled generic canned cola immediately prior to clawing the car.
So now we know, Watson, now we know.

I have scratches on the hood of my SUV, and my cat did it. She was trying to jump on the hood and couldn't quite make it, so she used her claws to try and hold on. she has done this several times, so I now have a bunch of little scratches. I can probably buff them out; however, if it were someone else's cat that had done this, I would be upset. I'm just saying cats can definitely scratch the paint on an automoble.

yesterday I waxed my brand new car to find out later on some paw prints on the hood. Also some scratches under the prints... apparently the cat had problems to hold itself on the waxed surface... I'M EXTREMELY IRRITATED!

My neighbors cats have DESTROYED the paint on my BMW convertable. I tried a car cover, nails went through it. Ductaped mousetraps on cover, they went around them. Put car in converted shed, they clawed through tarp on door. There are scartches all down fenders, hood and even in the windshield. Neighbor denied until I brought her over and showed he the canvas convertable top COVERED in cat paw prints and fur. This car had flawless new BMW paint when I got 1 1/2 years ago. They clawed through clear coat and paint. Nothing I really can do- cats will be cats and she is a widow on fixed income who we love dearly and who most definitely cannot afford to repaint my car. They also clawed the crap out of my top. Sucks!!!