[sohail99]

Whoa! thats awful!!!

I once had a cat scratch my hood! It happened as the cat was trying to climb onto the bonnet but began sliding/slipping off so probably it used its nails to get a grip resulting in the scratch!

fortunately it was limited to the clearcoat so I was able to remove it easily! the fate of the cat is unknown to anyone!

In your case did you check the depth of the scratches after cleaning the area? some of them might be repairable!

[Styler]

Hi all,

I need some out of the box solutions for this.
Lately all the street dogs have taken a linking to climb up on the roofs of the cars parked in the open to sleep.
In the process they have really scratched a number of cars with their paws.
My Camry got a few scratches on the roof and boot. Now I have my car covered at night, but every morning I see a lot of paw marks all over the car cover. They even tore away my older car cover, and now I have a new one.

The problem is that these dogs climb up cars to sleep only between 12.00 am and 5.00 am .
One day when I looked at 2.30 they were jumping all over and sleeping on the roofs of the the cars.

I need some whacky ideas on how to stop these dogs from climbing up on the roofs of cars and sleeping there in the middle of the night.

Styler

[benzinblut]

I faced this exact problem about 15 years ago. Its a total menace. They can scratch your bonnet, roof and boot-lid in a matter of 2 days.

My solution was:
I bought a thick rubber sheet and pierced it with cobbler's nails to make a bed of nails. The nails need not be too close.

At night before going off to sleep, i got the car covered with thick blankets and placed this bed of nails on the boot and roof.

Due to the weight of the rubber sheet, it wont get easily dislodged due to the wind.

This solution worked for me. Hope this helps

PS: Piercing the nails into the rubber sheet gives a sore thumb

[sharoncr_17]

I am having the same problem with cats. There are a some stray cats that believe my Jeep to be their home. The problem is that some of them P in their bed (my seat)...:-). There is a deep pungent smell in the mornings.
I close all the canvas coverings during the night but somehow they squeeze in. I stopped keeping balance food outside but still they keep coming back.

[Gansan]

Try dusting your car's bonnet and roof with chilly powder! Dogs will surely sniff the place before lying down! They will never approach your car again!

Else, stay awake one night. Wait till the dog goes in to deep slumber on your car's roof. Then dunk it with a bucket of ice cold water! One may use hot (not scalding) water too, if one is so inclined!

[Aroy]

On my M800 a dog slept and the roof got depressed, luckily it was a one off incident.

As suggested a nail studded sheet seems to be the best idea for both the car and the Jeep.

Regarding cats there was one which insisted on sleeping on the front wheel of my Fiat 1100 in winters, carried on for two years and then the cat disappeared.

Here are some answers from around the world
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...2082150AAB5dDc
"Go to a pet store and ask if they have this cat repellant spray. My mom uses it in her garden."
http://deacharliebrown.hubpages.com/...ng-on-your-car
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/gene...op-my-car.html
"This may sound crazy, but it was recommended to me more than once. Kersoene. The scent supposedly drives the kitties away. I wiped down the windows with a cloth just damp with it, then rinsed really well. Enough scent remained that the cat avoided the car, and after a couple of weeks, stopped going near the car.
posted by pupdog at 10:53 PM on June 19, 2007"

[speedsatya]

Try putting a garage cover every night. Should help.

[sharoncr_17]

Tintin, get it repainted. I don't think rubbing and polishing can remove the marks. They seem to be too deep. Is your garage open one (like mine) or does it have a shutter?

And don't frighten the cats when they are on top of your car, least they claw on to the surface. Try the chilli powder as Gansan suggested and do share the result.

[Styler]

Originally Posted by benzinblut

I faced this exact problem about 15 years ago.

My solution was:
I bought a thick rubber sheet and pierced it with cobbler's nails to make a bed of nails. The nails need not be too close.

At night before going off to sleep, i got the car covered with thick blankets and placed this bed of nails on the boot and roof.

Due to the weight of the rubber sheet, it wont get easily dislodged due to the wind.

This solution worked for me. Hope this helps

PS: Piercing the nails into the rubber sheet gives a sore thumb

This idea seems a good one. Just have to figure out where to buy the rubber sheet.

Originally Posted by Gansan

Try dusting your car's bonnet and roof with chilly powder! Dogs will surely sniff the place before lying down! They will never approach your car again!

Else, stay awake one night. Wait till the dog goes in to deep slumber on your car's roof. Then dunk it with a bucket of ice cold water! One may use hot (not scalding) water too, if one is so inclined!

About Chilli Powder, I just am hesitent about this as Red Chilly powder might leave marks on my Grey Cover.

And about keeping awake.
When I look at the car at 11.30 the dogs are running around but not on the car. One day I saw the dog sleeping on the roof at 2.30 am, I scared him by a shot from the low power air pistol I have. The pellet just hit him and bounced off without harming him but he ran off. He didnt come back that night but was back on the roof the next night.

The problem with the idea of throwing cold water is, the moment I open the door / gate he hears me and runs off and is back later. My stealth stalking is not too good.

Originally Posted by speedsatya

Try putting a garage cover every night. Should help.

That I am doing. One older cover which was a little worn out was torn to pieces. The new cover that I got is showing slight signs of scratches and threads coming out from the claws of the dogs. The car is safe with this now, but I know if I don't stop the dog from climbing on the boot and roof altogether the new cover will also be torn soon.

Originally Posted by sharoncr_17

Tintin, get it repainted. I don't think rubbing and polishing can remove the marks. They seem to be too deep. Is your garage open one (like mine) or does it have a shutter?

And don't frighten the cats when they are on top of your car, least they claw on to the surface. Try the chilli powder as Gansan suggested and do share the result.

That was a 2 year old post, my thread was clubbed to that one. The problem on hand is with stray dogs climbing and sleeping on the roof of cars in my colony.

Thanks for the interesting ideas friends, I guess I should try the nail or the chilly powder thing soon.

Styler

[apachelongbow]

go to any pet store and ask for dog/cat repellant sprays. They are pretty cheap, about Rs 150 or so per can. Its not poisonous, safe for kids etc, and are used to prevent pets from chewing/destroying household objects. I believe it contains essense of neem or neem oil which tastes disgusting to pets.
So try this spray around all 4 tyres, bumpers, bonnet and boot and I feel that the cats would leave your car alone.

[skanchan95]

Definitely the work of cats. They love to sit on high ground to monitor their surroundings. My cats used to love sitting on the car, specially the bonnet. The kittens used to sneak into the engine bay from blow and have a good night's sleep. Luckily for me, my cats never scratched my car.




This one used to love sitting on the rear parcel tray whenever I used to vacuum clean the car.


I also used to cover the car with its car cover as much as possible, so as to prevent my cats scratching the car by mistake.

[Styler]

Okay, I tried the easiest thing first. I sprinkled a lot of ground black pepper onto the car, and the dogs didnt get onto it for the last 2 nights.

It's just that my wife would be wondering where the pepper disappeared from the kitchen.

Styler

[fine69]

Chilli powder would be the easiest I believe. Alternatively, dip cotton balls in vinegar or alcohol and rub it across some parts of your car, leave the cotton balls between the bonnet and front windscreen. A few days like this and I think the dogs would keep away.

[skanchan95]

Aren't black pepper, chilli powder, alcohol abrasive in nature and can damage the paint finish, the clear coat specifically? The best way is probably to get a thick car cover.

[fine69]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

Aren't black pepper, chilli powder, alcohol abrasive in nature and can damage the paint finish, the clear coat specifically? The best way is probably to get a thick car cover.

If one can't keep dogs off and they are even tearing off the car cover then it'd be better to let some paint finish get affected in the process of avoiding them altogether. I mean its better than having deep scratches on the car's hood or roof.

Just to share, my father's swift's antenna was chewed off by the dogs so I always ensured that my car was covered with a car cover. The dogs in my locality at least don't tear off the car cover.