Cat's have destroyed my paintwork

[Escy]

Anyone else have this happen? I moved last week from an area where a few of my neighbours have cats. My car would sit partially covered by the overhang on my house. I washed and polished my car for the 1st time in a while and it made me want to cry. There are tons of scratches on it, mainly on the roof and bonnet, some are really deep and grooved, others are really long.

Any idea on how to make the best of this situation? T-cut is doing nothing.

[p4cks]

I'd find it very hard to believe that these were done by a cat.

[HonestIago]

p4cks said:

I'd find it very hard to believe that these were done by a cat.

Why ever not? They have claws!

[S0 What]

Yes but unlike dogs cats retract thier claws unless needed and rarely have them out on hard surfaces, use a car cover at all ?

[MarkwG]

I'd get a professional detailer to have a look - I agree it's unlikely to be cats claws, ours use all our cars as spring boards & only leave footprints.

[IanA2]

p4cks said:

I'd find it very hard to believe that these were done by a cat.

Agreed. I have two cats and four cars. They frequently sun themselves on various areas of the cars, never scratched any paintwork.

[pimpchez]

I am currently looking at one of these for the garden ,there are only two issues.

Ideally you want a outdoor tap for when your at the house ,as its tap fed.

If you have a cat like me ,its obviously going to get him/her too

[Fubar1977]

That second photo in particular does not look like it could be caused by cats, scratches are too wide/uniform for a cats claws.
We have 3 cats and have seen them on my (black) car numerous times, not seen any apparent damage as a result.
Not saying it`s impossible but they just don`t look like cat scratches.

They have mullered my sofa though...

If you are keen to (humanely) repel cats then they HATE strong citrus odours like lemon etc.

[mcex]

Cats have destroyed my paintwork as well.The "cats retract their claws while walking on your car's pristine bodywork" line is pure fantasy. When they slip, they claw.Evil creatures, that have cost a lot of mmoney in polishing their "clawless" tiptoeiing..

[strath44]

from the OP text is he not inferring that cats are no longer a problem as he moved "from and area" and uses the past tense? - not being funny just wasn't sure.

I think a proper detail would sort that out might need some pro wet sanding.

Tip generally! if you wet your finger and run it over a scratch and the scratch dissappears when it is wet (ie the colour layer is still there and the scratch isn't down to the primer) then it should polish out if not then it will need paint.

[strath44]

ps meant to say its not cats by the way.

we get this at work, it was boxes left on the car by someone when you moved.

I have guys that leave card storage boxes on their roofs and bonnets and boots, they sit the box on the floor, the grit stick in the card, you drag it of the body panel and hey presto.

I bet you £100! ;-)

[s p a c e m a n]

IanA2 said:

p4cks said:

I'd find it very hard to believe that these were done by a cat.

Agreed. I have two cats and four cars. They frequently sun themselves on various areas of the cars, never scratched any paintwork.

Theres a cat that sleeps on the roof of my car, there are claw marks on the edge of the boot from where it launches off onto the floor. I'm letting it get away with it at the moment as I feel a bit guilty about almost accidentally killing it, if someone on here comes up with a good solution then I'll try it.

[parabolica]

Agree on it not looking like cat scratches, the slight curve in the second picture looks like it was maybe caused by grit on a drying cloth - had your car cleaned at a dealership/local car wash recently? I have and I have marks similar to those in both your pics

[interloper]

As a cat owner for a good few months (and obviously now a cat expert). I agree with many of the above, those are not cat claw marks (well they are much longer than any of the scratch marks on my arms!) Obviously we cant rule out cats completely, may be it was a cat that caused them by resting a large box of cat food on the roof?

[Buff Mchugelarge]

Looks like a wild cat, Probably a panther or maybe a snow leopard?
I once had a tortoise leave scratches across the roof of my old MX5. A real pain.


Anyway, They will machine polish out. The worst may need to be flatted first but nothing your friendly local valeter (sorry, 'Detailer/paint correction expert' ) shouldn't be able to do.

[LooneyTunes]

Escy said:

I washed and polished my car for the 1st time in a while

Who usually washes it...? Hand grit car wash?

[PhillipM]

That second set that are all the same wide radius yet irregular spacing definately don't look like cats, looks like someone put something on the car and then moved it, or a cloth picked some grit up when washing it,

[IanA2]

Buff Mchugelarge said:

Looks like a wild cat, Probably a panther or maybe a snow leopard?

You mean you've not upgraded to Mountain Lion....

[BorkFactor]

Try a few coats of AutoGlym Super Resin Polish - it has a slight "filling" property and might just be able to hide these.

Stick some Extra Gloss Protection on after that, and then a layer of decent wax. Might be able to hide the worst of it!

It is surprising, our cat sits on all three cars constantly and has never scratched any of them. Who knows, I do feel for you OP. When I left my pristine car in the communal university halls car park I was greeted with scratches on every corner where inconsiderate idiots had clipped it. The above formula worked a treat though

[P I Staker]

That cats been getting some serious understeer, try giving the body work a rough over with some low grit sand paper, the cat should get much better traction.