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scratching at carpet.
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Our cat sushi has started clawing at the hall carpet outside living room door if she wants to come in. She used to just 'knock' at the door but over the summer when we were on holiday she developed this habit when our son was looking after her and probably didnt react as quickly to her demands. This is having a rather bad effect on the carpet over time.:eek: Any helpful suggestions? She also uses the corner of our sofas as a scaratching post despite having one in the kitchen. Any advice welcome. 
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This can protect the carpet and is less appealing for scratching at as the cat doesn't get the satisfaction of getting its claws into it but it may just transfer to scratching elsewhere.
Likewise cover the corners of the sofa with throws.
The texture of the targeted areas attracts them and once they scratch the scent from scent glands between their toes, plus the visual cue of the clawed area attracts them back so cleaning with a biological washing liquid solution to remove the cat's scent can also help
If your cat is clawing at sofas, chairs etc try putting the scratching post in front of the scratched furniture (as well as protecting the furniture with throws etc). Cats like to scratch in prominent places so a scratching post tucked away in a corner or behind a door probably won't be used! Once they are using the scratching post regularly then you can gradually move it (inch by inch) to a more convenient place.
My Impossible Princess uses her scratching post and her fence in the garden but still does my sofa (lucky it is ancient) and the carpet when she wants to get out or in.
wilhemina, re the PAH sisal thingy... does that not tell the cat that it is fine to scratch at carpet in general, i.e. encourage rather than discourage them? I would worry they would not confine their attention to the sisal mat!
What is Feliway? I think I read once that certain scents would deter cats but cant remember which. Maybe eucalyptus or something like that but I'd like her to scratch on the door again like she used to. If I put a particular scent on the carpet then she might not come near the door at all.
It's a synthetic feline facial pheromone, (similar to the one cats place on things when they head rub when they are comfortable with something/someone), which is supposed to make cats feel more relaxed and less anxious so unlike citrus or eucalyptus etc it shouldn't be aversive, although I have known it futher upset some cats if they are already having intercat anxiety issues as, not being their own signature scent, it can be like a virtual (scent) cat , albeit a relaxed one, within their house.
For cats that like it catnip can work in a similar way, without any intercat challenge, which is why catnip can be used to encourage cats to come to and use their scratch post
All cats scratch & to try to stop them from scratching the carpet will be very difficult unless you can either be with them 24 hours a day or can confine them to an area without carpet when you are not there. If a cat is determined to scratch at a particular piece of carpet, any deterrent in the form of water sprays, telling off, citrus smells etc, are only likely to lead to the cat scratching when you are not around or transferring the scratching to a nearby piece of carpet.
Personally I think it is better to try to compromise by providing an acceptable scratching medium in the area that the cat feels the need to leave its scent marks. Sisal provides a great scratching place & most cats like it because it gets "roughed up" easily so provides the visual marker which is a large part of the cat's motivation for scratching. If the cat gets used to scratching on sisal (rather than carpet) you can then move the sisal matting to a more convenient place (gradually, like with a scratching post) & it is very likely that the cat will continue to use the sisal matting because of the texture & shreddable surface, rather than going back to the carpet. In any case, once a cat is regularly scratching on a post or sisal matting, its scent will be very strong on the post/matting so the motivation will be to keep topping up the scent on the post/matting rather than going back to the carpet.
The problem is worse if that cats don't go outside at all because they have to do all their scratching indoors - mine love to scratch trees, fencing, etc outdoors.