How to Prevent Your Cat from Unrolling Toilet Paper

Co-authored by Melissa Nelson, DVM, PhD

Last Updated: March 29, 2019

Cats make wonderful pets, but sometimes they can be a bit troublesome. An inquisitive and playful cat can get into all kinds of things that they shouldn't, such as your toilet paper roll. If you have ever come home to find a toilet paper roll strewn out all over your bathroom floor, you may be looking for ideas to prevent this from happening again. Remove your cat's access to the toilet paper, distract the cat from the toilet paper by providing other toys and stimulation, or train the cat to stay away from the toilet paper roll.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Removing Access to the Toilet Paper

1
Keep the door to the bathroom closed. The simplest option for keeping your cat from unrolling your toilet paper is to close the door to the bathroom. Unless your cat knows how to open doors, this will stop any mischief surrounding the toilet paper.
- If your cat's litter box is in the bathroom, then this is not an option for you. You will need to find another way to keep your cat from unrolling the toilet paper.
2
Place the toilet paper out of the cat's reach. If you have a small kitten or a cat that doesn't climb, you may be able to stop them from unrolling your toilet paper by placing the toilet paper on a high or isolated shelf. This will keep the cat away from the toilet paper. However, you need to be sure that you can reach it while you are sitting on the toilet.
- Some cats will see a new, high shelf as a challenge and an exciting new thing to explore. If your cat is like this, then this solution won't work. You need to think about your cat's personality and behavior when finding a way to keep it from unrolling your toilet paper.^{[1]
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3
Make the roll unable to spin. When a cat is scratching at a toilet paper roll it becomes a fun game because the roll spins and spins. If you can limit the rolls spinning, it may make the game less fun for your cat. A simple way to do this is to squish the cardboard inside the roll of toilet paper so that it does not roll off the holder so easily.^{[2]
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- If you have an upright toilet paper holder, you can put a stick or other item in the cardboard hole so that the roll is pinned against the holder and won't spin. Simply remove the pin when you want it to spin it again for toilet paper removal.
4
Put the toilet paper in an enclosed container. There are a variety of child-proof toilet paper holders that are available and will work well for keeping your cat at bay. Look in the child safety section of your local big box store or search online for the right product.^{[3]
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- Some child-proof toilet paper holders limit the amount of paper that can come off the roll at one time. Other holders simply cover the paper when not in use.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Making the Cat Disinterested

1
Distract the cat from the toilet paper. When you find your cat unrolling your toilet paper, you should try to lure it away from that bad behavior. Bring a toy into the bathroom and try to engage the cat in play. Move the toy out of the bathroom as you play with the cat.^{[4]
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- This may be a temporary solution but it could be helpful in stopping this behavior before it becomes a regular habit, especially for kittens.
2
Give the cat other things to do. Sometimes a cat shreds toilet paper because it is bored. Give your cat a variety of toys, puzzles, and areas to climb that are nowhere near the bathroom. Keeping it busy during the day when you are gone will go a long way towards stopping its bad behavior.^{[5]
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- Most cats need some stimulation during the day to keep their minds and bodies active. Providing toys and entertainment for the cat is an important part of caring for its well-being.
3
Provide other things to scratch. In many cases, cats use the toilet paper roll as a scratching post, and as they scratch the whole thing unrolls. In order to avoid this, try giving your cat more places to scratch in your home. This could mean a scratching post or a scratching pad in most rooms of the house, including the bathroom.
- If there is not enough room in your bathroom to provide a scratching post or pad, try putting one right outside the door. This may stop the cat from even going into the bathroom in search of something satisfying to scratch on.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Using Remote Correction

1
Make the texture unappealing. In order to train the cat to stay away from your toilet paper, you can use remote correction. With remote correction, you make the cat associate something unpleasant with the behavior you want to eliminate. For example, you can place an unappealing texture on the surface of the toilet paper or on the floor beneath the toilet paper area that your cat doesn't want to touch or walk on.^{[6]
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- You can apply aluminum foil, sticky paper, or a knobby plastic mat under the toilet paper roll and see if it dissuades your cat from entering the area.
2
Apply a bad smell. Cats are very sensitive to certain smells, so you can use this to your advantage when trying to keep your cat away from your toilet paper. Apply a smell that your cat doesn't like around the toilet paper roll to keep it away.^{[7]
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- Some smells that generally keep cats away include citronella, citrus, aloe, eucalyptus oil and oil of wintergreen.
- Browse through your local pet store for cat-safe repellent sprays or oils.
3
Create sounds that are unpleasant. If you see your cat going towards the toilet paper roll, you should make unpleasant noises that startle it and cause it to leave the area. Scaring the cat repeatedly near the toilet paper roll will make it associate that fear with the area and will likely cause it to avoid that area in the future.^{[8]
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- Use a whistle, a can with pennies in it, or some other noise making item to scare the cat away from bad behavior.
- Don't use your words or yell at the cat or strike or hit the cat, however, as this can make the cat fearful of you in the future.
4
Apply something bad tasting to the roll. This will make the cat think that this will always happen when playing with toilet paper. Some products you can apply to the surface of your toilet paper include bitter apple, citrus products, hot sauces, cayenne pepper or aloe gel. ^{[9]
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- Be sure to remove the bad tasting layer before using the toilet paper yourself.
- Even if your cat is not chewing on the toilet paper, unrolling it with its paws will get the bad tasting substance on its paws. When the cat goes to clean the substance off with its tongue, it will experience the bad taste.