Originally Posted by Celador

A lot has already been said about getting him to calm down through long play sessions before bed etc

So, just one other thing you mentioned, scratching the carpets. Cookie used to do this all the time and even after buying scratching posts, she'd keep doing it.

It got to the stage where she clearly knew we didn't like it, because we say "No" and she'd stop, roll over onto her back and look all cute.

Cat's have to scratch though ... so you need something else for them to scratch. If they scratch furniture mostly, then get a scratching post, if they scratch carpets then a scratching mat.

We had no clue if this would work ... but 2 of these:

Willow's Scratch Mat with Catnip for Cats | Pets at Home

were a great buy for protecting the carpets. As long as one of them is nearby, she goes straight to it. She's not scratched the carpets since.

Now, they are pretty expensive really for how small they are, so you could probably find a cheaper alternative. But they worked for us and saved our carpets.