Post, Freight and Carriers

What scratching post do you have for your cats?

Love to see pictures and name of scratching post, do the cats use the scratching post?

Public Comments

1. I get these at Petsmart and my cats love them. It's made of cardboard and they love to scratch and shred it. They make a mess, but they leave my couch alone.
2. i have three scratching posts for my three cats. I have found that cats like a good scratch and stretch when they wake up, so place one near where the cat sleeps. and get the tallest one available, at least 30 inches...cats use posts to stretch, to leave their marking scent {their paw pads have scant glands] and to remove the old 'claw sheath' from the new one growing inside, like a snake skin shedding. i have also found that when i place a post next to the arm of my couch, the cat will usually use the post right off, not the couch, to sharpen its claws. one more thing...if the post does not have a big enough base, so it doesn't tip over, you need to nail a bigger piece of plywood to the base, so it won't tip. once a post has tipped over, it's very hard to get a cat to use it again.
3. I bought the one that's carpet all around. they have that other one with the carpet and the mid section is this hard dried grass typa material and it rips and gets all prickly plus, the carpet ones let the cats scratch out like a ridge typa shape so they're raking through. not poking their claws in and riping it out.
4. Our male cat uses a sisal scratch post in the lounge and on the balcony, he uses a huge tree branch. He's as good as gold and from day one has never shown any interest in scratching furniture. Our female was a little harder to please and she refused to use a sisal post, nor was she interested in the tree branch. She prefers to scratch sheets of corrugated cardboard, so I save cardboard boxes for her. It's just a case of trial and error until you find something a cat enjoys using. The scratch item on the link below looks like a good idea, so I might buy a couple, just to increase the number of places they have for scratching. (Scratching is also a way of marking territory, so it's good to have a few in different areas of the home.) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Table-Leg-Cat-Scratchers-x2-stop-cat-scratching_W0QQitemZ290216808808QQihZ019QQcategoryZ20740QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
5. My cat has one that looks like a tree, beige and green. I bought a few before that one that he never used, I think they were too small. He loves the tree one though and sleeps on the top or in the little 'cubby' part. He uses the bottom corners to scratch or the side of the post. Sorry I don't have a pic, I should take one though, he's so cute when he sleep on\in it.
6. I have LOTS and most have come from Deals Direct in Australia. There are pics of two of them on my website here http://www.cuddleton.com/adopting/shopping_list.html (down the end of the page) I have bought four of the platform style one on the right of the page. That was still cheaper than the big carpet covered condo I also have! My cats are spolied just a little!!! Pamela
7. I had a homemade one, but then it got shredded and I haven't been able to get more carpet for it. Plus we got another cat, and the scratching post was too small for his to strech and scratch. So now the offical scratching post is the side of the couch. =P
8. We make our own scratching post out of a 4 x 4 that's about 3 feet long and a piece of 3/4" plywood at least that wide (a little wider is good). We drill a hole in the plywood and in the bottom of the 4 x 4 and bolt the two together. Then we staple carpeting all over the post and base. The carpeting usually takes up enough room under the base so it doesn't rock around or tip. If not, then you can glue some wood pieces under it so it is stable. The carpeting we use is either re-used from someone who was redecorating or carpet remnants (leftovers from installations) that we get from carpet stores. These posts are tall enough so the adult cats can stretch out, which is one thing they instinctively have to do. They can either scratch horizontally or vertically on this post so it satisfies all types of scratchers. If we have bigger cats like Maine Coons, we make the post and base bigger. These scratching posts last almost forever because you can keep re-covering them over and over. If you want to get fancy you can buy sisal cloth and glue that to the post instead. As a finishing touch I put a little catnip spray on it. The cats love it and the kittens climb it and sit on top. Fun. These can be made for as little as $20.
9. my cat uses my carpet as its scratching post