Hey! Here's how to get your cat to use the scratching post.

[amitten]

I just learned in another thread that apparently a lot of people don't know this.

If you buy a crappy small little post that wobbles, no, your cat will not use it. It has to have the following two features:

1. It must be taller that the cat when standing upright (like a tree)
2. It must be heavy enough not to wobble at all when the cat scratches (like a tree)

If the post lacks those qualities, your cat won't be able to stretch when scratching, and your cat will be afraid the damn thing is going to topple over. That's why your couch is being torn apart. It's not that your cat has a vendetta...it's that you haven't provided the proper scratching outlet.

If you don't provide the proper post, your furniture is going to be shredded in spite of your best efforts. (Or you can always declaw the poor animal, which is such a KIND and SELFLESS thing to do!)


:hi:

[DainBramaged]

1. Declawing is an option too, then it don't matter how hight the post is

[amitten]

2. A good post is less than half the cost of declawing. n/t

[slj0101]

4. ruh-roh.

:nuke:

[AirmensMom]

5. It is an option.

But it's not a good one. It's unnecessary amputation. If people don't want to provide the correct equipment for their pets, they should get stuffed animals instead. :shrug:

[Kerrytravelers]

8. De-clawing is an option, but not something I would ever consider doing to my kitty-babies.

It's cruel. You're cutting half their toes off. How would you like your toes and fingers cut off for no medical reason? Most reputable vets won't perform that surgery.

I always tell people if their material goods are important to them, then don't get pets. But don't mutilate your pets.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

13. Well, would you like the top third of your fingers cut off for someone else's convenience?

If someone seriously considers declawing as an option, they should not have a cat. It's that simple.

[AirmensMom]

14. ...

:applause: :yourock:

It's only an option in the sense that it's a REALLY BAD one that shouldn't be considered.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

16. Thanks. We have four cats and expensive unruined furniture. Guess why?

Proper scratching posts.

[AirmensMom]

17. They don't bother the new expensive leather family room furniture.

But they did like the living room sofa until I found the right scratching posts. It can be fixed, though, and hardly shows at all unless you know where to look. My kitties are more important than my furniture. :loveya:

[ThomCat]

18. That is a very cruel option.

x(

Two of my cats were declawed before I adopted them. The family that declawed them ended up taping them in a box and abandoning them.

[belladonna]

23. It may be an option, but a pretty damn cruel one

I have no friggin idea why ANYONE would have their cat declawed. Sure, my cat is an indoor cat, but she HAS managed to escape a few times and I shudder to think what she'd do out there if faced with a fight and had nothing to protect herself with. Hell, my cat won't use her scratching post half the time, but I'll take her destroying my couch over losing her anyday. I can replace a damn couch... she's irreplaceable and worth every penny if it comes to buying a replacement couch.

[DainBramaged]

25. Well, thanks for the replies, of the 20 some-odd cats who have owned me

The only one de-clawed is the fat guy next to me, and he was a recent adoptee. And even with good scratching posts, some have ruined the furniture, but furniture is replaceable.

[AirmensMom]

3. K&R!

:applause: :toast: :yourock:

Here's our favorite one:
http://www.topcatproducts.com/

We have six kitties (or, rather, they have us ... ) and we didn't have to "teach" them to use it.

This thread will probably attract a good collection of scratching posts, so there won't be any more excuses to declaw. :bounce:

[amitten]

6. It's a simple solution...people just don't know about it.

That's why I posted the thread.

It IS possible to have pets without having your furniture destroyed...

[AirmensMom]

7. Probably because

they sell so much junk that's labeled "scratching post" ... and most cats won't go near. We have one of those. It's 3 years old and no one has ever used it. They give scratching posts a bad name and then people think they just don't work.

[Fla Dem]

26. I resuced a kitten last summer. I've had her nails clipped by the vet ever since because

she doesn't like me touching her paws. If I get a post like this and she uses it, do I still have to get her nails clipped ?

[hippywife]

9. We use this

http://www.worldwise.com/catscratcher.html

and our cat loves it. 'specially when we put a little catnip in it.

[spinbaby]

10. Yeah, cats love those

Unfortunately, one of ours likes to pee on 'em and they're pretty expensive at almost $10 a shot. Know of any source for bulk cheap scratching pads?

[hippywife]

12. Well, that's unfortunate.

Ours loves to lay on hers when she isn't scratching it. And even tho it's $10, I like the fact that it's biodegradable, recyclable cardboard.

[distantearlywarning]

24. We get those too.

Our cat is obsessed with it. She lays on it sometimes, and before our other cat died, they used to fight over who got to use it. The couch is small potatoes compared to the fabulousness that is the cardboard scratchy box (at least in the mind of our cat).

Also, I agree with all the other people: declawing is disgusting. PLEASE don't do that to your cats!!!!

[ironflange]

11. I made that mistake

The last post I got was pretty unstable, and it took the cats a while to figure it out. It's fun to watch them now, as they carefully scratch it so as to not knock it over. It needs replacing soon, so I'll get a better one.

[AirmensMom]

15. Oh, THAT mistake!

:rofl: That's easily remedied. There are some great ones available. :hi:

[unpossibles]

19. yup. I built my guys a 5' tall cat tree with carpet and sisal and stuff to climb on, etc.

and they love it. Now the couch is old news. Well, it is old, but you know what I mean.

[amitten]

20. That sounds perfect! n/t

[LeftyMom]

21. My Mom and late Stepdad built a huge one

It was a DIY job because it needed enough landing spots for seven cats and we didn't have several hundred dollars to spend.

So they just used some scrap lumber and a good piece of carpet somebody was throwing away, and got something that fit perfectly where they wanted it to go for the total cost was a box of wood screws and some staples for the staple gun.

[bullwinkle428]

22. Ebay has TONS of build-it-yourself pieces of cat furniture,

with multiple sisal-wrapped posts for scratching, and they're very solid and sturdy. I have one that's held up reasonably well for over 3 years, and I extended the life of it by disassembling and flipping the posts so the tops of the posts (which were well-worn) were now on the bottom and the fresh sisal was now at the top.

[Dude_CalmDown]

27. Or just buy a shitty couch.

Free.99 - the best price.

[marzipanni]

28. My old cat and dog both loved rubbing their faces, and the cat loved 'plucking,'

on a cheap doormat that I had to protect the carpet inside a sliding glass door. It was made of seagrass, as I remember, and looked like the mat on this site-
http://www.housewarecatalog.com/welcome-18x30dragon-p-1239.html?sort=3a&page=2&osCsid=4d58b00be725ff61b35884521c973742
You could put some small hooks on the wall and hang one of these and cats would probably love it.

[politicat]

29. You must also....

... Remind the cat on a regular basis that he has a scratching post. (Mine gets an "Oh, RIIIIIGHT!" look and goes right over to it. He's kinda dumb, though.)
... Remove any and all carpet from your house because finding a post that doesn't have carpet is impossible, and kinda dumb cats won't make much of a distinction between the carpet on the floor and the stuff on the post.
... Place packing tape over the places they used to scratch because cats are creatures of habit, and if their habit is to scratch, they will continue to do so even if they like the post better.
... Put slip covers on the furniture you want to keep looking good because it may be more convenient when the urge to scratch comes up.

Believe me, I love ours, and would do anything for them, but memory is not their strong suit. Thus... the many solutions we have.

[allalone]

30. eagd

I never even thought of that and it's so logical. I will definitely take your advice.
as for declaw, sorry I can't get behind chopping off parts of living creatures.

[Kali]

31. even better is if it is shaped like a chair or a sofa

(my cat uses the cardboard ones that sit flat on the floor - at least some of the time)

And why don't they make posts upholstered in vinyl? My kitchen chairs are proof it doesn't have to be sissal or carpet!