so cat ladies...

Littledeer84 · September 2014

Scratching posts...I have a really picky cat who is ruining our furniture. He has this enormous carpet covered cat tower to scratch, but I guess it is worn out enough that he doesn't like it anymore. So he is scratching everything else.

Where do you get your scratching posts? The ones at petsmart are never tall enough. Sawyer only likes the all carpet ones, not rope. And I don't have the money to get another cat tower...I'm hoping to just get a scratching post, if I can find a tall enough one. Weird question, I know....

Emerald27 · September 2014

This may sound crazy, but our cats love to scratch cardboard. We bought some furniture at IKEA last week and haven't taken the boxes out of the house yet, and they've been happily shredding them. :P

DH wants to get them one of those cardboard wedge scratchers for Christmas. I say we should just let them scratch at these boxes for the forseeable future. Lol

ETA: this is what DH was talking about:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0018N38P2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1411613441&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40

persephonerose · September 2014

We have in the past made our own cardboard scratchers. They are super easy to make and there (not their!) are tutorials all over youtube and pinterest.

Also instead of replacing your current scratching post, hit up a carpet store and see if they have any samples or scraps you can buy off them. Then use a staple gun to attach the new carpet pieces to your current scratching post. I prefer to trim off the strings and loose carpet fibers before stapling on the new carpet.

Littledeer84 · September 2014

Years ago I got him a cardboard scratching thing, and he was indifferent about it. But at that price I might have to try they again! We can also attempt to add carpet scraps to the current tower...thank you!

Mmylsa · September 2014

persephonerose said:
We have in the past made our own cardboard scratchers. They are super easy to make and their are tutorials all over youtube and pinterest.

Also instead of replacing your current scratching post, hit up a carpet store and see if they have any samples or scraps you can buy off them. Then use a staple gun to attach the new carpet pieces to your current scratching post. I prefer to trim off the strings and loose carpet fibers before stapling on the new carpet.

This! If the actual foundation of the scratching post is good then I would just rewrap it in carpet remnants. It's also nice to rub the scratcher with a little catnip to respark their interest.

lisamahrt · September 2014

My cats love the ones to put on the door knobs. Amazon has carpet ones .

https://www.amazon.com/Door-Scratching-Post-Color-Blue/dp/B0073UROWM

pepperpotts317 · September 2014

I've gotten a few off eBay and they last forever and are relatively inexpensive. DH has replaced the sisel rope on ours and the cats loved that. Maybe try that before getting a whole new one.

jlz32185 · September 2014

My cat hates all scratching posts. I have a woven hamper that she's pretty much destroyed. DH has been wanting get a new one but I'm afraid of what furniture she'll take a liking to next. I've tried the soft paws before and she will chew on them until they fall off. Some people have success with them though.
https://www.softpaws.com/
Guess I'm not much help.

RNmommy14 · September 2014

Try looking at Walmart.com I was shocked at how many differnt cat towers, toys, and scratching post they had and at really good prices compared to petsmart and petco.

MuffinMom14 · September 2014

We built our own and wrapped it in carpet. But, if that doesn't work, you can try the cardboard or they have apple bitter spray (I think that's it) that we tried spraying ON the couch where they would scratch. It is supposed to deter them.

Honestly? Two of mine will never stop. We just cover the arms of the sofas with blankets and keep their nails trimmed every week so it's minimal damage. Our two girls are the worst. The boys don't give a shit about the furniture.

MrsSinner402 · September 2014

My cats walk past mine like it's a piece of furniture. I'm a horrible person and declawed their front paws before I knew how awful it was. I still feel terrible about it. But I use SoftPaws on their rear feet to protect the furniture. Theyre meant for front claws too for people that dont want to declaw. As long as your cat doesn't rip them off all the time they work great. You should check out their website and testimonials and stuff.

yella726 · September 2014

My cat is definitely a cardboard box cat. If it's an empty box, he jumps inside of it like it's the best thing since sliced bread.

https://www.hilandian.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploadimage/2011/10/Screen-Shot-2011-10-18-at-12.53.28-PM.png

But if they're boxes that are packed (we're in the midst of redoing our kitchen, so it's all packed up), he loves going up to the corners of the boxes, stretching and then hanging off the edges as he scratches the top corner.

Littledeer84 · September 2014

Thank you for all the advice! He is a picky bastard - I have a door hanging carpet scratcher that looks as new as it did when I brought it home 6 years ago! He doesn't scratch rope - only carpet or upholstery. Although I will try using some cat nip and deterrent spray to keep him scratching appropriate places. We should also keep up with clipping his nails more often - right now it is just every one or two months.

MuffinMom14 · September 2014

dorothyzbornak97 said:

My cat only likes the corrugated cardboard ones. As long as they're not totally shredded (and they have enough cat nip on them), he mostly sticks to those.

Something else that helped me deter him from scratching furniture was putting strips of double-sided tape on the places he tended to scratch on the furniture. You can get packages of pre-cut strips at pet stores, or just buy a roll of it at a regular store. When he touched the spot and realized it was sticky, he'd stay away. I did that years ago and he still leaves those spots alone to this day.

That's a good idea, too, but I think our girls are either too smart or too stupid. Like, the promptly "forgot" about the sticky tape as soon as it was gone. I've heard you can do the same with tin foil.

MuffinMom14 · September 2014

Littledeer84 said:

Thank you for all the advice! He is a picky bastard - I have a door hanging carpet scratcher that looks as new as it did when I brought it home 6 years ago! He doesn't scratch rope - only carpet or upholstery. Although I will try using some cat nip and deterrent spray to keep him scratching appropriate places. We should also keep up with clipping his nails more often - right now it is just every one or two months.

We clip our cats' nails once a week! They know they get treats afterwards, so we clip, and they go and wait for their treat while the other cats take their turns. It's sort of weird and like a conveyor belt.

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