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We have 2 cats now, Sinbad and Tempest, both mixed Siamese. Tempest had special needs, so came with an entourage of stuff when we adopted her from the shelter, one thing of which was a cat scratching/climbing post with a seat on top.
Sinbad came in a cat carrier. So we decided to hold off on buying anything for him to see what kind of a cat he was. He likes hidey holes and ignored all of the box condos we built to see if he'd climb in favor of small on the ground boxcaves that he could barely squeeze into. He doesn't even climb onto furniture unless someone is there to cuddle. So we pushed an ottoman in front of the window for him, and have placed Sinbad-sized boxes with scratching pads on the sides around the house.
Then we began introducing the two. On the second day of full view through cat gate, Tempest wandered over to her scratching climb post and started clawing at it. Something in his expression as he watched her caused me to run out and buy him a climbing scratching post too.
He doesn't climb on it at all. We've put him on top, and he'll sit on the pedestal if we keep scratching him, but the moment we stop, he'll carefully jump down. He clearly does not want to climb anything more onerous than the occasional couch. But what is so touching to the point of heart-rending is how he's actually responded to the post.
First, he stared at it, with this disbelieving expression. He slowly and cautiously circled around it, clearly expecting to be stopped at any moment. We just watched, praising and encouraging him. Finally he seemed to realize that it really was his. He still won't climb on it. But he likes to sleep on its base, with both his arms wrapped around the post, his cheek nestled against it. He looks for all the world like an orphan who has never had anything of his own, just given a gift, hugging it tightly in the fear that it will be taken away.
I've tried to get pictures of the hug, but his camera detection skills are high so these are the best I've managed. It just melts my heart every time I walk by his post and see him snuggling it.
Sinbad came in a cat carrier. So we decided to hold off on buying anything for him to see what kind of a cat he was. He likes hidey holes and ignored all of the box condos we built to see if he'd climb in favor of small on the ground boxcaves that he could barely squeeze into. He doesn't even climb onto furniture unless someone is there to cuddle. So we pushed an ottoman in front of the window for him, and have placed Sinbad-sized boxes with scratching pads on the sides around the house.
Then we began introducing the two. On the second day of full view through cat gate, Tempest wandered over to her scratching climb post and started clawing at it. Something in his expression as he watched her caused me to run out and buy him a climbing scratching post too.
He doesn't climb on it at all. We've put him on top, and he'll sit on the pedestal if we keep scratching him, but the moment we stop, he'll carefully jump down. He clearly does not want to climb anything more onerous than the occasional couch. But what is so touching to the point of heart-rending is how he's actually responded to the post.
First, he stared at it, with this disbelieving expression. He slowly and cautiously circled around it, clearly expecting to be stopped at any moment. We just watched, praising and encouraging him. Finally he seemed to realize that it really was his. He still won't climb on it. But he likes to sleep on its base, with both his arms wrapped around the post, his cheek nestled against it. He looks for all the world like an orphan who has never had anything of his own, just given a gift, hugging it tightly in the fear that it will be taken away.
I've tried to get pictures of the hug, but his camera detection skills are high so these are the best I've managed. It just melts my heart every time I walk by his post and see him snuggling it.
