scratching post

Sorry if this gets confusing. Imogen, I moved and merged the thread about scratching from Health & Nutrition.

One thing that might work, other than trying another location for the scratching post (halfway between her favorite place to sleep and her food bowl), is to take an old T-shirt and wear it to bed, and then drape it over the scratching post, which should be more interesting since it smells like "mom".

Good luck teaching your baby to scratch the pole!

Try using Cat Nip on the post to ecourage skratching. You can use doub;e stick tape on the the chairs and stuff to make him stop. Hope it all works out!!

I got one of those road/workers/ construction cones and hot glued sisal rope around it that was my first one, got the rope at a hardware store. good luck

Originally Posted by dmcwlvssr

I got one of those road/workers/ construction cones and hot glued sisal rope around it that was my first one, got the rope at a hardware store. good luck

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Now thats a brilliant idea!

Guess what!! I moved the post et al about...six inches when I was tidying up. Now, for some reason, it's more appealing.

Go fig!

Fingers crossed it KEEPS appealing...

Fingers crossed here! How strange.

Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

Fingers crossed here! How strange.

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TELL me about it! But, then, if they were normal they wouldn't be fun...right?

Oh absolutely!

Just wanted to mention www.petsmart.com. You can order things you need from them if they don't have one near you.

Char uses the couch and his scratching post. He is still learning I guess. I scratch my nails on the top part of the post and he will copy me on the lower part. We also have a sisal rope one.

I got Meishka a cardboard scratcher and sprinkled cat nip on it. She loves it. She ignores the furniture now

My kids did not like the feel of the rope for some reason and prefer the carpet covered ones instead! I found they also liked this circle scratcher that has a ball around the outside that they can play with and a cardboard scratcher insert in the middle that you can buy refills for. I bought this at Walmart and I have also seen this at Petsmart too.

Originally Posted by ekseabolt

My kids did not like the feel of the rope for some reason and prefer the carpet covered ones instead! I found they also liked this circle scratcher that has a ball around the outside that they can play with and a cardboard scratcher insert in the middle that you can buy refills for. I bought this at Walmart and I have also seen this at Petsmart too.

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Bast and Jameson both love the ball-chasey-thing! Jameson always lays on the cardboard and licks it whenever I put new catnip on it. There's always a damp spot on the cardboard when he's done. Bast gets a little freaked out by catnip, and chases the ball around until she's exhausted.

Thanks, all! I think you're right--I need a different material. She just doesn't like the sisal. I think she gets caught in it. After that one fluke scratching-on-the-post episode, she's now trying the couch and chair. Argh! We don't have Wal-mart or Petsmart here, but will head out to shops now to try and find something.

She doesn't show any interest in the spray catnip. Is the dried catnip more effective? Not a fan of catnip, but NEED her to scratch places other than furniture. Right now she's banished from the sitting room (her fav with large, glass doors) when I'm not here.

Originally Posted by mikenealis

Bast and Jameson both love the ball-chasey-thing! Jameson always lays on the cardboard and licks it whenever I put new catnip on it. There's always a damp spot on the cardboard when he's done. Bast gets a little freaked out by catnip, and chases the ball around until she's exhausted.

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That ball-thing is addicting! All it takes is someone to roll that ball to cause a stampede in this house! I also read somewhere that cats use a scratching post mainly for stretching out their long bodies so make sure to buy a big enough one for your cat if they are larger then the average size. Good Luck!