Red cheeks

Hi all

Need a bit of advice, we just went out this evening and bought Sleeves a supa-dupa new scratching post/gym type thing and have just built it for him.
Bits of it are that really rough scratching stuff (straw coloured) with cat-nip in and he started rubbing his cheeks on it like mad, obviously as he has scent glands in them... however his lips, round the side of this mouth now look red raw!! its not actually bleeding I dont think but he's currently in hyper-mode so I cant get him to stay still to have a look.
Is this something cats do a lot? help!! I dont want him to keep doing this is he's going to damage his face!!

Oh, poor little guy! It might have felt good at the time, but I'll bet he's in some pain now. If you have some vitamin E capsules, you might poke a hole in one and rub a little of the goop along his lips. If he doesn't lick it off, it'll ease the pain by protecting the broken skin, and will also help to encourage healing.

I wish they wouldn't put catnip in these trees and toys -- it can lure cats into doing things that aren't good for them, and I think that's what happened to Sleeves. You'll have to watch and see whether he remembers next time that rubbing his cheeks on sisal is painful! If not, I guess you could wrap the sisal portions of the tree with something softer...maybe some nice faux fleece?