A little late....

Hi,

I am somewhat new to the site and wanted to introduce myself. I have 2 sweet little kittens (domestic meduim hair). I have had them for about a month and a half and I love them to death. I am a little upset with myself because I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I am going to try to take some this weekend. I have a quick question though. They will not use their scracthing post. They have two and want no part of it. Are they too young ( 5 1/2 months) or should I take the darn things back. I have sprinkled them with catnip, played with it in front of them...the dog plays with it more than they do!!!! He chews on it.

Thanks!
Tamara

about leading a horse to water!! How big are the scratching posts? I`ve always found mine take no interest whatsoever in the small ones. I used to have one of those multi level ones about 5ft tall with sisal posts and carpeted platforms and they loved that, they`d spend hours on it. Unfortunately it wouldn`t fit anywhere in our new house.

I`ve got an old piece of carpet over the stair rail upstairs on the landing at the moment and they use that but it doesn`t stop them ripping holes in the stair carpet and occasionally pulling a big thread out of the sofa!

I have one of those sissel things hanging from a doorknob. Lucky thing it looks good, because that's about all it's good for. I find that the biggest place my cats scratch is on the carpet. My house has Berber, and that stuff can take any abuse!

Try the catnip spray on the scratching post. When I recently bought a cat tree, one of my cats wouldn't go anywhere near the thing until I doused it with the spray. Now, it's his favorite naptime place. They do say that the scratching post is better if it's taller than the cats can stretch out.

If it's hanging from a doorknob, it may be the noise it makes when they try to use it--you know, unless it's secured on both ends, it'll bang against the door whenever you open or close the door, or if they try to use it to scratch. I had that problem with Cleo--she's really afraid of that post and won't use it or try to get in that closet.

This is what I'm thinking of doing:

http://www.katwallks.com/


Though I'm thinking I could probably build a set rather than pay $30 for each piece. I'll let you guys know what I end up doing.

Cheryl:

I'm drooling already! Those things look soooo cool!

I am going to have to get some of those for my cats, looks like they would save a great deal of wear and tear on my furniture

Tamara, It looks like you have received some great suggestions, so I'll just say welcome to the CatSite. It's nice to have you with us. If the kitties scratch the furniture, there are citrus products on the market that can discourage that. Anne even has coupons for internet animal supply stores, if that is helpful. Check the home page for that. I have a kitty condo, which my cats like. They are high enough to look out the window too!

Thanks for the suggestions! I am thinking about getting a taller scratching post. The two they have are only about as tall as the kittens. I tried the catnip spray and they didn't like that, and I put real catnip on it and they would sniff the catnip and leave! They haven't started scratching furniture - besides the matress and the bottom of the couch.