Home | Pets | Cat

Any Cat Scratching Post For Your Cat?

If you own a cat then a cat scratching post is a MUST. It is very useful in stopping your cat from scratching and ruining your furniture, drapes and rugs. It is a natural act of all cats to scratch, stretch and to knead with their front paws.

Unfortunately many cat owners have no idea that they should provide their cats with the necessary products to scratch on. Scratching is a born instinct and we are unable to change this type of behavior, it is therefore best to give your cat alternate surfaces to scratch. A standard cat care program must include the cat scratching post. This product will give your cat an area to do its scratching, stretching, sharpening claws and marking territory.

A scratching post designed for cats will be built with a solid base, a structure like a post and has a minimum of one layer of a carpet-like material to serve as the scratching surface. It is best for all exposed surfaces to be covered in the carpet-like material. Though many are vertical, there are some that are designed to place horizontally on the floor. The cat should be able to stand on the base to scratch without tipping the post over, so the base needs to be large enough to accommodate this.

There are all sorts of scratching post designs with a variety of colors and heights. Some posts have lures and others don't. One design is quite different with a flat or slanted scratching surface that is on a frame-like structure and has strips of corrugated cardboard situated vertically in the frame so that a side of each strip has exposure to the top of the post's surface.

The cat will soon have the cardboard strips torn and shredded and the strips have to be replaced. A very common type of cat scratching post is one that has a vertical scratching surface on a post with a base. Some cats like such posts, could be because they are like trees or tree trunks. Very often such vertical scratching surfaces are wrapped in a tough fabric like carpet or rope for the cat to scratch on.

Making your own scratching post is really quite simple. You just need a piece of wood about 6" in diameter and about 2' long. Wrap enough carpet around it to cover it and screw it to the wall. You can also suspend a piece of carpet about 17 inches in length from the ceiling with enough rope to make it the right height for your cat. A cat tree makes an ideal scratching post the cat will love but you do need to make certain the base is wide enough and heavy enough to keep it stable.

The best type of material to use for a scratching post is any durable fabric with a pile, like carpet. The post itself can be made of solid wood or plastic. The under side of the base is usually sisal or vinyl with nylon buttons to keep the scratching post from sliding around on a hard surfaced floor such as hardwood or tile. Sisal is also a good option for wrapping the scratching post as cats enjoy the coarseness of the fibrous rope and it is very durable. It is great for conditioning the cat's claws.

As there are such a wide range of designs, prices and sizes to choose from finding the right scratching post that suits your cat's preferences is easy. If you place the cat scratching post close to a window or a corner away from the drafts your pet will leave your furniture alone. In cases where your cat has already been scratching your furniture, place a scratching post at the spot where it has been scratching. Direct your cat to the new scratching post and show it where the scratching should be done.

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

About the Author: Paulina Jenkins has a website that is dedicated to all cat owners with informations on cat breeds, cat supplies and products. Why cat scratching post is a necessity if you own a cat? Do you know what is the purpose of a cat scratching post? Don't reprint this article. Instead, reprint a free unique content version of this same article.

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License, which means you may freely reprint it, in its entirety, provided you include the author's resource box along with LIVE VISIBLE links (without "nofollow" tags).