We are all aware that purchasing toys and accessories for cats can easily lead cat owners astray. Certainly, cats enjoy playing with their toys, but they also enjoy scratching! You probably wish to purchase a cat scratching post but you believe they all have the similar appearance. You no longer need to look for one because you can create your own cactus-shaped cat scratching post by following the detailed instructions below.
What you’ll need
Here is a list of the materials you will need to finish this project before getting started:
- Round plywood 15 x 15 inches thick (the thicker and heavier the better, as it gives a stable base to the structure)
- 210 feet of natural sisal rope with a 25 inch diameter
- Green color (for 160 ft. of rope)
- Glue sticks (warning: you’ll need a lot; a larger pack is preferable).
- Sticky gun
- Green aerosol spray
- powered drill
- four wood screws
- Fill the bottom third of the scratcher’s body with stones or concrete.
- Add some sweetness with artificial or felt flowers.
- 3.2 feet of plumbing pipe with a 4 inch diameter (or cut a longer one to size)
- one pipe cap
- 2 singlet shirts
- 2 90-degree elbow pipes
- 2- and 3-inch polystyrene ornaments
Extra tips
First, be ready to go through a lot of adhesive. Make sure the rope is wrapped tightly around the pipe using a lot of glue if you want the cat scratcher to last a long time.
Tip #2: To avoid turning green while dying the rope and painting the pipe, wear gloves.
The only thing left to do is to follow the illustrated step-by-step directions from the guide below now that you have everything you need, including some insider hints. Merry making!
Knowledgeable author:
Sisal Fabric and Rope
Depending on the type of style you want to achieve, sisal cloth or rope is one of the greatest options to take into account when finishing a cat scratching post. Cats enjoy the durability and satisfaction of sisal cloth and rope. After routine kneading, it won’t shred or fall apart, and it won’t appear dull and worn.
Sisal cloth softens when kneaded, chewed, and scraped but does not disintegrate. If securely fastened to the cat scratching post, it is sturdy and can withstand years of cat scratching. The colors of sisal fiber and rope include blue, red, green, yellow, brown, black, purple, and pink.
Carpet
Although the carpet will start to come away and go bare after a lot of scratching and kneading, carpet works nicely as a surface for a cat scratching post. As a result, you’ll likely need to replace the carpet on your cat’s scratching post more frequently. However, if you don’t mind a few carpet swatches missing from the scratching post, this is a good option. The choice that will last the longest is a thin, microfiber carpet because shaggier carpets are more likely to lose fibers over time due to wear and tear.
Cardboard
A cheap material choice for cat scratching posts is cardboard. It is simple to find, remarkably resistant to cat claws, and easily replaceable when needed at a reasonable price. Even by themselves, cardboard boxes make excellent cat scratching posts. On the market, cardboard is a common material used in at least some cat scratching posts. Cardboard’s major drawback is that it rips and falls to the ground as it is clawed, scratched, and kneaded, which can lead to a never-ending mess that you will need to constantly clean up.
Wood
When it comes to creating a scratching post for your cat, a good old piece of wood is always a safe bet. Wood resists deterioration well and produces the pleasing “tearing sound” that cats enjoy when they scratch and knead it. You may either create a scratching post by sawing, sanding, and nailing together a few pieces of wood, or you can just leave a block of chopped wood out for your cat to enjoy. Do your study before buying wood because not all types of wood are secure for cats.
How can a cat scratching post be made at home?
PVC pipe is used to construct this homemade cat scratching post. Hot glue the felt on the wood after placing it on a slightly larger piece of felt. On a scrap of wood, carve a circle that fits the pipe. Attach the wood circular by screwing it on the pipe. You did a nice job there if you used hot glue and wrapped the rope all the way to the top. The following materials are required: a wood round, a 3 inch PVC pipe and cap, 50 feet of rope, felt, and a scrap of wood.
How is sisal fastened to a scratching post?
Take the height (ours is 30 inches) and divide it by the rope’s width (3/8 inch or.375 inch), which gives you 80. As a result, our rope has wrapped around the post about 80 times. The diameter of our post is 12 inches. Therefore, 80 times the post’s circumference (12 inches) = 960 inches, or 80 feet. Given that our scratch post has a perimeter of 12 inches (1 foot), this makes perfect mathematical sense for us. If your post is a different size, it might not be quite as neat for you, but the math is still the same.
- Divided by.375, 30 equals 80.
- 80 times 12 equals 960, or 80 feet.
The perfect length of sisal rope for our cat scratching post is a 100-foot roll that is 3/8-inch thick.
For the purpose of cutting one row of rope, use scissors or a utility blade. You ought to be able to unravel the rope from there.
Most high-quality scratching posts will have tightly strung rope rather than being glued on, and we’ll do the same with ours.
Once the rope has been unwound from the scratching post, you might need to take out a few staples, tiny brads, or even a small amount of glue where the rope started or ended. We’ll get our sisal rope ready as soon as the post is clear.
Pro tip: Always have a vacuum on hand! When the sisal is all ripped up from the cats, it is extremely messy. You might also wish to use a dust mask if you are sensitive.
Wrap a small piece of tape, 1 to 2 inches high, around the rope at one end of the sisal.
This will assist us tie the rope’s starting point to the post and stop any fraying from the beginning. To attach the starting point to the base, I used a 1.25 screw that I drove through the tape.
You can wrap around the screw on the first time you go around the post so you won’t ever notice it.
Sisal should be fastened to the scratch post’s lowest position. Depending on the material of the post, you might fasten it using a screw, a staple, or a mix of glue and fasteners.
Once your rope is fastened close to the cat scratcher’s base, tightly wrap it around the post. If it helps, you can apply a drop of adhesive between each few rows. However, once your cat starts scratching at it, it won’t really be much use.
Therefore, it’s crucial to tightly wrap the sisal around the post. Additionally, you should press down with your hands while standing above the cat scratcher to help tighten downward against the prior row of rope.
For your sisal rope cat scratcher to be successfully re-roped, you must be tight both around and down.
To gain a better perspective to tighten the rope, I relocated my cat scratcher from where it was on the table where it was for the photos to where it is now.
Every few rows, really press downward to tighten the rope as much as you can.
When you reach the top, fasten the sisal using a screw, staple, or a combination of fasteners and glue, just as you did at the bottom. Everything is dependent on the materials you are using.
Pro Tip: When using cardboard, place a tiny block of wood within the cardboard tube, then gently screw the rope through the tube and into the wood block to secure it.
All told, it only took 20 to 30 minutes to remove and replace the sisal on our cat scratching post.
This is what I would call a simple DIY project. Take a look at Turbo relaxing in his cat perch while he enjoys the sun. He’s a good boy, like I told you, see!
I’m hoping that instead of throwing away your scratch post, you’ll think about changing the sisal on it (it only costs a few dollars) so that it keeps your furry friend content for many years to come!
Turbo needs a decent kitty post in the house to help him remain content and healthy.
He requires the post to extend his tiny legs and swelled chest in addition to scratching. He enjoys his new IAMS cat goodies in addition to his newly tied cat scratch post.
What materials do cats enjoy scratching?
- Give your cat flimsy posts at your own risk (really, your cat would also risk it).
It’s (much) less probable that your cat would even utilize a fragile scratching post or cat tower, and it could topple and hurt your cat or anybody else in your home.
Cat towers should be strong and solid, and wall-mounted scratching posts should be firmly fixed.
- Size: This is crucial, especially for scratching posts and towers that are vertical. Any poles or towers you buy (or make) need to be tall enough for your cat to get a decent stretch going in order for them to actually use them to help with their stretching behaviors. According to a proverb “large or nothing at all!
- Surface: It’s crucial to give your cat a range of tactile surfaces to scratch. Cats do not only have preferences when it comes to their scratching surfaces—some of which are pretty strong—but they can also like a little diversity. That’s the “life’s a spice, after all.
For many cats, sisal rope or fabric, cardboard, and even bare wood make excellent scratching posts.
Here you can see Mazel, a member of the Preventive Vet team, utilizing his awesome cat tree that he purchased from a thrift shop. What a win! It features a wide variety of graphics and levels. He adores it.
Make the Posts and Pads More Attractive Than Your Furniture
It’s crucial to provide your cat with a lot of scratching posts and pads, but it’s also crucial to take the easy measures necessary to get your cat scratching those instead of your furniture. Here are some tips on how to make your cat’s scratching posts and pads as appealing as possible:
- Location, location, location: Choosing the right spot for your cat’s scratching posts and pads is crucial, much like in real estate. After all, they’re unlikely to be used if they’re in a location that your cat rarely visits.
It will be far more probable that your cat will use the structures and surfaces you want it to scratch if you place them in the areas where it spends the most time.
Similar to the previous tip, if there is a specific piece of furniture you don’t want your cat to scratch, place a lovely post or pad right next to it so your cat has a better option (you can gradually move the post/pad further away from the furniture you wish to protect once your cat is consistently using it).
- Make their scratching posts and pads more attractive: Many people don’t have enough scratching posts and pads around their homes since many of the available posts and pads aren’t the most attractive things to look at.
However, there are also many finer, classier, and more fashionable cat scratching pad and post options available for you, so it doesn’t have to be this way. Here are a handful that would look great in even the most elegant, minimalist home.
There are also some fantastic, more contemporary cat towers and “kitty condominiums” that will provide your cat with some amusing perches and hiding places in addition to some necessary and lovely scratching surfaces. Look at the choices below.
Tuft and Paw has some really lovely, useful, and well-made designer cat furniture solutions that will make everyone in the house happy.
- When you notice your cat gnawing on its posts or scratching pads, reward them with praise, affection, and treats. They will be more likely to satisfy their scratching demands on certain surfaces if you reward them for doing so.
- Utilize attractants: Catnip is a popular attractant that many cats adore, so take advantage of this. You can either scatter some dried catnip on your cat’s scratching posts and pads, or you can even spray some catnip oil over these preferred scratching surfaces.
Make Your Furniture Less Attractive Than the Posts and Pads
You can take a few easy actions to make your furniture less appealing to your cats in addition to making their scratching posts and pads as attractive as possible.
- Cats have strong opinions about the surfaces they want to scratch and the surfaces they don’t want to scratch, in the same way as they do the opposite.
This can work to your benefit. Try covering the area with double-sided tape if you want your cat to quit scratching a certain piece of furniture or to prevent them from ever starting in the first place “cellophane, aluminum foil, or even adhesive tape.
Most cats dislike the feel (or sound) of any of these surfaces when their paws are on them. Only the sections of the furniture where your cat is now scratching or is likely to begin are required to be covered.
These wonderful “cat-scratchable” furniture coverings can also be used to cover the corners of your sofa, which are the areas cats tend to be most prone to scratch.
You don’t want to put anything in the sofa’s corners, do you? Simply attempt to “Use a scratching post to prevent your cat from accessing certain locations. Place the post directly in front of the sofa arm so that your cat will approach it before the sofa.
After that, once your cat has established that post as a reliable place to scratch, gently relocate it farther from the furniture you’re attempting to safeguard.
- Clean: Just as you may use the cat’s natural scratching pheromone to encourage your cat to scratch a certain surface, you can also use this method to get your cat to stop scratching areas you don’t want them to.
Use soap and water, a strong enzymatic cleaner, or even a decent upholstery cleaner to break down the proteins. Just make sure to test a tiny portion of the surface first to ensure that the cleaner you intend to use won’t damage the fabric or cause the colors to “bleed.”