I bought a scratching post for my little cat. It’s covered with carpet, and a section of it is wrapped in sisal cord. But my cat refuses to use it. I have never once seen him use it. It even has a little fuzzy ball on the top attached to a spring coil which flaps back and forth; I saw the cat bat it around, once, but only after I started it going for him. Not only have I not seen him scratch the post, I haven’t even heard the sound of him scratching when I’m in other rooms.
Does my cat just not like scratching posts? He sure as hell likes scratching the carpet right outside my bedroom door, so I know he likes scratching.
If I put catnip all over the post, would that make him scratch it?
Maybe he doesn’t realize what it’s for. My cat was that way so what we did was sit there in front of it with him and run his paws down it a few times. He eventually got the idea and now loves the thing.
If he’s old enough (over 3 months), I would say yes, try rubbing catnip all over it. They also make catnip spray if you want to get fancy. That should get his attention.
Your cat may be retarded. Try moving the post to his favorite place to scratch and see if he doesn’t make the conection vis-a-vis Helen Keller style.
Or it could be he’s just fucking with you.
Your cat is a cat. Not doing what you want him to do is in his job description.
I bought one of those scratching pads that are made out of cardboard/corrugated fiberboard. Apparently every other Doper cat loves to scratch these things. MY cats have scratched it a couple of times, but they will more commonly use it as a bed. My husband’s cat Charlie, in particular, has claimed it as HIS bed and will spend a lot of time lounging on it. All three cats use the regular scratching post, along with the couch, the chair, the ottoman, and in Charlie’s case, my husband’s left shoe while my husband is wearing it.
We ended up replacing the carpet stuff on our scratching post with some upholstery material, because our cats wouldn’t use it. After all, they never did go much for scratching on the carpet. They preferred to use upholstery, via the sofa, chair, etc.
They didn’t have ANY problem using the scratching post after that.
I have two cats – one uses the post and the other doesn’t.
Is the post secure enough so that it won’t move if the cat scratches it? If the post wobbles, a cat won’t use it. “OMG! It’s fighting back!” My post has a flat base, and a corner of the base is under a heavy table so it won’t wobble.
Like AuntiePam says, those post that aren’t secure aren’t as attractive to a cat as carpet (that stays PUT) is. A post that gets pulled over by the cat will scare it off.
My cat would never use one, and I spent tons of money on more and more expensive scratching posts in hopes that he would eventually find the one he likes.
The key seems to be that my cat prefers to scratch horizontally. He didn’t like any of the vertical scratchers. I think it’s a matter of trying different things to see what weird preference your cat has.
We’ve tried various types of scratching devices, but the little softies always go back to the rough cedar door frames. They last a long time (though the giant kitty is going through one with lightning speed) and you just have to vacuum up the shreds they leave behind.
Yeah, it’s not perfect, but it’s also not upholstery. We consider ourselves lucky.
Like delphica, I bought a fancy sisal scratching post (finished wood ends, heavy), but my cat wouldn’t touch it, whether it was oriented horizontally or vertically. I found she really loves the plain ol’ corrugated cardboard scratchers. The standard horizontal ones tend to move around, but I found a ramp-style one something like this: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751866
The one I bought has a plastic base instead, which offers quite a bit of grip on carpet. It also uses standard horizontal pads as refills. I’ll see if I can find a link to the actual product.
The only training tip I have is: If you can catch your cat **in the act **of scratching where he’s not supposed to scrach (corner of furniture, forbidden carpet on floor, etc.) then you can pick him up and carry him to the scratching post. Put his paws on it. Maybe even squeeze the paws gently so the claws come out and then hook them into it.
Doing it right when the cat is in the mood to scratch and using a forbidden place is key.
If you’re home all the time and can catch him in the act AND he’s friendly and doesn’t mind being handled like that AND he’s not dumber’n’dirt, then there’s a good chance he’ll get the idea. YMMV according to those variables.
Also, some cats seem to really prefer horizontal surfaces instead of vertical. I have a declawed Maine Coon (no flaming, pls. he was declawed when he was found, lost & hungry) and sometimes he goes to a big old tree root in our yard and mimes sharpening his “claws” and stretching his back. Doubt he’d be interested if that root was more vertical. Maybe try a horizontal scraching pad for your cat?
Echoing everybody else, individual cats seem to have weird preferences for how they scratch. I tried sisal posts, cardboard scratchers horizontal and vertical, a big tough fabric mouse-shaped scratcher, and my cat wouldn’t touch any of them, despite the catnip I poured over them and me rubbing his paws on them. Then I bought a tall vertical carpet post and he assaulted the thing literally the second I put it down.
One thing I don’t see mentioned is that you also need to prevent access to whatever he usually scratches in order to encourage him to scratch the new item. My cat always used to go for couch corners, so I got those sticky paws strips. He stopped scratching the couch, I removed the strips, and he hasn’t gone back. If he scratches an area of carpet, how about getting a plastic bath mat to cover that area?
My cat had to be trained to use it, which she did quickly.
She put her claws on the sofa and I walked over picked her up, looked her in the eye, shook my finger at her and loudy said “NO.”
Then I walked over (still carrying her) over to the post and put her down. I put her claws on the post and showed her what to do. Then I picked her up and said “Good kitty.”
It took her twice to get the idea.
Also look into something like a heavy wicker ottoman. I had a cat I trained to use this instead of a couch. I got it on the cheap from a thrift store and the cat loved it.
Like others have said a scratching post must not move or the cat probably won’t like it.
Just another voice chiming in with the refrain from “The Rum Tum Tugger”:
I got my cat one of the circular horizontal kinds that has a corrugated cardboard pad. He lurves it! Unfortunately, he’s got a several-pads-a-month habit (plus there are pieces of clawed-up cardboard every-freakin’-where), so I thought I’d wean him off cardboard. No dice. He had no interest whatsoever in a horizontal sisal pad, nor in the sisal pad when I hung it on the corner of the chair he sometimes scratches.
I will say, though, that unless we let the pad get too far gone before replacing it, he does scratch it and not the furniture.
Something else to consider: location. My cats like their posts out in the open along their typical walking routes. We tried putting the posts in a corner so it was out of the way. They were ignored. For whatever reason, the posts need to be conveniently (for the cats, not the humans) placed.