Homemade cat scratcher

I feel like I should apologize to non-cat people for all the cat-related content we’ve been generating of late. This should be the last cat post for a while. (At least until the widdle snugum wuggums does something adorable!)

We picked up this cat scratcher idea from Modern Cat. That version is much more polished than ours, in fact, it’s downright cute. Ours is also too small–we need to add to it a bit. But you can see how it’s made: strips of cardboard coiled up like a a cinnamon roll, duct tape at the breaks. If you go to the original, you’ll see how they finish the edges.

Easy. Kitty likes it.

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19 Comments

  1. Our cats prefer a vertical scratcher: Take scrap lumber and fashion it larger than they can stretch out. Ours is a 4″x4″ piece of wood ft long. Then screw that on to a base heavy enough to keep it upright (we used an 2’x2′ piece of scrap plywood). Take carpet scraps and staple them onto the upright portion. Whole process takes less than an hour. We already had the wood scraps and just had to get the carpet scraps on freecycle.

  2. Im gonna have to try this for our cat. She has a huge carpet-covered tube that she loves to scratch on. (and I mean huge. Its 5 feet tall.) This might be something to occupy her while we try to make/purchase a new tube of doom for her.

  3. My cat tends to use logs sitting by the wood stove in winter, and the trim on either side of the outside door all year round. at least it’s better than the leather couch, which is now backed up against a wall.

    have you experienced sudden attacks at night when sleeping, and you move your feet or head unwittingly? I find that almost psychologically damaging, to be woken up out of a deep sleep by something (with claws)attacking me.

  4. My cat loves her Kong incline scratcher, which is a commercial one also made from recycled cardboard. The only negative thing about it is that it doesn’t really help her wear down her claws. I’ve heard that hemp rope is good for their claws, but I’ve yet to get it together enough to actually put something together for her.

  5. Hey, I have 5 cats (one is a black Halloween cat also) and I love seeing all your cute widdle baby snookims photos. Let us know how the poop recycling goes. I am seriously thinking to toilet train mine! I have a friend who had a toilet trained cat! (Fortunately it did not flush afterwards as I have heard they can get really caught up on watching the water go down the toilet.) I tried many years ago to compost but it never seemed to want to break down. Good luck!

  6. Trish, I had a cat like that, Sloopy. It would catch your first stir in the morning when you were not even awake. Yes, the terror is damaging. Sloopy would also run, really bounce, sideways, up tall and real short like a Halloween cat. Then, he would wrap himself around your ankles and spin like a kid on a pole. The horizontal scratches on my ankles were often the subject of comments from people who did not know I have a certifiably crazy cat. Ah, he was black.

    I have a precious, amusing hen, Fancy, who is often on my blog.

  7. That’s just like a homemade Sterno in a can thing I saw last month. Just make a tiny one and add candle wax and a couple wicks (string will do or braided bits of cloth) sticking up, and put it in a can. (hopefully one without the PCB plastic lining – perhaps a coconut milk can, or a cut up soda can, although those are rather thin.

  8. I don’t mind the cat posts! Besides we all know that the Cats are in charge and we just live to serve their whims! I never could get the cats to use a scratching post. Maybe if there had been no other furniture at all in the room….

  9. Our iddle widdle pooky will love one of these.

    By the way, I purchased Making It yesterday at Malaprop’s Book Shop in Asheville, NC, one of the last great independent booksellers in our hidebound state. Making It had pride of place on the “Homesteading and Sustainability” shelf, which had pride of place near the entrance. Also on the shelf were books by blog faves Jenna from Cold Antler Farm and Sharon Astyk. So snaps to Malaprop’s! Best wishes, Donna

  10. sadly, I’ve gone from lurker to commentator because of the cat posts. 😛

    I’ve spent money on cat beds. The cats much prefer a shallow cardboard box lined with an old fleece pullover or a burlap coffee sack. Places that roast coffee have lots of burlap sacks to give away.

  11. It’s possible to sift dry catnip down between the corrugations. You might need to grind it a little in, say, a blender first.

  12. Pingback: DIY Cat Scratcher |

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