A cat scratch post is the second thing you should buy, after a litter tray. And third in line to the cat. Unless you have one – or several – strategically place around your home, you’re going to be a rather sorry owner of shredded carpets, curtains and general cat graffiti.

All cats scratch. Without exception. Hoping your cat won’t scratch is like hoping that all socks will come out of the washer as they went in.

In pairs.

Cat Scratch Post

The good news about a cat scratch post is the fact that’s there’s hundreds of different styles – from plain and simple to what amounts to a cat condominium. Depending on your pocket, and/or whether you like to demonstrate that your cats’ got the latest thing since catnip, you’ll be surprised at the choice and availability.

I always invested in scratching posts, despite the fact that I lived in a rural area. No matter how many trees were in my garden – or the neighbours/street/field across the road - my Bengals always made as much use, if not more, of the three scratching posts I had around the house.

Or rather, two. I screwed one to the wall, just outside the back yard door. The other two were in the house and at the top of the stairs respectively.

I lost count of the times that I watched my cats playing out, usually close to or even in trees – when they’d run over to the post for a good old scratch.

Regular trees and shed walls weren’t good enough for my boys. They had personal cat scratch posts. Unlike their feline enemies - namely anything unfortunate enough to live close enough to be tormented by mine - who obviously had to mend and make do.

Scratching Posts Varieties

So saying … cats will use scratching posts if you give them the opportunity. More so if you discourage them from clawing everything and anything that they shouldn’t.

As with many things beyond our control, cats will always do the opposite of what we want, unless we provide them with the means of knowing what is – and what isn’t – allowed.

None of my Bengals did anything above the odd sneaky looking-my.way-just-to-check-if-I-was-paying-attention … paw patting. But that’s because they were trained not to scratch at will or where they will.

I used two types; the ones that are plain, simple and just screw to a wall and a free standing tree version. Their preference was the wall fixed posts. They tended to play and torment each other on the tree variety.

Having said that, whenever I was down at my local pet store, I was always half tempted to buy the rather fantastic looking mega-posts, the ones that have cool toys hanging off them, places to sleep and so on.

Generally – and depending upon the size – cat scratch posts are manufactured to withstand your average everyday cat behaviour:

• Scratching (obviously!)
• Attacking
• Playing
• Climbing
• Clambering

However . not all will stand up to much above a flick of a feline paw, so do beware. Despite the price tag and appearance of strength, some scratching posts are less then useless, so do be careful what you spend your money on. I honestly believe one of the best varieties are wall mounted ones. As well as the cheapest.

Buy The Right Sratching Post - Not The Cheapest

When buying one, have a good look at it; don’t just buy one because it looks fun. Cats are pretty good at amusing themselves regardless of whether they’ve got the latest, biggest or best cat scratch post to boast about. Also, the type that are covered with sisal are the more durable, in comparison to carpet covered ones.

In conclusion, any type of cat scratch post is better than clawed furniture, scratched table legs and the worst kind of cat shredding … your nerves when you discover he’s demolished the hem of your new curtains.