While choosing a scratching post pay attention to:
- Individual needs of a certain cat – some cats like to climb and rest on higher shelfs, some just need something they can scratch and sleep on
- Compartments that cat actually uses – (a good breeder will help you figure it out) there is no need to buy a scratching post with elements that a cat will ignore. There is no fun in that for a cat and neither the owner – just bad spend money on it
- Quality of execution – well performed cat tree can serve your cat for years or maybe even its entire life,
- proper drubbing – will not pill or rip. Bad qualitydrubbing would create risk that a cat can bite off and swallow material or thread,
- shelfs and poles – made of a solid materials will not break or break off,
- good quality sisal rope and its fixing – this stands for durability of a cat tree as these are elements frequently and heavily used so they easily use up
- Stability of the structure – base of the scrathing post should have a suitable size and severity, elements should be placed evenly, entire construction can not sway or loosen in fixing points. Remember! Poorly balanced scratching post can be dangerous – fall down together with the cat hurting it, damaging something during the fall or hurt somebody !
- Cleanability – cats are naturally clean animals, but they also happen to visit the litter box or have dirty paws. It’s important that cleaning doesnt take too much time, it’s not too laborious and does not require the ability of profesional acrobat 😉
- Place where it will stand in your house – this will determine how big scratching post you can get for your cat and how many items will fit on it
- Colors and decor of the room – the fact that the scratching post is there to bring joy to your cat, does not mean that it can not be another decoratory furniture of your home
Many people who are waiting for their cat, spend a lot of time to get everything prepared before it arrives. They get the right toys, cat beds, litter boxes and other accessories that are essential for new pet. We need to remember that for our cats we are the entire world and our appartments and houses are their teritory to play. Sometimes the only one they know. That’s why our duty is to provide interesting and adventurous tasks in their daily routine. Time we spend for playing is not always enough to satisfy all cat needs and we not always have enough time. Cat tree is not only so that a cat can fix its claws instead of destroying furniture. It is also a place to satisfy instincts and needs to climb, hide, place to play and in the end also mark its teritory by scratchin.
A proper cat tree is a very important thing, that is sometimes difficult to choose. How to find the right one that will meet the need to scratch and climb (and will help to save our furniture etc.)? Is it possible to get good quality and cheap cat tree? Which one will be solid, durable and safe for our cat? Can you get a cat tree that will have only those elements that cat will actually use? Is it possible that scratching post is also an elegant piece of furniture and fit not only for the needs of the cat, but also to the appearance of the apartment?
Cat tree – what to check before you buy and what is important in Cat tree for thai cat?
Thai cats are quite lively race. They like to have fun, have a few nooks and crannies for themselves, a place to sleep, and above all comfortable vantage point. Cats of this breed get very attached to their family and want to participate in domestic activities – often as observers of everyday life. And the higher they can get – the more they see. In cattery Viosna*PL even kittens try to climb the sisal columns pretty quickly. Many people are sometimes surprised how quickly and how high they can get. Elmirka often tries to go to the top of the cabinet or door. Helen can not sleep peacefully with us in the bedroom, if she won’t get even little nap on the closet right under the ceiling. However, in the living room it happens very rare, that any of the girls tries to climb on anything other than the highest scratching post. It turns out that if you don’t have a high cat tree, you should consider that a cat may try to climb on furniture. Therefore, for thai cat you can look for even high-scrapers. Of course, you should then pay special attention to the stability of the structure. If, however, it is impossible to bring high cat trees, it’s good to give your cat a lower model, but still it should be of the highest quality.
When choosing scratching post remember what features it has to meet . Climbing on this construction is a substitute for a cat for climbing a tree. Therefore, sisal poles can not be too narrow. Usually – the bigger the diameter – the greater stability and safety (of course with a suitable base and location). The cats have more fun in climbing if you can slightly enlace the post with their paws. fixing of the string and its quality is also important, as it is an element of the main function – scratching – and is the most extensively used. The method of bonding sisal tape determines the durability and as a result – time of using.
Cats except for scratching and climbing should also have a place to sleep on a cat tree at their disposal. It would be helpful if boxes have more than one entrance, which will give the cat a greater sense of security and a better opportunity to observe the area. If the shelf to sleep is a bit higher, it is advisable that it was secured for ex with “rosette” so it has an edge that will not allow the cat to fall. Our cats sometimes fall asleep in funny positions, sometimes it happens that they change position sleeping or drag themselve lying. In few situations, Elma and Helen almost fell off the shelf. Dziabąg began to sleep on the upper shelfs of cat tree since when we got rosettes, before that he didn’t do it.
Our cats really like to use a cat hammock. Both the one hanging on the heater and the model for scratching post. Dziabąg – our largest and heaviest cat – especially likes the lair of this kind. Kittens are beginning to appreciate this construction, as they get older and gain weight. We particularly recommend it for males, which usually grow slightly larger than females, but the girls use it as well. It is always worth to individually find out what structures are being used by a particular cat before buying cat tree.
Buying a cat tree – quality, price and safety
Scratching posts from a sale
In pet stores or discount stores, sometimes you can find accessories for pets on sale – including cat trees. Typically, it refers to smaller and simpler models. At first glance – the price is low, and you cat keep the cat busy. Note, however, that the price usually goes hand in hand with the quality – the lower the price, the lower the quality. We had the opportunity to find out that ourselves.
Smaller scratching posts, which we were given or bought ourselves on a “promotion”, proved not to be resistant to feline activity. The two smaller cat trees had to be repaired several times – the shelves simply broke at the fixing. One of our small cat trees, despite some repairs, unfortunately, is not good to use anymore at all. Fortunately nothing bad happened to our cats. Toys attached on a string or elastic band to cat tree, very quickly torn off or were bitten off by teething kittens. During cat play it happened that the shelves got a little loose and while we tried to screw ot back it damaged or the thread got twisted on the fixing bolt.
After a while upholstery began to rip. Everything was difficult to clean and wash from traces of cat paws or fur. Not to mention situations where sisal rope slided off the column, because it happened quite often.
We thought that in a cattery we should have as many climbing poles to meet the needs of our cats and kittens raised. However, we learn all the time, and so we realized that it is often more about quality, not quantity.
Bigger cratching posts in ocasional praice on auction portals.
When we were looking for higher cat tree to bring our cats more joy, create a place of relaxation and fun, we tried to find a compromise between size and price. A purchase by auction portal seemed like a good idea back then. We found a cat tree that seemed big enough and that we cpuld afford back then. At the very beginning everyone (both we and pur cats) enjoyed new scratching post and we were happy that finally we have high cat playground. When we have put it all together it presented well, also because we chose it for the of color, so it matches the room. We were glad to have a few shelves and a booth so all our cats have place to sit.
But now I have to admit that I regret this purchase. We’ve been having this cat tree just over a year, and unfortunately it is already in a very poor condition. Drubbing of the shelves tears up and goes off in several places. Many little fluffs of material clogged my vacuum cleaner several times. Keeping the cat tree clean is some difficulty. Vacuuming all the hair is not always enough. Fortunately, we have a vacuum cleaner with the function of washing upholstery, so sometimes we are able to wash it. But it is time-consuming. Cats are also difficult to convince not to use the scratching post until it dries out. A washing machine is not an option because the upholstery is glued to the shelves. Unfortunately, after a few washes with vacuum cleaner and with intensive use – the material began to tear in different places, it got frayed, and there are some holes in it.
From cat games and scratching (because in the end this is a scratching post !) in several places there are sticking out single threads from the drubbing. It needs to be trimed everytime to prevent our cats from eating any. It is a very stressful thing. Threads are one of the worst foreign bodies which an animal can eat. Their detection in a clinical trial, ultrasound or X-ray (even taken with contrast) is very difficult. And the thread is able to “string” the intestines which may lead to inflammation, atonia and even perforation – when the intestine is cut open and its content gets out into the abdominal cavity .
Scratching post is high, but the manufacturer probably not quite adjusted the parameters of the base to the height. After a while scratching post no longer holds the vertical and gently leans to one side. Every time you Dziabąg chased or fooled around with girls on the cat tree, I had to be particularly vigilant, because I was afraid that the cat tree may fall dawn. For some time now Dziabączek doesn’t use this scratching post at all. I suspect that is because of the scratching post instability combined with this cat problems with vision. All this makes him feel insecure and may cause trouble maintaining balance when the shelf under his feet tilts or shakes. Unfortunately, tightening loose shelves didn’t help much.
Initially, we blamed this to intensive usage – a cattery with several cats and few kittens from time to time, is not the same as having one or few neutered cats. So size and time of seeing the damage is probably greater and faster in our situation. However, the same model of scratching post is used in the family with only one cat. After a slightly longer time, also that scratching post is starting to show the same drawbacks. It shows up a bit later, but unfortunately the scratching post is not more secure. This demonstrates only poor quality and a potential threat regardless of the number of cats – the difference is only in the time of discovering the defect .
Considering all the above problems and drawbacks I am happy that nothing ever happened to our cats. But I think we owe that to our vigilance and controling the cat trees from time to time. After a few years we have faced a situation where most of our scrapers – old and new, repaired or not – theoretically are suitable for use. creates much stress – especially with such intensive use in the cattery. I wondered what will break down next. As a result, only two cat trees were placed around the house, and the rest ended up in the basement. Some of these cat toys served for something about a year, before we had to repair something in it or get rid of it due to security of our cats. All this leads to the conclusion that they were a waste of money, which no one will return. None of them had a guarantee, so noone will repair it or help to preserve it. All the repairs we had to do ourselves, which created another costs. Not to mention problems with taking care of cleanliness and hygiene, especially when we had kittens. We wanted to have a compromise between size and price and it turned out that we didn’t save any money, but lost. In addition, we could have put our cats in danger. Fortunately, although our lack of awareness,nothing bad had happened. We learnt to draw conclusions from life lessons like this too. After all these experiences and disappointments we started to look around for a decent scratching post for our cats. One that first of all will be safe, stable, give our cats a place to play for more than just another year and maybe even will fit to the rest of the apartament ; ) The cats are in our home very important and a lot of things is madeand organised specifically for our animals. Ever since I graduated and we both work, many things have changed in our lives, including our financial capabilities. Therefore, we can afford not to save money on the expense of safety or convenience of our cats. As a veterinarian, I had a chance to see more than once how the excessive savings for owners can end up for their pet. Unfortunately, those effects were unpleasant for the animal and costs of the treatment etc. often exceeded “saved” amount even a few times. We’ve learnt our lesson and after confronting all the pros and cons – we did not look for “opportunity” on auction sites, in discount stores and on sales promotions in the online pet stores anymore. We decided to look for a professional company that specializes only in scratching posts for cats. Of course, with the improvement of quality, often the higher the pricegoes hand in hand. However, after counting the money previously spent on cat trees (which after a short time are good for nothing), it turned out for the same amount we could have bought at least one decent cat tree of a good quality that would serve us (and cats;)) for much, much longer. On the Internet, and on the cat shows we had the opportunity to see a professional cat trees mane by several manufacturers. We could then talk to the them, evaluate the quality and utility of different models and different types of cat playgrounds. See if the sellers know cats needs, how they use the scratching post, and thus what are the weak points that need special attention of it. After analyzing a number of factors, we decided to buy a scratching post from a family company called Drapaki Dla Kota,, conducted by Mr and Mrs Rogacki from Swarzędz. We knew that we are dealing with people who know what we are looking for, because they also have a cattery. Not only that, they also know the importance of the quality of cat trees, not only for the joy of cats, but also for their safety. The other advantages that they also make scratching posts specifically for individual order. Mr. Matthew was previously involved in the production of furniture, and his experience helps him make scratching posts of a very good quality, solid construction and besides that, they are just nicely designed and finished. Combined with Mrs Monica affection for cats all this is a guarantee of satisfaction for both owners and their cat. Thanks to individual approach to customers, we could say exactly what we need, what elements of cat trees our cats enjoy and which they don’t us at all. Therefore our cat tree only has those structures, which Elma, Whisper, Helena and Dziabąg actually do use. We especially liked a flexible approach to the project (also in terms of the date of execution and transport). Even at the stage of selecting elements, we could count on help in choosing their position on on a cat tree so it keeps balance. As a result, the entire structure is stable and therefore safe, and we did not have to give up any den or booth. We can also be sure that the kittens that are born with us, will be able to safely use their playground, and I will not have to constantly monitor their activities. The workmanship of both the wooden parts and upholstered items (pillows, hammock, rosettes, booth) is way better than our previous cat trees from any other shop. The one from Mr & Mrs Rogacki, doesn’t have any loose threads, and the material is durable and should not cause any problems in cleaning and everyday maintenance. And what particularly pleased me – all the provided cushions can be removed or detach and washed normally in the washing machine. Of course time and our cats, will show how much we can last without any repairs, but at first glance we know it can be for long. But if we will have any kind of problem we do not have to worry, because there is a 3 years warranty. This means that in case of any failure, we will not have to repair it ourselves. It turns out, however, that is not the only benefit of such an individual approach. Scratching post was done according to specific dimensions so it can fit in the selected room. From many patterns of the upholstery we could choose the type and color that also fits into our apartment. Additionally, we also selected wooden elements to match. Thanks to all this our cat tree has become a unique piece of furniture that decorates and completes the room – is a place for our cats that pleases the eye. Certainly this is not our last scratching post from Drapaki dla kota. So, if you are still wondering where and how to buy a scratching post – we suggest to speak with a professional company and not waste money on store sales. There are many manufacturers of scratching posts on the market but both us and our cats – we can recommend Drapaki Dla Kota. Proven and tested by the cattery Viosna*PL. Large selection of elements and designs, possibility to choose what you need and individual approach will help in selecting the perfect cat treefor you and your cat. We can help you with items that our thai cats will appreciate. Additionally Drapaki dla Kota offered to have a special discount for cats coming from our cattery (for this, please contact us). Contact to Mr & Mrs Rogacki – Drapaki Dla Kota author: DVM/VMD Engr. Karolina Kijek All rights reserved © Viosna*PL
Our conclusions from the above experiences
How to choose a scratching post – good quality and safety for cats
