SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Post
by admin on Sunday, April 11th, 2010 | 10 Comments
SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Post
A sturdy wood post, with natural sisal rope wrap conditions nails, encourages scratching and will last for years. The 32" height allows cats to fully stretch, the 16" base prevents tip over. Includes tips on preventing scratching problems.
List Price: $74.99
Sale Price: $50.00
Eligible For Free Shipping
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Have your cats clawed your furniture a little? Maybe a lot? We have 9 cats, and our furniture was being clawed to the point where we had to make repairs. If the clawing had continued it would mean replacing some furniture pieces. That gets expensive!! Well, I found these cat scratching posts and bought two of them. Wonder of wonders, our cats use these wonderful scratching posts exclusively. No more damage to our furniture. Our cats love the height of the posts as they can stand and reach to claw the posts like they used to like to do with our furniture. Average height scratching posts just did not satisfy our cats’ urge to stretch tall and scratch or claw at the same time. With these posts, they can satisfy that urge to their hearts’ content. These posts may seem more expensive than the average post, but believe me, the furniture you were thinking you would have to replace is going to be much more expensive. These posts are attractive with any decor, and stand the test of use over time. I would happily buy these scratching posts again. But they are durable, and I don’t need to do that. They have paid for themselves many times over. I highly recommend them to anyone with cats who are tearing up the furniture. These posts stop that activity completely, in my experience. Give them a try, and you’ll see!
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My two cats love these posts! They use them regularly. We have three. Doesn’t tip, and the cats can stretch. For those who cannot seem to get your cats to use this post, try placing it in a strategic location. Some cats like to make a grand entrance upon entering a room, so position the post accordingly. Also, do not overdo the enticing, as cats prefer making their own decisions. These posts are the best investment we’ve made for our cats to play out their scratching instincts.
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My cats love this thing! It is tall enough for them to stretch out and scratch their little hearts out, and they climb all over it and even sit on top of it! Well worth the mony spent! And it has a wide base, so the thing doesnt even tilt when they attack it full force running full speed from across the room!
Every cat owner should get one of these for their cats. Declawing is cruel and who needs it with an awesome scratching post like this? I plan on ordering two more for other rooms in my house.
Update: June 2009…it has been three years and this scratching post is still standing. In fact, it still looks almost brand new. my cats use it daily =) HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!!!
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A quality product that can take the playfulness of an 8 1/2 pound cat. We have another scratching post that’s made of 3/8″ plywood, has a cardboard tube attached and it’s completely covered with cut-pile carpet. The “Ultimate” is made of a very heavy construction with a sisel-wrapped post. The sisel is far superior to cut-pile carpet in removing the outer layer of a cat’s nail – and cats love it.
This is a one-time purchase, as the sisel can be replaced after a lot of wear & tear. It may seem a little pricey but there’s a huge difference when you compare it to the junk you have to continually replace.
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This is a simple but well made scratching post that you need to put together. It took me literally less than 2 minutes with a screwdriver and it was ready to go. I may be lucky, but my 2 cats took right to it immediately and scratched to their heart’s content. The instructions suggested placing in front of something they are currently scratching. I did put it in front of the (NEW!) couch that they had started to go after. Now, they no longer scratch the chair, couch or mattress. I hadn’t known that cats needed to stretch and scratch and I should have had one a long time ago. They are obviously content with a place to fully stretch and scratch and I no longer worry about having things shredded. This post is worth the money and I’m happy with it.
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We bought two of these. All six cats use them regularly, though it took two cats a couple weeks to catch on. What I love most about these posts is they aren’t too hideous looking, they’re tall enough for even out biggest toms to stand full length for a good stretch, and they doesn’t topple over, which a lot of scratching posts do.
Highly recommended. Our furniture is now breathing a sigh of relief. If only we’d gotten them sooner, our new leather chairs would be, ahem, less broken in. But we just slap some Meltonian shoe polish on those scratches and call it the distressed look.
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We’re very happy with this heavy, decent-looking cat scratcher. Actually, our cat, Ozzy, is the most happy with it. And we’re happy that he lost interest in our couch and our antique rug after we got this for him. Apparently scratching posts need to be heavy so they don’t move when the cat scratches. This fits the bill. It is heavy and stable, but very natural looking so that it is not intrusive in the house.
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[...] bucks, you gotta be kidding, right? [...] BUCKS for a scratching post? Insane! However, my cat was ruining my costly upholstery and something had to be done. Over the years, I had tried various methods to discourage the cat from clawing and, frankly, was at the end of my patience.
Now, my cat isn’t some fancy “pure breed”, she came off the street and is an amazing “mouser”, which is what I needed at the time. Unfortunately, she brought with her some of her ‘bad’ habits – such as scratching & clawing wherever she pleased. It was necessary to te harmony of our little household that this single trait be contained.
I balked at spending $[...] initially; but, would gladly pay TWICE the price after having the product for an entire year. As soon as I set it up (a couple of screws and its fully assembled) my cat began using the Ultimate Scratching Post and has never returned to her former bad habits.
The product has held up well and will probably outlast both me and the cat. My advice to anyone who has a similar problem: Buy the Ultimate Scratching Post and your problem will be solved. Whoever dreamed this one up: Thanks A Million!
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I quickly assembled this post and put it at the end of my bed where lately one of my cats has been clawing the box spring. Digit went right over to the post and started using it instead. I couldn’t be happier.
The scratch-able covering is woven sisal (pronounced SIGH-sel), a natural fiber from the agave plant and, in its untreated state, is frequently recommended as the best product for cat scratchers. This covering had a few wayward fibers right out of the box and, as do all such natural fiber products, will become worse with wear. I am eager to see how fast the woven product becomes unsightly compared to a sisal rope-wrapped unit; well, perhaps eager is the wrong word here! But better this than scraggly furniture or partial-amputation of kitty toes!
Assembly is easy with a screwdriver (using my power screwdriver, unpacking the unit from its box took longer!): the base comes in two halves which are joined together with small dowel pegs and attach to the main post with screws. I assembled it by screwing one half of the base onto the post with a screwdriver (phillips or slotted), inserting the two small pegs into holes along the narrow edge of the base (easy slide-in), then sliding the other half of the base onto the pegs to form single base slab, and lastly inserting the screw through the 2nd half into the post to hold it in place. Although it doesn’t look like high-end furniture, it is a nice, clean and sturdy assembly and would look fine in many surroundings.
I would expect many cats to start using the post immediately – when my cat did and I praised him for it, he turned right around and used it again! We cycled through usage and praise several times, at which time I moved it a few feet away from the problem area toward where I want it to be for the long term. If your cat doesn’t use it at first, you can physically encourage your cat by gently rubbing his paws on it while praising him to high-heaven (make sure and start with both of you in a relaxed state).
See the end of this post for more ideas if you need them.
The website for the product manufacturer is esmartcat.com. The woman who started this company states she has a long history of working with cats and has a free cat behavior counseling service, the website of which is catsinternational.org. Part of the profits from smartcat go to this nonprofit.
Other methods of encouraging recalcitrant cats: First a warning – You must always be careful with strings and cat entanglement- if you are not at the other end of the string, don’t leave him with something that he can get wrapped around his paw or neck, cutting off circulation and seriously injuring or killing the cat. Within these parameters you can easily create a lure. Just dragging a piece of yarn or string (maybe with a toy on the end) around and over the post may be enough to get your cat interested. You could rub a bit of catnip on the post, or tie a catnip toy to it (tie the twine both around the toy and the post so it is held to it – again, don’t leave unattended dangles of string). If you have a suction cup toy, the top of the post is probaby slick enough to hold it- but since it is very tall it may be ineffective. Cat’s frequently love the plastic wrappers from large milk jugs (the part that you peel off and throw away). Tie a piece of string around the unit, tucking the caps into it so they are easy for the cat to remove. A little verbal encouragement and plucking at the toy yourself should give him or her the right idea. You might take the base off and lay the unit horizontally. Put your cat on top of it gently. Eventually we can hope that he will see how nice it is to dig his claws into it. Lastly, if your cat won’t use it and you don’t want to send it back, you could attempt to find untreated sisal and rewrap it, at least partially, with the rope. A warning – I have found it tough to find the untreated sisal (or, at least, any that people are sure is untreated).
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After reading the reviews and losing all of my security deposit (and then some) from my last apartment due to my cat’s constant scratching of the woodwork, I decided to try this item. I really had my doubts about my luck with it as my cat can be very fussy about being directed to do anything like where to scratch. At 1st, as some dissatisfied users reported, my cat showed absolutely no interest in the post. When he would scratch the woodwork, I would place him at the post and he not only showed no interest in the post, but even retracted his claws as a further insult.
I thought “another waste of money.” Then I remembered that one of the posts I read in the reviews was from a lady who had the same disinterested reaction from her cat and who enticed her cat to scratch the post by teasing the cat with his favorite swinging cat toy on top of and around the post. Feeling I had nothing to lose, I gave it a try and I simply couldn’t believe it. The cat dug his claws deep into the post while swatting at the cat toy and the rest is history. He became so interested in the scratching post that he forgot the toy. Afterwards, he tried to scratch the walls only a few times and just saying “no’ sent him to the nearby cat toy. Another good recommendation I read was to place the scratching post near where most of his scratching behavior usually takes place.
I also want to comment on how sturdy this item is. It only took about a minute or so to assemble and is solidly constructed and not likely to tip over. I have a huge Ragdoll cat over 20 pounds of muscle and he hasn’t knocked it over yet and he vigorously uses the post now. Sorry for this being so lengthy, but I hope it can help someone who, like me, was a sceptic and at first thought this isn’t going to work. Thanks to whomever posted the hint about using the cat toy to provoke interest in the post. You saved me a lot of heartache.