Good day! Do you have cats that , like myself, that you really dote on? Would you like to give them their very own scratching post that you diy-ed from scratch?
I’ll always remember the time I attempted to diy a cat tree sometime way back in 2010 or so…my God, it was a DISASTER. I totally underestimated what was going to be needed to undertake something that was more ambitious than I realized.
Sometimes, with these projects, it’s very important to crawl before you walk. And yes, that ‘s me telling you this. In other words, start something much more simple and master that before you attempt a bigger one…So I didn’t give up, I decided to try something requiring much less effort – a tower for my furkids to groom their claws.
Now I did have a sneaky little hack for making it work (read on…)
To the left is an actual (NOT diy-ed by me) scratching post that I own, that was given to me (yes, for free, I only paid shipping) to test and it required minor assembly. But my cats love it because it’s tall (about 40″ in height) as it allows them to stretch up to scratch, which cats love to do and should be encouraged.
They never like the short posts that much. Well, I take that back a little, younger cats and kittens like them, as they are more their size. SO it comes as no surprise when I was looking over these two short posts I had that were virtually underused, I got a GENIUS idea.
I combined them together!
You know those long metal tube shaped parts that look just like bolts, but with out the head on one end? It’s secured with a washer and nut.I had an extra one of those, I tend to hang on to lots of spare parts of random objects, which serves me well, as I never know what their other use could be.
If you’ve ever had one of those cat climbing platforms that you’ve had to assemble, you’ll notice that hey are attached with these metal parts. They have threads on each end in which the multiple cat posts are connected together.
It took a little retrofitting, ..One post is still a wee bit more narrow than the other. The metal thread part fit one but not the other, I ended up making a snip in the hole at the bottom to open up a little more space. A screw driver or awl would work too.
But that’s what it looked like! I also had to reattach the little springy pom-pom toy after having to snip it from the bottom with wire cutters. A little dab of some e6000 glue on the inside of the posts, along the rim, to secure it, ans that was it!
I realize you may not have a prototype to go by like I did, so if that’s you, no worries…the main parts you will need include:
- A square wooden board…about 14″ x 14″ is a good size…as long as it’s square and about 1″ thick for good support.
- A cylinder shaped object -at least 4-5″ in diameter…these sometimes are in the center when you buy floor rugs, if you can locate one of these, you’re golden.
- Sisal rope (home improvement stores carry it)
- Some metal thread parts
- Water-proof glue
Buddy and Cosmo kind of half-heartedly made a passing move, but overall they seemed disinterested. Blaze, our year old tortie, loves this thing! She is only 5 pounds so she has the easiest time climbing it, for one thing.
You can also upcycle an older post if the rope has gotten shabby…..why toss the whole thing when you can just replace that part?
Here is one of my multi-post platforms the cats enjoy using. Because they enjoyed it so much for its purpose, I noticed the rope getting shabby so I spent some time unraveling the messed up part. I actually took some older heavy rope and dyed it with some Rit, and restrung the posts like this:
This is yet another idea to think about if you want to jazz up a boring old scratcher. I don’t think cats care but you may enjoy the new look.
Here’s how to wrap the post, whether you’re replacing old rope or arranging it on a new one
- Start at the base of the cardboard tube, attach the end of the rope using a dab of glue. You may want to wear gloves as sisal rope can irritate your hands. Hold it for a moment, then start slowly winding the rope around the post.
- Keep winding it around until you reach the end of the post. Add another glue dab to secure the end of the rope. If you have to cut the end off form the roll, do that too.
- Allow to dry at least ten minutes.
As far as the base of the platform that the post will be mounted on…
!. Preparation – You’ll need to drill a hole in the center of the board that will be about 1/4″. I f you can locate a flat head bolt for this it will also work. After you drill the hole, insert the threaded bolt so the head is one the bottom of the platform.To keep the not/washer form sticking out on the bottom, thread the washer and not over the thread that is sticking out on top. Twist them down til the y hit the platform tightly.
2. You can paint/stain the wooden platform first. (Let it dry for at least 48 hours before finishing this project.
3. As an alternate option, since if you chose a cardboard tube, it will be hollow on the inside and a thread bolt will not work. You can apply glue toe the rim of the tube and attach it tot eh center of the platform. After the glue has cured (allow 2 days at least) you can proceed to wrap the rope around the tube as I mentioned in the earlier paragraph.
Thanks for reading and let me know in the comments if you’ve ever attempted to do something like this, how did it turn out, did the cats like it?
