When we adopted Misha, we built her a cat tree... We used two kind of
surfaces but one is not so accessible. We were lucky enough though, She
loves her tree... I'll post a picture on alt.binaries.pictures.animals for
the ones who wish to see it. It was great fun to make, and Misha made it her
property. Since she arrived in the family 9 years after the others, it
wasn't necessarily easy for her to find a place that would belong to her. So
her tree helped with that. When she wants peace, she sleeps on the top
"shelf" ... The tree also has enough carpet and high enough for her to
stretch and scratch (which she does at times)

Mia

"Meghan Noecker" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 08:11:32 GMT, (Mark Healey) wrote:


They have a cat stand that they ignore.

What surface does your cat prefer to scratch? It could be that you
need a different kind of cat tree for him.

In my house, Kira prefers rug; Maynard prefers bare wood, and Chase
prefers sisal rope and cardboard.

So, we have a tall cat tree with wood on the bottom and rug on top. We
have a cardboard scratcher toy on the floor. That takes care of
everybody. Recently, I bought my nephew a new cat tree for his bedroom
to encourage his cat to spend more time in there. It has rug and sisal
rope.

Also, something that is really important with cat scratchers. They
need to be tall enough for cats to stretch. Many of them ones sold in
stores are way too short. Some are not very sturdy, and some may be
2-3 feet high, but with the shelf design, there isn't a tall vertical
for them to stretch into when the scratch.

The best kinds are the ones that go all the way to the ceiling. They
tend to have a good 3 feet of vertical post before the first shelf, so
plenty of scratching space, and then the shelves are vert tempting
since cats like to be high up.

Other good cat trees are the ones with multiple posts. They don't have
to hook up the ceiling since they have a wide base and good weight to
be sturdy. And usually, one or two of the posts are a good 3-4 feet
high.

We used to have one of the 2 feet ones, and it moved when the cat
scratched. So, they just didn't like it.

You can entice them with catnip and other treats. And reward them for
good scratching. You can also take a water bottle to deter them from
the furniture.

I've had cats all my life, and we really haven't had a problem with
scratching. They love those cat trees and they don't have any interest
in the furniture, other than napping.


Meghan & the Zoo Crew
Equine and Pet Photography
http://www.zoocrewphoto.com