oh! my! god! i need! i need!!!!!

my cats have scratched through my slipcover on my couch. i know i need to get them a scratching post, but finding one that doesn't make me gag at the sites of it has been hard.

These look like a great DIY project too. You could pick the color of carpet from scraps at a local carpet place and paint the wood the color you want. You could even play with different shapes. I kind of like the idea of a long narrow one that you hung horizontally down a hallway at scratching height...

laure: you sure said it. I like to promote the original product, but I'm always hoping eagle-eyed readers like yourself propose a DIY solution too :)

You could even just order yourself some FLOR squares for less, and then glue 'em to some wood. Swap out the square every time kitty rips it to shreds!

I have something similar to this, and my cats have been ignoring it for more than a year now.... :(

alisong: did you start them off with it on the floor first? Sometimes cats need to get acquainted with new objects on the floor. I also recommend rubbing the post with catnip. We purchased a scratching post that was ignored until we tried this tactic, and now they love scratching away on it (they still love our shag rug and FLOR tiles still though).

By far the favored scratching post in my apartment is my Ikea banana-leaf rocker (gullholmen?). Poor chair. Bad cats.

That is amazing. I need one.

i'd like to think my cat will use this, but he seems to really prefer those catnip infused corrugated cardboard monstrosities. the cardboard itself isn't so terrible looking. i kind of like how it is quasi-industrial looking, but that damned manic cartoon orange cat peeking around the obnoxious royal blue sides is truly godawful. i'm sorta lazy, but i've been meaning to make one out of wood for some time now.

also, if you want pretty scratching posts, check these out:

http://www.postmodernpets.com/cat.htm

oh, apparently postmodern pets is in the process of a year long move, so nothing is in stock. so i guess its just carpet wall squares for everyone's cats.

I'd be afraid my cats would tear them things right out of the wall.

I'm going to give this product a try ... both the wall scratching squares and the shelf. Thanks, AT.

It's a great idea if your cats obey your wishes...unfortunately, mine are only interested in destroying things I care about. :P

" . . . can be used vertically or horizontally . . . "

They're squares. With the exception of the direction of the wood grain, I don't see any difference to using them vertically or horizontally.

What am I missing?

???

I had a homemade one like this, but this is much nicer. I got some jute rug and nailed it to the wall.

Stuffing some cat nip behind the rug helps encourage kitty interest!

@Griffin:
Vertically = on wall
Horizontally = on floor

Those are awesome. We had one of those standard cardboard scratching posts screwed onto the wall through its outside holder and it was a total hit but didn't look as nice as these (though we tried and taped the sides to cover all the name/brand stuff). Though I would be afraid they'd encourage scratching of the "nice" rugs. Luckily, my cat's favorite scratching posts was cheap plastic milk crates - go figure.