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| Kitkat stretching and sharpening his claws |
One of the big adjustments I had to make with Kitkat living with me in the house (aside from the cat hair shedding and having to deal with the litter box on a daily basis) is his seeming insatiable desire to scratch all of the furniture in the house. It was so bad that he actually shredded the bottom of one of the couches at the rental house we used to reside in and created a hiding spot right there inside the sofa whenever he wants to get away from me (he sometimes hide during our mandatory cuddle time before I go take a shower haha). It also did not help that at the time when he was growing up I did not know yet how to trim his sharp claws. As mentioned, I was just renting the house at the time and it sure was an interesting conversation I had with my landlord (he owned most of the furniture - including the sofa with the shredded bottom) when it was time that I was planning to move out. I did not exactly ask permission from him that I was going to take care of an abandoned kitten (and
it wasn't exactly a planned thing either) so I was really dreading that conversation. Everything turned out fine in the end. He took the state of the house better than I anticipated but it did mean forfeiting my security deposit plus an additional amount to pay for the "damage" brought about by my hyperactive cat (it is amazing how much damage one energetic kitten can do in a year eh? ). Oh and in case you were wondering, Kitkat does have a small scratching post but I think I have bought it too late (I read somewhere that cats leave a certain scent from scent glands from their paws to mark territory) and the sofa has already become the go to place to get your claws sharpened.
Moving back to the Philippines with a young kitten in tow, I was a little unsure on how Kitkat would adapt to his new surroundings. I have wondered if he will similarly wreck havoc to all the furniture in my small apartment unit. Right after the move, it took several weeks before the rest of our stuff were shipped by the moving company so I had to buy some emergency provisions while waiting for Kitkat's stuff (and mine) to arrive. I bought him a small scratching post with a fuzzy toy on a string and he seemed content with using that for a while. I knew however that a longer-term solution is necessary.
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| The result after playing with his new scratching post/fuzzy ball on a string toy for hours on end. |
My solution? Wrap all of the table legs with
abaca (
Manila hemp) rope. Kitkat loves the texture of the surface and has so far left the sofa and our bed unscathed. The
abaca rope I used for the project is about 1/4 inch in diameter. Using only zip cable ties to secure one end of the rope and wrapping the length over the wooden legs of the furniture and finally securing the other end with cable zip ties, I was able to create an environment for Kitkat to stretch, exercise and scratch to his heart's content without the fear of getting scolded. He also likes the table leg the most since it is tall enough that he can fully stretch his body over the length. I have opted for the un-dyed
abaca rope so there's less chance that there are harmful materials that are present in the fibers (he would sometimes bite the surface also). Aesthetics-wise, I think it doesn't really negatively impact how the furniture look like (in fact I think it looks good paired with natural wood furniture).
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| The final result of "Project Scratching Post" |
This do-it-yourself project is worth considering if you have hyperactive cats that can't seem to leave your furniture alone. You can rub a bit of catnip to the surface to encourage your cat(s) to use it.
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