ByScratching is a very common behavior seen among cats. Although this habit tends to affect most of the vulnerable products in the home, it is generally considered a healthy habit as far as the cat is concerned. This process is mostly seen among kittens in their growing phase. It indicates the healthy growth of its claws. In reality, despite the negative consequences, scratching is simply the grooming of nails by a cat. The claws of a cat stay intact and sharp only if they are scratched somewhere at regular intervals. As it is a natural process for cats, it is always better to provide them with a specific place or object to satisfy their scratching needs. This will ensure that this habit won’t affect anything or anyone else in the home.
There are many products available on the market that are intended to provide a place for cats to scratch. Among them, the most popular is a scratching post. A cat scratching post is simply a wooden or metallic post of reasonable height and covered in any kind of rough material that is compatible with scratching. Even though you can use several materials to cover the scratching post, the rope is one of the most commonly used covering materials. But it is not necessary to buy a rope scratching post from the market. With the right raw materials and tools, anyone can build a cat scratching post with rope on their own.
Raw Materials And Tools Needed To Build A Cat Scratching Post With Rope
· Plywood with the necessary thickness
· Wooden glue
· Rope
· Wires
· Nails and screws
· Wooden saw
· Utility knife
· Electric drill
· Hammer
The preparatory phase of building a Cat scratching post
Before moving on to the procedure of building a scratching pole or post, several things need to be taken care of or should be prepared beforehand.
First and foremost, is to take the necessary dimensions. Depending on the space inside your home that you are intending to spend on a scratching post, take the required measurements.
The height of the post needs to be a bit higher than the standing height of your cat. Once you are done with the measurements, prep the plywood.
It should be noted that thick plywood is ideal for a scratching post. Try to take a plywood piece of at least 0.75-inch thickness.
Then you have to pick the right rope for your post. As the cotton rope is the most available and convenient, many choose cotton rope. But they don’t last very long, so picking would be more suitable.
There is no fixed guideline regarding the color of the rope. You can pick any color, but make sure that there is enough rope to tightly cover the post.
Building up a scratching post
There is no point in simply making a post out of the collected plywood. The post needs to have a base to stand on. It is preferable to keep the base in a square pattern.
So, take equal measurements from all sides and cut a board out of the plywood.
Then, cut a long square prism modeled post out of the plywood with the necessary height. You can cut each side of the post separately and can either glue them together or nail them together. Now trace the measurement of the post into the center of the plywood base.
Now fix the post carefully onto the marked center of the base using strong wooden glue or screw.
Make sure you have given the glue enough time and pressure to dry and set.
Once the glue dries, make sure the post is not wobbling or wiggling.
If any such instances are noticed, apply more glue to strengthen the bond. Once dried.
Usually, the plywood base is under the carpet or rug on the floor and only the post is exposed. So, cut out a piece of the carpet or rug in the shape of a pole.
Then, raise the carpet to place the post with a base beneath it and put the post out through the hole created in the carpet.
You can glue the carpet or rug onto the plywood base if necessary or if felt like the carpet may move inconveniently.
Now you can conveniently wrap the rope around the post. Make sure that the rope is wrapped tightly. Give an occasional push down to make the wrapping very close and dense.
You can use nails in between to keep the rope stay in place.
Once you reach the top of the post, you can glue or nail the end of the rope to finish the DIY rope scratching post for cats.
