SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Post – Beige, Large 32 Inch Tower - Sisal Fiber, Simple Design - For All Cats

These are the best scratching posts! They look nice and last many years. We have several cats of different sizes and they all get a good scratch at their preferred height. These arrive flat packed, but are easy to assemble and very sturdy. The sisal is tighter and stays in place and is so much nicer than the usual stuff out in stores.

OMG - Insanely good and sturdy. OK, now for why I say that. I used to have a huge carpet covered cat tower with a pagoda type house on top (still have it, just not in the living room any longer). First thing each morning and thru out the day, my indoor/outdoor (ie has claws) female cat would just shred the daylights out of it. And there would be plastic strands sticking out all over so every month or so I had to give the cat tower a "hair cut". Finally it looked so bad I moved it out to the porch. Which started Ms Claws (Tootsie) going after a couple of recliners, and (her favorite) the wicker shelving in the bathroom. I needed a scratch post for inside.I looked at ALL of them on Amazon. I read HUNDREDS of reviews. While sisal covered things never excited Tootsie, it became obvious any scratching post with carpet would be quickly dispatched to the dump once she laid into it. So sisal it would have to be. Then everyone said having the post be tall enough so the kitty could stretch was very important. Made sense to me as she would stretch out on the wicker shelf unit in the bathroom before reducing it to rubble even further. So I found this one. Kinda pricey I thought but at 32" high, it was the tallest one on Amazon. And reviewers said it was sturdy (don't need some tippy piece of crap).So I got this cat scratching post. And some of the catnip spray that some reviewers used to entice kitty to like the scratching post. And I got a dealie bob that is covered in sisal to hang from the front door knob (hoping she'd scratch that to go out rather than the trim around the door) (that hasn't happened yet).Before we see how it worked, let me tell you how it's built. I come from an engineering background as does all my family. So I can recognize sturdy and well built from cheap piece O crapola. Ha! Even tho it said it is 32" tall, it doesn't really register until you see that it stands taller than the bathroom vanity. The base is 16" x 16" which others have said gave it stability. They are correct. And then if you look real closely at the base of the sisal part you'll see some molding that rings the square vertical post. Because that part is screwed firmly into the vertical part covered in sisal, it increases the stability factor a great deal (someone was thinking when they designed this). The wood surfaces have a nice finish on them. It's a nice nuetral color overall so will match nearly any decor. Oh, and the sisal covered part is approx. 6x6" so quite stout compared to a 4" cardboard tube with carpet stapled to it. And it is bombproof.I first tried squirting the catnip spray on it. Meh! says the cat, the wicker shelf unit is more fun. Then I take the peacock feather that I use for the "behind the bathroom door" game and wiggle the eye end of the feather up by the top of the post. Tootsie sees it. She crouches. She wiggles her butt in the pre-launch stage. Then she LEAPS up, landing clinging by front and back claws to the upper part of the post, nailing the feather and hanging well above the floor. Whoa! and the post didn't even wobble or jiggle or lean. Ninja Kitty made a flying leap and the post just sat there, all nice and steady. After a few rounds of flying kitty onto big tall sturdy scratching post, she got the idea that THIS was the new Scratchable of Choice. And it is definitely tall enough that nearly any cat (even the Big Boys) can get a good long stretch - fully extended my cat doesn't reach the top.I did read that the same company makes a shelf that can be screwed on top for your cat to lay on ($15.99 elsewhere on Amazon). But that person said they thought you could as easily make a better one by taking a piece of board, putting foam on it, then stapling fabric of your choice over that. While that is true, I figured what is the real chance of me doing that? (like in the next 5 years - let's be real - not very big). I don't really need a laying place on top of this but just thought I'd mention the options because others might like that. What we're doing now is I put one of her toys up on top of the post. She sees it up there sometime during the day, and has to leap up and cling to the top of the post so she can knock it off. Then later I find it and put it back on top. You get the picture.Anyways, this gets a 2 thumbs up as a big beefy cat scratching post. Oh, and another side note: My Maine Coon kitty (Cassie, built like a tank - a biiig girl) who had no front claws when I got her - she also likes to "scratch" and stretch on this sturdy post. So she can lean her big self against the post and remains rock solid. Love it!

Does Your cat Scratch furniture? Well this scratching post will solve that issue, our cat Douglas developed a habit of scratching the corners of beds and couches and we tried cat tape, tin foil and all the tricks but nothing worked until we bought this tower, it's tall enough so that he can stretch really well and is pretty sturdy, we've had ours for about a year now and it's still holding up, his claws never get snagged and won't leave strands on the floor overall a great price too especially now that Douglas has completely stopped clawing at furniture and prefers this post now, the only thing I can think of that is not ideal is that it does have some pretty sharp corners for the platform and base and stubbing a toe on it doesn't feel the best.

Mannn, listen. I spent so much money on cat scratching stuff just to get these guys to stop messing up my couches. They wouldn't even touch any of the other stuff!I bought that cardboard scratching thing that's low to the ground, cuz I saw them occasionally going to town on my carpet.. they used it for all of 2 weeks and they got bored of it. Then I bought one of those Walmart cat scratchers... Once I assembled it and saw it, I knew immediately that it was gonna suck cuz it was so small. How the hell is my fat cat supposed to hold onto a tiny little stripper pole with his claws like that? I rubbed it all over with cat nip just to make it extra sexy for them but they were like "nah thanks. It's garbage... but I'll swat at the little toy bird that sits on top of the stripper pole once in a while."I then bought this cool looking decorative cat scratcher that you attach to your wall. It's like a flat one that goes flush against your wall. It looks really pretty but the cats don't give a damn, no matter what smelly stuff I smear on it.Finally, I ordered this fine piece of cat equipment!!! It was like a cat scratcher made by God! As soon as I assembled it I knew this was it. This thing is HUGE and STURDY. I rubbed it all over with cat crack, and my 2 boys got stoned and just laid at the base of it. So, I was like "nah you're gonna be scratching this" and I picked one of them up by holding him under his armpits. I remembered that I noticed that they had a "push off" instinct. What I mean by that is that when I brought my cat close to the wall, he would push off with his feet. So, I figured maybe I can use that to get him to connect the dots. I brought his stomach close to the cat scratcher. I approached the cat scratcher from one of its corners cuz I wanted him to use his claws and something intuitively told me that the angle that his little arms will be when trying to push himself will be just right to make him try to rely on his claws.So I tried that and Bam!! He locked on! Haha! I knew this was it! Then I gave him like a million scratches. I repeated this a bunch of times and also started rewarding him with treats.He has been scratching HECK out of it ever since. He seriously murders that thing now. The material is holding up well so far. I've had this thing for a month now and I'm only noticing slightly more fabric strings sticking out. No major damage yet.(I just gotta figure out how to get the other guy to start doing it too.. Right now I'm just hoping that the "copy cat" stereotype is true)