Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Light scratching post for heavy cat

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IKEA items used:

Other items used:

skogsta bar stool

Photo: IKEA.com

Our former scratching post was a bulky, borrowed tower, and when that returned to its official owner, our own bulky cat Yen San had nowhere to sit in a high place and rule the room.

Because most scratching posts are either too flimsy (for the 5kg cat) or too bulky (to my taste), I decided I wanted to find a more simple, yet strong solution.

Since a bar stool can easily hold the weight of a grown-up, a cat should be fine, and the shape and price of the Skogsta bar stool were ideal.

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Made the SKOGSTA stool according to IKEA instructions, and added the TEJN as a soft top. The first idea was to add an edge to the stool (prototype with cardboard), but this idea was dropped later.

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The TEJN is tied around the seat with rope, not stapled to it, so it is easily removable to wash.

First reaction was great, but the seat was a little too small to lie on for the cat, resulting in some disappointment. Luckily, this was easily solved by a quick trip to the wood shop. Our cat was very interested in this whole process, checking every screw and rope.

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Talking about rope, it wouldn’t be a scratching post without some sisal rope. First try was with thin rope, but eventually I went for the 8mm to add some volume and roundness to the leg, attached with nails, and some glue from the glue gun for the frayed ends.

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Doesn’t take up a lot of space, can be moved around quite easily, and most important, was loved by our cat, who, as a sad end to this story, was hit by a car and passed away this February.

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~ by Fransje

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