Hey kiddos with destructive cats:
With just a small amount of recycled wood, carpet, and cardboard, you can make your cat an awesome scratcher that is every bit as good as the ones you buy.
I made a frame from 2x4’s (imagine a box made of 2x4’s at about a 60 deg. angle). Plywood back and base. Cover everything except the front of the “box” with carpet. Nail on, construction glue on, doesn’t really matter. Fill box with disposable cardboard inserts made by stacking cardboard flats, gluing with school/white glue between the layers, then cutting so that you have an insert that’s side-on when fitted to the box. When the insert is destroyed, simply remove and replace with another.
Bonus points if you have a bandsaw. I make my insert material way way too wide, and cut several inserts out of a single piece. It takes months for my cat to destroy one, and each larger stack I make can be cut into 4 inserts. Bonus!
