The best cardboard cat scratcher is the cheapest cardboard cat scratcher

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/01/13/the-best-cardboard-cat-scratch.html

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I got one, but sent it back.

It just sat there and simply refused to scratch my cat.

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Did you apply the catnip to it?

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$8 is by no means the cheapest. We’ve bought a bunch of them at 99 Cents Only (a name which increasingly requires an asterisk; they cost $1.99).

As you pointed out, though, there is absolutely no reason to overpay for these things - the cats don’t care how much you spent, and they don’t last that long no matter how much you paid. Highly recommended.

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no, but I did threaten it with a lit match

no dice

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Well, threatening it with dice probably wouldn’t have much effect unless it has zariphobia.

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I found a large laminated cardboard piece of furniture on the sidewalk about 6 - 7 years ago. I have around 5 - 8 cats (and a friend who runs a cat rescue). For about 6 - 7 years I have been sweeping up cardboard detritus around it and happily sweeping it up knowing that that was their go-to scratch spot instead of the couch, antique lounger, speaker grills and gawd-knows-what-else. Lo-tech rules.

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This is actually the best cat scratcher pad. It is $8.76 on Amazon. It is actually 2 pads that you can reverse. So you get 4 sides…2.19 per side. Most good.

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Oh man, you were stuck using your hands? disgusting!

Also, there has to be something wrong with using kitty cocaine to manipulate cats into liking things.

I’m cheap/irritated by the idea that I should be buying something that I recycle regularly, so for our cats, I made a plywood template for our scratcher.

Any corrugated box that is big enough, gets broken down into flats, which get glued up with elmer’s, then the template gets applied, and it all gets run through the bandsaw. I usually get 6-8 at a time for the cost of glue (which, thanks to the kid “slime” craze can be had cheaply at craft stores).

If you’ve got a bandsaw, or know someone who does, it’s amazingly easy to rip out a ton of these at once.

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There’s no reason to waste $8 buying a cardboard cat scratcher. Your cat will be just as happy to sharpen its claws on a $900 sofa, and you won’t need to waste time vacuuming up all those little bits of cardboard.

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Carboard boxes work just as well and are free.

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My wife got one of these cardboard scratcher bowls for my little cat. I usually hate buying throwaway products. This stupid thing makes my cat so happy, though. She scratches it, sure, but it has also become her bed. She prefers her little cardboard bowl over any other surface or place in our house. With the possible exception of the blanket fort my daughter built over Christmas break.

https://www.amazon.com/Scratcher-Hammock-Scratch-Snuggle-Petstages/dp/B004QTOASE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1515939969&sr=8-5&keywords=cat+scratcher+bowl

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This kind of cardboard scratching pad is common in Japan. When we had cats we used them, cats were thoroughly satisfied.

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These things have saved our furniture for the most part.

This one is $6 for 2 scratchers and the cheapest I’ve seen on Amazon.
Bergan Turbo Scratcher Accessories

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