Last year I got a nice present for my birthday: the making of a scratch pole for my cat. Since a year has flown by, it was time to go scratching post building.

In case you don’t know my cat yet, her name is Ginny (and you don’t ask a girl her age.)

Why on earth would you make your own scratch pole?

• To make it fit in your house.
• To make it ridiculously big.
• Because its fun & satisfying.

So, that’s what we did. The good bit about all of this is that my sister is busy remodelling her house. This means there was plenty of construction material available!

Scratching post building

It’s about 1.80 metres high, with a plateau halfway and at the top. It’s also very, very red, this is because that is what we had the most left over carpet of. It also helped that it’s not in use anywhere else in my house (to prevent confusion.)

Right now she likes to sit halfway, looking out of the window. I have to bribe her to get her up to the higher plateau, though.

Does a cat even need a scratch pole?

It’s not a requirement, but if you like your furniture, then you should consider it. So far my cat hasn’t done any damage to my furniture, so either my cat is really nice, or she didn’t manage to do any damage yet.

The other bit is that it stretches their arm, back and shoulder muscles.

Further reasons that I’ve found include

• They like scratching it.
• It keeps their nails sharp.
• They scratch it to mark their territory.
• To give it a place it owns.

Anyway, I’m really satisfied with the end result.