How To Make A Scratching Post For A Cat With Your Own Hands: A Master Class, Step-by-step Instructions (diagrams, Sizes, Photos And Videos)

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

How to make a scratching post for cats with your own hands - step by step instructions

It's not a secret for anyone that taking a cat into the house, in addition to enjoying communication with our beloved pet, we acquire a lot of responsibilities and even problems. One of these problems is known to many cat owners - torn wallpaper, puffs on curtains and upholstered furniture. This beloved pet sharpens its claws.

You cannot argue with nature: it is impossible to wean an animal from sharpening its claws, since this need is laid down at the level of instincts. To help your beloved pet and save the furniture, provide the cat with a convenient place for the "manicure" of claws, or better, a special design that will combine both the house and the simulator. And we will tell you in a step-by-step master class how to make such a scratching post for a cat with your own hands.

Of course, you can purchase the finished product at the store. There are many such products, combining everything at once, in pet stores. However, their sustainability is questionable.

Content

• 1 Why is it better to make a claw sharpener yourself?

  1.1 The cost of a homemade house

• 2 Project planning: layout, dimensions
• 3 Preparation of tools and building materials

• 4 How to make a scratching post with a house: step by step instructions with a photo

  • 4.1 Manufacturing the base frame
  • 4.2 Making a house for a cat: master class
  • 4.3 Making a hammock, where it will be comfortable for both the cat and the kitten
• 5 Related videos: DIY scratching posts

Why is it better to make a claw sharpener yourself?

The stability of most purchased structures is achieved due to a retractable stop, that is, the house will stand between the ceiling and the floor. Young, healthy, active animals will not miss the opportunity to climb on this support, which, most likely, will sooner or later lead to the fall of the structure. The supports themselves are plastic pipes, which also does not add to the strength of the structure.

In addition, such houses are intended for installation in rooms with a standard ceiling height, since the stop can be extended to a certain length. In apartments with high ceilings, for example, in "stalinkas", you cannot install such a structure, you will have to order a stop of the required height from the manufacturer, wait for the order for several weeks, and it will cost much more.

Based on the above, a reasonable question arises: why buy a structure in a store, and even pay a lot of money for it? It is better to do something yourself from building materials, while saving good money.

The cost of a homemade house

Calculating the cost of a house made, we can say that such a house will cost about three times cheaper than a similar finished design purchased at a pet store. In addition, a home-made house in terms of functionality, stability and reliability is much superior to similar factory products.

Project planning: diagram, dimensions

To make a scratching post, you must first develop a design project, prepare the necessary tools and purchase the necessary building materials.

A practical and safe design option would be to place five platforms for crawling and jumping, a rectangular house, a hammock and a small platform on top of a long post on three support posts. If there are several pets in the house, then it is advisable not to distribute the platforms evenly, since one cat, jumping on the platforms like on the stairs, will not let the other cat sleep if he decides to do it on one of the shelves.

Thus, on one base there will be three thick pillars connected by the first platform. The second platform will connect the longest and shortest pillar to each other, and the third will be placed under a rectangular box (house) and connect the main pillar to the middle one. Next, there will be the house itself, above which on the main (longest) pillar there will be two platforms of different sizes.

Preparation of tools and building materials

To create a house with a scratching post, the following tools should be prepared: a screwdriver, a jigsaw, a drill, an electric stapler, an electric saber hawk

You should also purchase the following materials:

• plywood about 12 mm thick - 2.25 m2;
• timber 50x70 - 4.2 m;
• jute-based carpet - 1 m2;
• jute rope;
• corners (for assembling a house - 15x20 mm, for fastening supporting structures - 40x45 mm, 5x20 mm, safety ones - 35x40 mm, 2 large triangular corners with a stiffener);

• self-tapping screws.

  

Any material can be used as a covering for the house and platforms. Carpet is soft, durable and durable, so we will give preference to it. As for the rope to wrap around the pole, hemp rope can also be used, but jute rope looks better and is more durable.

How to make a scratching post with a house: step by step instructions with a photo

Before starting the process of making a structure, there are several points to consider. First, determine the height of the future product. The maximum height of a stable structure is 2.2 m, so we make the highest support post of this length. To do this, we saw off a piece 2.2 m long from the bar. This will be the support pillar.

Secondly, the base for the structure must be stable. We cut a sheet of plywood into 6 equal pieces (approximate size - 750x500 mm) and take one of them as a base. The rest of the plywood will be needed to make the platforms. The preparatory stage is over, we proceed directly to the manufacturing process.

Making the base frame

1. First of all, in the platforms that will be attached below the house, we cut holes for the support pillars. We'll leave the platforms that will be attached to one pillar and placed above the house for last.

   

2. On each platform, which will be located below the house, use a pencil to make marks where the pillars are supposed to be located.
3. To simplify your task, you can make a stencil from a sheet of Whatman paper with marked on it the locations of the pillars relative to each other.
4. By marking the platforms through a stencil, you can be sure that the platforms will fit regardless of their geometric shape.

5. The first link shelf will be the largest. It can be made rectangular (the cat will easily jump from the ground to such a height), or you can cut a semicircular groove in it. The more in the structure there are all kinds of manholes and slots, the more interesting it will be for cats to climb on it, therefore we make the first platform with a large angular round manhole. In the future, we will make a wall with an entrance for the house from the cut out piece. We make the other three platforms according to the same principle: we either leave them rectangular, or use a power tool to give them a curly shape.

   

6. We make holes for the supports in the prepared platforms. In the opposite corners of the rectangles drawn with a stencil, we drill holes using a drill with a diameter of about 12 mm, then using a jigsaw we cut out the grooves for the supports. It is better to make the grooves a little more than required. Otherwise, even a small deviation of a millimeter may prevent the assembly of the structure.

   

7. We assemble the finished platforms into one structure to make sure that the supports fall into the grooves.

Next, we attach the platforms to the posts. To do this, we make marks on the posts that will help place the platforms parallel to each other. To be sure, we make marks on all sides, so it will be more convenient to screw the corners in the future. The corners that will hold the first shelf are attached directly to the posts, the corners that will hold the rest of the shelves are attached directly to these shelves. After that, we assemble the structure, that is, we screw the platforms to the posts. It is even possible not to screw the supports to a single base yet, the platforms already securely hold the structure intact.

Making a house for a cat: master class

We take pieces of plywood cut in advance as the constituent elements of the structure of the house. From one piece of 75x50 we make the floor and ceiling, from the other - the side walls and the butt. The wall with the entrance to the house is already ready - it remained when the first lower platform was cut.

We screw the corners to the side walls and the bottom and put all the elements together. Even if the box is not very flat, you shouldn't be upset, the carpet will hide everything.

We proceed to upholstery the house with carpet. We make upholstery both outside the house and inside, fix the carpet with an electric stapler.

We attach the house to a structure consisting of pillars and lower platforms. For this we use a screwdriver. You can simply screw the house to the post, but in this case, the stability of the structure is unreliable. For better stability, it is better to pass the support inside the house along the corner.

After that, we proceed to winding the posts with rope. To do this, carefully wind the rope in a circle around the pole, pressing it to the base after each turn. We fasten the rope to the post using an electric stapler.

Making a hammock, where it will be comfortable for both the cat and the kitten

Using a jigsaw, cut out a frame from a piece of plywood, tighten it with material and carefully attach it to the post. You can use a carpet to make a hammock, but it is better for these purposes to purchase a special material that is just as strong, but not so dense. To attach the hammock to the post, we use large corners with a stiffener. The fact is that this structural element is attached to only one support, while it must withstand the weight of one cat lying in the center.

It is quite possible that the cat will not sleep in a hammock, but will use it as a kind of springboard or simply play with threads sticking out of the scratched fabric. Either way, the hammock will be used.

At the final stage, we mount the roof of the house and attach the entire structure to the base. The structure is quite heavy and relatively stable, so you can attach the poles to the base using self-tapping screws. For greater stability, you can additionally attach the main structure support to the wall using a large bracket.

Related video: DIY scratching posts

As you can see, making a house for a cat is quite simple. The main thing is to have the necessary tools and materials nearby, to correctly make calculations according to the scheme and be patient.