You see this thing that Tig is lying on? I call it his kitty condo. I spent quite a lot of money for it some years ago, buying it from a specialty pet shop in Montclair that no longer exists. He immediately took over the top of the condo, forcing Gracie to sleep in the tube below, but they were pretty happy in the condo for quite some time.
Then, for reasons I cannot explain, Tig suddenly became frightened of the condo. He stopped sleeping on it, and wouldn’t stay in it if I put him there. He’d immediately leap off and start licking himself compulsively. So, instead of being an expensive, but fully-used cat plaything, where they not only used it as a scratching post but slept and played on it, it became a very expensive scratching post, making me want to toss it and get a plain, $20 post since the condo’s carpeting has long since been ripped to shreds, and it looks, well, ratty.
Since Mom’s Passover visit I stopped using it as a repository for mail and other things that fit into the top of the condo. And two days ago, while carrying Tig near the condo, I put him on it. He scratched at the top with his front paws for a few moments, then exited (through the bars of the railing, which always amuses me, because he’s too lazy to jump off). I tried again a few hours later. The reward?
This.
Well worth it. I’m betting it’s been at least two years since he was last on that thing. Gracie still sleeps in the tube if she wants, but Tig was freaked out by it for years. Apparently, the kitty condo monster has gone.
Now I don’t have to spend another $150 to buy a new one. But I need to recarpet this one. I wonder if an upholsterer would do it.
Tig looks so cool.
All of my cats shunned all of the similar contraptions we eve purchased, prefering, for the most cases, our bed for 90% of the time unoccupied by eating, fighting and the bathroom necessities. The carpets usually serve as the scratchpost no matter how many various scratchposts there are in the house…
Meredith recommends a staple gun. Think that would work? I’ve also had good luck supergluing carpet, especially with gel superglue as opposed to liquid. (Long story)
Staples are bad, because they get pulled out when the cats scratch on the post. Then we step on them. Glue is good. Superglue is probably the way to go.
Thing is, I don’t do this sort of thing at all. The last thing I built or fixed was—hm, let me think—wait a minute, I’ll think of something… You’re not counting screwing in lightbulbs, are you?
I think that a carpenter would likely have very strong glue that would hold carpet to wood. And perhaps a carpenter could help with the reupholstering.
Floofy!
Pets can be funny. I had a dog that really loved riding in the car until one day she had some kind of mental melt-down. For a period of several years following the incident, she did not like the car at all and would tremble and pant if I had to take her somewhere. The last couple of years though, it seems she got over her phobia and was alright with the car once again. If only we could understand what really goes on in their minds.