by Tawyna and Amanda, professional cat ladies

Every kitty loves to flex those toe pads and mark their territory by scratching their favorite scratch posts. These favorite posts can come in the form of corrugated cardboard, a stand-alone carpet post, a sisal door hanger, or your vintage couch. As cat owners, we’ve noticed one thing that all scratch posts have in common… they’re expensive!

So here’s a little information on how to create your OWN scratch post… from scratch! (pun intended.)

What do you need?

That will depend on how crafty you want to get. Popular materials are sisal rope and carpet. And more sisal rope. Check out the photos below: an Ikea cube with a bit if sisal rope glued on, a folded length of cardboard with carpeting, a couple of wine crates with sisal rope. (If you don’t already know, sisal rope is a cheap natural twine you can get at Home Depot You can glue it in place, or tack it with small nails). It’s just that easy.

We like this quick carpeted tunnel. And there’s a how-to video!

Martha Stewart makes it look easy by literally screwing a branch onto a board. Dang!

Of course, you can also build your own completely average, store-bought-looking cat post if you have a table saw. You will need some sturdy materials for the base and post, such as plywood, particle board, or PVC pipe. Depending on how many tiers you want your post to have, you’ll need one piece of wood or board for the base, and at least one chunk of wood or pipe for the tower. Hit up your local hardware, DIY, or home re-useables store for good material. For the carpeted part, check out your local carpet store for scraps and roll ends. You’ll also need a drill, carpet knife, and staple gun, as well as wood screws, heavy duty staples, and/or wood glue. Look here, here, here, and here for ideas, plans, and step-by-step guides!

So go forth, and wrap all manner of objects in sisal rope! Make your cats happy! And send us your photos: we’d love to see (and share) what our readers come up with!