Remember how I mentioned Phill and I were going to try to make some cat furniture? Well, don’t get excited … we didn’t. Yet. But there’s a reason for it – on Sunday morning we were at his Dad’s house and I mentioned that Puddy had ripped up her scratching post and we were going to try to make a new one. Phill’s Dad looked at us like we were crazy and said, “Why don’t you just take one of ours? We’ve got heaps.” (It’s true … they have two cats living in the house and a gazillion scratching posts of all sizes and shapes.)

This thought hadn’t actually occurred to me, so I was surprised at the offer. I readily accepted, thinking it would be much easier than making one (okay, so I’m a little lazy!) but I was extra surprised when he pointed out the one we could take.

This one:

The massive, near-new, expensive, gourmet scratching post/cat furniture.

My first reaction was, “Are you sure???” and the second was, “How on earth is this going to fit in the car?”  I could hardly believe it – this thing didn’t exactly cost $20! We managed to get it onto the back seat and we drove it home excitedly, wondering how Puddy would react to it – after all, it’s  pre-owned and it can be very hard to convince another cat that it’s for them when they can smell the old owner all over it.

We took it out in the garage and brushed at it to get all the white fur off. Remember Isha? Yup, she was the old owner. Don’t worry, she’s happy and healthy – she just stopped using it like she used to. Anyway, once we’d got as much of the fur off as we could, we brought it inside and let Puddy investigate.

Sniff, sniff, sniff… what’s this? Who can I smell?

We put a couple of her toy mice on the platform so she’d feel a bit more familiar. The feather toy in the top perch is also hers, as are the treats in the metal bowl attached to the perch. The dangly mouse came with it.

After a little bit (and much more sniffing) she investigated higher…

And higher…

And higher!

So far so good! She’s being cautious, but is obviously very interested in this new toy. Phill was playing with her yesterday, dangling her mice through the tunnel, and she kept bolting through it to get to the mouse. I’ve caught her batting at the dangly mouse, yanking it towards her (incidentally, I wonder how long the dangly mouse will last?) When I got home from work today, there were little bits of fluff all over the ground – telltale signs she’s been scratching at the carpeted posts.

I’m thrilled (and still in shock!) that we managed to get such an amazing piece of cat furniture for free!

We are still enthusiastic about trying to make a basic scratching post, but now those plans have been put on hold for a little bit, since we’ve now got this new addition, plus her old scratching post which she still uses. It’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?

In May 2009 I bought Puddy a brand spankin’ new scratching post for her birthday and hoped she’d use it, since she’s so unpredictable when it comes to cat toys. Luckily she did use it – in fact, she used it to death! Within a matter of months, it looked like this:

She’d completely ripped the top bit to shreds, revealing the cardboard underneath. She still seemed content with it for a while, so I didn’t buy her a new one, but recently she’s begun scratching at the lounge suite – something she’s never done before – so I took that as a sign that she’s given up on the scratching post and that means it’s time for a) a new one or b) me to fix the old one.

I figured, why not, let’s try to DIY fix this thing, since a new one will cost upwards of $50. I took it outside and put it on the table so I was at eye level. For the first real time, I took in the complete damage and geez, she’d gone to town on the post! The cardboard was even scratched up a little and I felt a twinge of guilt for not fixing it earlier.

First things first – I grabbed a pair of scissors and chopped off all the ripped material and rope. The top half of the post had actually been covered mostly with fur (the fur you can see up the top) and I think Puddy prefers the rope because it’s easier to scratch, but the rope bit was too far down for her to get a good grip. I decided for this reason, to wrap some rope around the top half instead of replacing the material.

Much better. Pulling off all the ripped material and rope revealed just how scratched up the cardboard was. For some reason, this picture makes me giggle when I look at it – it sort of looks like the post has a bowl-haircut.

I wrapped rope (fluro green, unfortunately that’s all I could find, but I don’t think cats care about colour) around the post, tightly winding it so it would be secure when she scratched. I glued both ends but didn’t glue the middle as I figured the tension would keep the rope on and if I found better rope later it would be easier to remove. And whola – the finished product:

But wait – there’s a cat in the picture! That would be because, the instant I turned away to grab the camera, Puddy jumped up on the table and grabbed the post, claws out. I’d tied a spare bit of rope around the top of the post to keep it in place while the glue dried – this will be removed later (so she won’t actually be able to chew on the rope), but as you can see, the bit sticking out proved to be a lot of fun for Puddy. I love the ears back – she was concentrating very hard!

I guess even though it’s a fugly colour of green, Puddy is pleased with her new and improved scratching post … and hopefully this means the furniture will be saved from her claws!

Phill and I are actually thinking about going out this weekend and buying some wood to make some cat furniture! We’ve been looking online at some simple plans and there’s a few really nice designs that don’t look too hard to make. Have you made your cat furniture? Heaven knows it’ll be cheaper than buying it!

I absolutely feel like Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk right now, because last night Phill came home with a present for me – an amazing magic bean with a secret message! Well, I must admit, it’s a regifted gift – Phill got it from a customer who bought them to give to his clients, but this one’s secret message was “With Love” and, well, that would just be awkward.

Sliding off the (slightly battered) case reveals a beautiful wooden box.

The lid isn’t properly on – WHY don’t I notice these things until after I’ve taken the photo?? Anyway, the first thing I spotted was the secret message spoiler – I thought it would be something that emerges after planting, but evidently the Amazing Magic Bean people want you to know your secret message in advance. I guess that’s a good thing – you don’t want to accidentally give someone an inappropriate message.

Anyway, here’s the contents of the box: “special” soil, bean and instructions.

The bean also spoils the secret message, because written on it is “With Love”. I guess this was never meant to be a secret afterall.

Okay, so the instructions are pretty detailed for something as simple as planting a bean. First of all, you grab the wooden lid, turn it upside down and place the box on top of it. That’s pretty cool – the lid becomes the base. Then, open the special soil and tip 2/3 of it into the box. Next, get your magic bean and put it in the middle of the soil with the black stripe facing downwards. You can *just* see the black stripe at the base of the bean in the above photo.

Cover with remaining soil and whola, the magic bean is planted! The instructions say to lightly water it every two days. You just want the soil moist, not overly wet. In 7-10 days, my magic bean will sprout! I’ve just got to keep it in a well ventilated place, remember to water it and, of course, not let the cat tip it over or eat it.

I will report back on my magic bean’s progress – I don’t exactly have a green thumb, but there’s no way I can mess this up, right? Well … we’ll see.

Occassionally the snuggly, fluffy thing I like to curl up with (Puddy) needs her own snuggly, fluffy thing – a huge toy dog that came to visit when my brother stayed with us for a while. It’s massive and so incredibly soft, so I wasn’t surprised when I came downstairs to find Puddy half on it, chin resting on its tummy, drifting off to sleep.

Of course, in taking the photo I managed to disturb her enough to get the pointy-eared reaction, but she quickly closed her eyes again. I don’t blame her – that dog is really cuddly!