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!

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!

Puddy likes to go outside for a few hours a day, spending her time curled up under the trees in the shade, or on our table and chairs. She’s not very adventurous – she sometimes takes off and leaves the yard but she’s getting old (ha!) and prefers the lazy approach now. She’s never caught a bird (or come close to it) and there’s no other cats in the neighbourhood anymore so she’s safe from nature and nature is safe from her.

Well, that was how it used to be. Now nature seems to have some beef with Puddy because there are two little squarking birds who have targeted her. They sit on the wall and scream their heads off at her, ruffling their feathers, while Puddy crouches on the ground, staring up at them, chattering away.

I don’t know how it started, or when, but all of a sudden whenever I let Puddy outside, the birds are there only seconds later, squarking at her. It’s not a cute little squark, it’s a loud, annoying scream that drives me nuts, especially when I’m trying to relax inside. I end up having to go to the door and clap loudly to scare them off – but even then they simply fly up, hover and come back. Phill said he’s seen them swoop Puddy and I wouldn’t be surprised – everything about the confrontation screams “bully”.

Puddy doesn’t even try to run after them, she just chatters away with a few little audible meows in there. When I come outside and scare them away, she turns and looks at me as if to say, “Hey, I was dealing with it!”

They are worse than the crows in the morning because at least the crows stop making noises once we’re awake. These little birds are there all day long and it’s really not what I want to hear on my day off!

I’ve brought Puddy inside because of the birds, but also because I just spotted a wasp-infested tree out the front and I don’t want Puddy to think they’re something to play with. As I bent down to pick her up, I spotted another nest hanging under the outside table, which is pretty much right next to the screen door, with wasps buzzing around it, so I might get Phill to deal with that one when he gets home. Until then, Puddy stays inside.

I didn’t manage to get a photo of the birds because, surprise surprise, they disappeared as soon as Puddy came inside. I heard their faint squarking which could mean they’ve found another target. I wonder what’s going on? Are they protecting a nest? I haven’t seen one anywhere near our house that Puddy might be a threat to. Are they just bullies? It’s possible. Why won’t Puddy at least run after them to scare them away? Because she’s a wuss?

Does anyone else have this problem? I thought it was meant to be the cats scaring the birds, not the other way round!

Edit to add: Just as I went to hit “publish” the damn birds came back, squarking loudly from the wall. Puddy is inside at the screen door, chattering at them. How do I get rid of them?????