In keeping with our scratching theme, I’d like to share with you these elegantly simple and unique scratching posts that offer some different materials for scratching. Natural Scratch is a line of handcrafted scratching posts made of solid natural cork or solid white cedar wood. As we saw in the photos last week, lots of cats like to scratch on wood, so this may be the perfect solution.
Both the cork and the cedar scratchers have incredibly sturdy bases made of red cedar. The cedar post measures 32″ tall and the cork post comes in both 24″ and 32″. These posts have some really great details, designed to entice your cat to scratch, including the antenna toy made of stretchy string, and a “mouse hole” at the top. You can poke the antenna toy through the hole or hide treats or other toys so kitty will reach up to investigate and then dig her claws into the post.
The wood post is made with Wisconsin-grow Northern white cedar. This wood has a nice rough texture that cats love, plus it is very soft, so they can really sink their claws in. The company says that in all the years they’ve been making these posts, no one has ever reported a cat getting a sliver in a paw.
They sent us one of the cork posts to test, and as you can see, it is a big hit. It took a while for them to get used to the new material, but the toy at the top really helped attract them to the post. It gets a lot of use now, and although some crumbs flake off each time it gets clawed, you can barely see any wear. A little vacuuming cleans-up the cork bits. I think we will get many, many years of use out of this scratcher. And the cats especially love how tall it is, they can really get in a good stretch, as Ando and Theo are both demonstrating above.
Natural Scratch just came out with a line of horizontal scratchers, too, in both cork and cedar. They also have the string toy attached, as well as some holes that you can fill with catnip.
All Natural Scratch products come with a booklet with lots of helpful tips for training your cat to use the scratching post.
BONUS GIVEAWAY!
Natural Scratch is offering a 32-inch cork post for one lucky winner! To enter, please leave a comment on this post with your thoughts about the Natural Scratch products. The winner will be chosen in a random drawing on May 16. One entry per person. This giveaway includes free shipping to the lower 48 states. Readers outside this region may enter if they are willing to pay the extra shipping charges.
May 9th, 2010 at 8:42 am
I like the idea of it being all wood and cork, no traditional scratching materials like carpet that just gets frayed and looks messy after a while.
May 9th, 2010 at 8:48 am
My cat sure loves the stretch he gets from vertical posts. He’s been showing a lot of interest in digging his claws into real wood (he nearly put his claws into my 150 yr old desk), so the Natural Scratch posts would satisfy that need and save my antiques!
May 9th, 2010 at 8:51 am
We had to get rid of our carpeted cat scratcher last year, and this would make a far superior substitute than most of what we’ve seen so far in the stores.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:15 am
Hooray! Would love something nice like this!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Ohhh would love to have my cat try that, instead of the couch! ^_^
May 9th, 2010 at 9:16 am
What cool scratcher!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:16 am
wow these are amazing! i think my cats would really dig the new material!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:17 am
This looks like it would spark some interst from at least one of my 5 kitties! And what a great stretch too!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:18 am
i like the utilitarian look of this thing!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:18 am
I like how tall it is! My cat is a really big guy and everything made for cats seems dinky to him, so I hope it’s as big as it looks.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:18 am
I love the clean, simple look and the all natural materials. My five girls would definitely love to put these scratchers to the test!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:18 am
My cats would love this! Their current scratching post is too short for them.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:18 am
My cats would loooove the cork scratcher! It’s true, you can’t find stuff like this in the stores.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:18 am
I’d love for the kitties to scratch on this rather than my vintage furniture.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:19 am
This would be perfect for my cats, who are tall and bigger. The base looks really solid to prevent the post from being pulled over. The cork looks like it would last longer than our cardboard scratchers. Great looking products.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:19 am
I love how tall this post is, my cats’ current scratching post is too short for them.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:19 am
I also like the idea of the post being made of wood or cork. Carpet isn’t very environmentally friendly and it seems like the cork would last a very long time.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:19 am
This scratching post looks great, something Joey the red tabby sure could use!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:20 am
Oh goodness! I think the cork post would be a bit hit in our house, too.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:20 am
This is a neat idea. I like the height and use of different materials. I’d like to see it maybe painted a fun color too.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:20 am
They look great, but my concern would still be whether the wood will hurt the cat’s paws….the cork tower looks a lot gentler. Would like more feedback from people who have used them.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:20 am
My 3 guys would love to test this out!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:21 am
We’ve been using the sisal ones–have even replaced the rope a few times on the most popular one–but these look longer lived and as if they need less “maintenance.” I’m sure our three girls would love them.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:21 am
That looks like a marvelous idea, particularly the cork one.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:21 am
I found out my cat loves vertical scratchers better than horizontal ones. If we won this she’d totally make excellent use of it!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:21 am
I hate the way carpet scratchers look so this would be an awesome alternative! I like how minimalist it is!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:22 am
you all should see my cedar end table.Looks like like a piece of barn wood now.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:22 am
What a great idea! I wonder if something like that would help stop my cat from scratching up the door jambs. Carpet scratching posts don’t do anything for her, so I need to find something she likes better!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:22 am
These scratchers are awesome. My cats already love the wood in our house; it’d be nice to have a post of their own! Definitely something for which I’d shell out $50, but free is always better!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:22 am
cat scratch fever
May 9th, 2010 at 9:22 am
This is genious!! Maybe it will stop our guy from continuing to make art with our couch!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Wondering whether these vertical scratchers are heavy enough for my big Maine Coon
May 9th, 2010 at 9:23 am
I bet my cats would love this… enter me!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Oh wow! I’m pretty sure that my guys would be ten kinds of excited to scratch on this!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:23 am
These scratchers look beautiful–and perfectly shaped to nestle against the corner of the lovely leather chair that my cats have decided to turn into a scratching post. I’ve been searching for quite a while for something that would fit the bill. Thank you for telling us about this product!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:23 am
I love that my kitties would get the stretch they seem to love out of the cork post and they would give my couch a rest! Natural Scratch products
sound like the answer to our cat scratchin’ problems!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:23 am
My furkids much prefer wood for scratching. And, they love playing with bottle corks!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:23 am
My cat always scratches my ottoman and it looks hideous! By winning this she might leave my furnitures alone.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:24 am
This would certainly be an improvement over the carpeted scratcher we have, it has to be vacuumed frequently because of our fur.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:26 am
I really like the toy on the top. Neat idea! The fact that this is made from all natural materials makes this a product I could definitely support. No toxic glue or polyfibers! Woohoo!! Bring on the shredding!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:26 am
I prefer to give my cats natural materials for scratching, these are nice.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:26 am
Very cool! Never saw cork used before! I would love to see how my kitties react!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:26 am
My cat would love a new scratch post.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:27 am
Excellent replacement for my cats old crate. The cork would be much easier to clean up with the dust pan. Thanks for the good news!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:27 am
Interesting. Looks very nice. I have always had cardboard or carpet scratching posts but it would be nice to give a new post a try.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:27 am
Wow! I really like the idea of a cork scratching post! I think my cats would love the texture, and go crazy on it!!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:27 am
This could really do the trick taking the attention of our devious kitties away from our couch… and I really like that it’s natural materials, too.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:27 am
With 5 “scratchers” in the house this would get a lot of use. I think it is better than the corrugated kind. My 3 boys and 2 girls would love to give it a try!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:28 am
definitely better looking than any carpet scratcher, looks great!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:28 am
How nice looking and practical. I know my kitties would love this Natural Scratch 32″ cork scratcher.
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