I got my cat a new scratcher, how can I explain to her to use it instead of the furniture?
It's called a Turbo Scratcher, a circle of replacable cardboard with a ball that rolls around the outside. She loves playing with the ball, and all of the other cats I know love the toy and all of them know to scratch it. How can I get mine to?
Sprinkle catnip on it.
Turbo scratchers are fun, but if she's scratching the furniture... she's probably going to continue until you get her a scratch post that is vertical. The turbo scratcher is not going to let her stretch the way a traditional scratch post (or your furniture) does. Get a nice TALL post... one where she can stretch as far as her body can possibly go (at least 3ft for most cats). Building it is your best bet, as the stores typically sell ones that appeal more to people than they do to cats. A 4x4 post wrapped with sisal rope and/or carpet, mounted to a nice sized plywood base is all you need. Make sure it's not easy to tip over.
Since the turbo scratcher scoots around on the floor, and allows her to stretch only horizontally, she probably won't be terribly interested in using it as an alternative to furniture. If you want more info about good posts, feel free to email me. I've made many for my cats and can help you choose a good one even if you're going to buy it. :) Good luck.
