Do cats actually use scratching posts?

[Hellfire]

And if so do you have any recommendations please?

[Pascha]

Anything but, IME

[FreakoidOrganisoid]

Mine use theirs.

just a bog standard cheap post, had a ball attached but they chewed it off.

[RandomMess]

Our do too and other things as well

[Goldenbrown1981]

My Cats decided on what was going to be their scratching post and they used this but nothing else in the house. Their fist choice was my husbands computer chair, which I was willing to sacrifice in order to save my settee, as it is shut away in husband cave where nobody sees it.

The only actual cat scratchy thin they will use is this
<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=i-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/images/uploads/10-17-ikea-cat-tree.jpg&imgrefurl=www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/slinks/ikeas-new-cat-treen-slingks-surreptitious-web-links-to-other-good-sites-034274&h=447&w=460&sz=17&tbnid=Nd6iVYvcivWXoM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=93&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dikea%2Bcat%2Btree%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=ikea+cat+tree&docid=8BXSlWDk9j-1WM&sa=X&ei=D6LKTqXcO8m68gPM3LyQAQ&ved=0CDYQ9QEwAQ&dur=4468" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">Cat tree

Which we bought when we were getting a puppy so they can always get somewhere high and safe

[Sparklingbrook]

Mine uses hers. I read somewhere it helps if you get a tall one that the cat can stretch to full height on. A sprinkling of catnip sometimes helps.

[Hellfire]

Thanks. As I feared then, there's no guarantees? I'm about to take delivery of new furniture so I'm happy to spend a reasonable amount on one if there's a higher chance that the little "darlings" will use it. I'm a little less delighted at the prosepect of paying out forty or so pounds from an already flagging bank balance if they won't. It looks like a cheap one might be the answer, at least that won't be too much wasted if they look at it and laugh at me.

[Hellfire]

Good ideas SparklingBrook, I'll use those.

[DontCallMeBaby]

Mine use their one improvised scratching post - a scratch mat tied with string to the bottom newel post of the stairs. But they also use the top newel post, which doesn't have a scratch mat, both sofas, and the side of our divan bed. And us, from time to time.

[bruffin]

We have a cheap carpet covered post one and she has scratched it to pieces.

[DrSocks]

Oooh goldenbrown did you get that Ikea cat tree recently? That looks like something our cat would love. As it is she resolutely ignores the scratching post (despite all attempts at spraying it with cat nip etc) and has taken it upon herself to destroy all the textured wall paper in the hall (of our rented house, oops) and is currently working on our new sofa (luckily thats ours... although of course she only likes the new sofa, not the tatty old one). Sigh...

[blacktreaclecat]

Mine use it. They also have a doormat which they love to scratch

[happystory]

Ours used the scratching post when they were kittens, but haven't since. Having said that they don't scratch anything in the house now (though they do climb trees etc which I think helps) but they still love the doormat (coir)

[Rikalaily]

Mine don't. I had one of those huge cat tree things with different levels, scratch posts and hammocks on but they never used it. They love scratching the furniture though

[winnybella]

Nope. Mine use exclusvely the sofa and bedposts (in shreds). They ignore all things bought specifically for them like furry mice to play with, basket to sleep in and scratch posts.

[alegre]

Mine do but only if the scratch post is a tall one; I've got an 80 cm tall scratch post. It's just a scratch post i.e. not one of these tree jobbies with platforms around. It did have a toy at the top but the cats annihilated it within days.

[AvengingGerbil]

Mine prefer to use pine table legs, which are now elegantly wrapped in sellotape to stop them.

[JinxAndFluff]

Not enough to justify their cost and visual impact... I reckon a couple of thick coir doormats and a rough but small woven coir-ish rug under a coffee table, that can be replaced cheaply, do the job. Having said that my old lady is way beyond stretching to scratch age.

[redpanda13]

One of mine uses the a cheap cat scratching post I bought on Amazon a couple of months age. It had a lot of positive reviews and was a great price.

Other cat is a floor scratcher so we get by on cheap doormats for him. He rarely needs to scratch as he bites his claws

[VikingLady]

Ours have an obsession with scratching wicker. We were given a wicker chair, which now has only one arm, due to cat scratch action....

Still trying to find a way of stopping them shredding the stair carpet, though.

[usualsuspect]

Mine uses the door mat

[supadupapupascupa]

they need training to use a scratching post. If they get away with scratching other things they will continue to do so. I used catnip REGULARLY to get mine onto the post and then they have their scent on it. Place it somewhere that they are not going to be disturbed too and somewhere they will pass often. Teach them it is theirs.
I wouldn't bother with fancy pants toys though.....milk bottle tops worked better for mine lol
Even when my post got shredded, occasionally they still used carpet/mats/wicker chairs etc so i don't think you can eradicate completely

[WhoIsThatMaskedWoman]

I got lovely new chairs and my approach was
A) scratching post impregnated with catnip
B) wipe orange/lemon peel over scratchable bits of chairs (just enough for cats to smell it
C) every time the cat eyes up the chairs with its claws out either shout at it or pick it up and carry it over to scratching post
D) for at least a couple of weeks make sure the cat is never alone with the furniture - unless you are in the room as well the cat has to be shut out - this ensures that the cat never gets the chance to scratch without being called on it, they won't remember that the sofa is verboten if they're free to scratch it when you're at work/asleep

Can you tell that I love my vintage Art Deco armchairs quite a lot.

[suzi2]

My last cat used the bottom stair. We just made sure and kept a couple of extra bits of carpet so we could recover that step if required. He also ripped the sofas to bits, until we got leather which he showed no interest in.

Current kitten seems to use her post a little, but is still at the "will give anything a shot" stage. that ikea tree looks fab, but I suspect it's old as I don't think IKEA do these things anymore?

[usualsuspect]

Oh and apparently he likes to use the window blinds now

[MunchingNoPickles]

Mine does we have a floor ramp thing and a cat tree, the sofa is reserved for dragging himself along underneath on his back!!