Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Cat scratching success

Training a cat to claw where you want her or him to and nowhere else is quite a satisfying accomplishment. With many cats, it happens very quickly because, for whatever reason, they are able to understand that Natural Scratch is just for them and is the one place they can scratch with abandon and with the hearty approval of their human companions.

I don't think coming to this realization is a matter of intelligence. Two of our three current cats--Twinkles and Gemini--were immediate Natural Scratch clawers and haven't scratched anything else in years. The third, Leo, is probably smarter than the other two but he was harder to train.

It wasn't because he didn't understand what Natural Scratch was for or that he didn't like clawing it. What bugged him was being restricted to just one approved target. Leo wanted to scratch anywhere, anytime. To him, Natural Scratch was fine but so was the corner of the futon.

Nevertheless, through a combination of rewards for clawing Natural Scratch and negative conditioning--cat jail--for targeting anything else, we were able to train his bad scratching habits out of him. If you have a cat like Leo, Natural Scratch and its easy-to-use training method is just what the doctor ordered.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Cat scratching aha!

One of the fun things about Natural Scratch is training a cat to use it. This puts humans in touch with their pet or pets in a way they might not have experienced previously. Training *is* communication and communication of a fairly complex thought: you are permitted to claw this and nothing else.

Cat behavior always falls under a Bell Curve so some cats come to this understanding almost immediately but others need more human involvement. Human persistence, consistency, and patience will lead to success with any cat.

These applied to training cats who seem not to have a clue what Natural Scratch is for will one day lead to the cat beginning to claw the post. Reinforcing that with treats will produce an aha! experience the cat will never forget.

The easy-to-use training booklet that comes with Natural Scratch will teach you how to train your cat or cats.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Scratching post reinforcement

After purchasing a quality scratching post, it is important that you train your cat or cats to use it. Part of this involves reinforcing good scratching behavior with praise and kitty treats. Cats enjoy both.

Once they are in the habit of using the post and ignoring other possible targets you can decrease the number of treats you give them. Praise and petting though should continue. You need them to know what pleases you and what is not acceptable.

Should they scratch something that is off limits, always say no, chase them away, and redirect them to your scratching post.

Natural Scratch comes with an easy-to-follow training booklet for those who don't know how to train their cats. Please have a look at naturalscratch.com.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Scratching post slivers

People sometimes ask whether their cats will get slivers from clawing Natural Scratch. My reply is that in the many years we have been using white cedar posts with our cats and selling them around the world, I have never received a report of a cat getting a sliver. Nothing can be ruled out entirely I suppose but experience indicates it is extremely unlikely.

I'm reminded of this because we have an outdoor table made of redwood. We've used the table for at least twenty year. It's showing its age so for the last several years we kept it on our enclosed porch. Redwood is a soft wood, too, and we allowed the cats to claw its legs. Unlike white cedar, it produces fairly sharp splinters. Nevertheless, we haven't noticed any slivers in our cats' paws.

Clearly, the pads on their paws are extremely tough, almost like the thick leather used on the soles of shoes.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Cat scratching blog and more

Over the past few days I have been switching my domain host and moving away from a standard bank account for my e-commerce shopping cart to PayPal. Both moves were undertaken to try to keep the cost of Natural Scratch low.

Anyone who has worked with computers and with online services knows how complicated they can be. Few things demand as much exactitude as computers.

I mention this because after several hours of fooling around, I finally was able to move this blog to my new host, hostmonster.com. Although I was able to upload and view current posts at the new FTP area, the hitch was I couldn't upload a new post or archived posts.

After visiting the Blogger Help Group, I found the answer in an exchange. That's always a nice feeling.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Cat scratching materials

Cats need to scratch something to keep their claws sharp. Targets ranging from door frames to the ends of couches will do if nothing else is available--in my experience, cats aren't terribly fussy.

Outside, they typically scratch trees and this is why white cedar, the wood Natural Scratch is made of, works well.

Other scratching-post materials also work but the key to getting a cat to claw any post is training, especially if he or she is already clawing a surface that should be off limits.

Natural Scratch comes with a training guide that teaches owners a simple method that works very well with all cats. It does require patience and consistency. Please visit naturalscratch.com to learn more.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Scratching post base

When buying a scratching post, be sure to choose one that has an adequate base. Small bases allow cats to wobble the post or even tip it over. Either might cause the cat to look for more solid places to claw. They don't call 'em fraidy cats for nothing.

When I first offered Natural Scratch years ago, it came with a 14" x 14" square base that did a nice job of supplying a stable footprint for what was then a 24"-tall post. The base worked well but it meant shipping in a box at least 14" wide. With the post only about 4" wide, this resulted in the transport of a lot of air. The box needed to be big because of the base. Ecologically this wasn't good.

I set out to design a base that could be shipped in two parts so the entire unit would fit in a box about 4" x 4". The result is the X-shaped base Natural Scratch uses today. It provides a foundation that is the equivalent to a base that is 22" square.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Cat scratching? No. Wintry, yes.


The picture shows tools that are necessary to cope with large snow storms in Wisconsin. On the left is the two-piece snow rake used to pull the white stuff off the roof before it contributes to an "ice dam." This occurs when enough snow is on the roof to insulate the shingles and permit heat from the house to melt the lowest level.

Water then rolls down the roof until it reaches an area near the edge that isn't heated from below, where it freezes.

After a few days of this, the ice builds up until water flowing down from above pools and eventually works its way *back* up under the shingles. Now it is free to begin soaking through and eventually begins dripping into the house. Not good.

The snow started falling at about dusk on Tuesday and didn't stop until about 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Counting final clean up on Thursday morning, I snowblowed all the asphalt and concrete surfaces and raked problem areas of the roof five times.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Training works

Whenever I visit pet stores and see the mediocre scratching posts on display, I'm reminded of my mother. When I was growing up, she tried various posts with our cats, all to no avail. Primary problem was her lack of understanding that cats need to be trained, that they wouldn't just see the post and immediately realize it was intended for them. Clearly, the couch end was what scratching was for. They didn't need anything else.

I think a lot of people make the same mistake my mother did but in many cases, it results in a cat being declawed. Owners throw their hands up in frustration, have the cat operated on, and then throw out the post.

Training is key and that is why Natural Scratch comes with an easy-to-use guide to teaching cats to claw it and nothing else.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Scratching in a perfect world

In a perfect world, cats would do exactly what we wanted them to do. If they needed attention, they would stroll up quietly, rub against our legs, and voice a coded meow we'd understand. When something was causing them to need to regurgitate, they'd come to us and clearly signal what was to come, allowing enough time for us to grab a classified section from the newspaper to catch the ejecta.

They'd also claw only what we want them to claw with no exceptions. 'Course in a perfect world, pain, suffering, and sorrow wouldn't exist either.

In the real world, we cannot expect cats or other creatures, humans included, to be perfect. No house or apartment that provides a residence to any kind of animal is going to be free of animal-wear. You can reduce the wear but not eliminate it.

An excellent way of reducing the likelihood cats will claw something they shouldn't is to purchase Natural Scratch and follow the accompanying training method to teach your critters to scratch it and nothing else.