Wood scratching post

Like most people, when I first had a clawed cat and it started scratching the couch, my natural inclination was to provide an alternative that also was upholstered--years ago *carpeted* was the standard. In the cases of the great cats of my youth, this never worked. At the time I didn't know why but now I do.

Primarily it was lack of training and secondarily it was ignorance about the fact that cats deposit scent when they claw something and this is highly attractive to them.

Now I also know that a wood scratching post like Natural Scratch is clearly a more appropriate target for cats because it's certain they don't find carpeting or couches in the wild.

Kittens are particularly fun to watch with Natural Scratch. They race up it like is was a small tree. Climbing leads to clawing and a lifelong affection for Natural Scratch.

Older cats too can be trained relatively easily to claw Natural Scratch exclusively. All it takes is a little time, consistency, love, and a training method that works--the one that accompanies Natural Scratch.

Scratching and clawing behavior

I frequently mention to people that cat-scratching behavior as it relates to Natural Scratch falls under a Bell Curve. Some cats claw the post as the owner is assembling it; others walk around it on the way to the couch. Most cats are somewhere in the center.

Cats have their own reasons for doing things and it's hard to fathom exactly what motivates certain behaviors.

Wish I knew because I could then modify Natural Scratch in ways that would make it instantly appeal to all cats. There probably is a key to unlocking this universal appeal, but I haven't found it and as far as I know no one else has either.

The Natural Scratch training method, however, that accompanies Natural Scratch is the great leveler that nudges all cats into the area of the Bell Curve that makes them lifelong scratchers. It's simple to read and follow and works like a champ.

BTW, as an example of unusual feline behavior I need to mention our cat Leo--the white one on my main page. He does something I've never before observed: he chews on his claws! This is in addition to clawing Natural Scratch regularly. It's an amazing sight, and he gnaws on all four, front and back.

*Peace, love, and understanding*

You might recognize the title of this post as the title of a great Elvis Costello song. It's used here because no matter how irritated you become at a feline's destructive clawing, these three words must always be kept in the forefront of your mind.

The cat wouldn't be scratching your couch, door moldings, or another object if it truly understood just how distressing it is to you. Cats operate in cat world and our habits and likes and dislikes mean nothing to them.

To change this, we need to communicate with them through training. It works like a champ. The method that accompanies Natural Scratch is simple and efficient. It's based on the same techniques that trainers use to motivate tigers to jump through fiery hoops and porpoises to dance along the water on their tails.

Please take the time to learn more at www.naturalscratch.com/nstraining.html.

Cat scratching training

When you see your cat exercising its claws on your couch and tell it to stop only to see it scratching away again later, it's easy to imagine your frustration. I was in the exact same spot a couple of decades ago, which is how Natural Scratch came to be. (Please read the history of Natural Scratch at http://www.naturalscratch.com/history.html.)

Much of the situation is due to the communication barrier: cats might understand "eat" and "come" and probably have learned that the rattling of the food box means dinner will soon be served, but otherwise they usually look at us blankly when we use English to try to let them know what is and is not permissible.

The training booklet that accompanies Natural Scratch free of charge helps you overcome the communication barrier, at least as it pertains to scratching. It's based on simple behavior modification techniques that employ the same methods that trainers use to get dolphins to jump on command or dance across the water. Please find out more at http://www.naturalscratch.com/nstraining.html

Scratching Posts That Work

There's nothing quite like a solution to a problem. If your cat is scratching something he or she shouldn't you have a problem. Natural Scratch is *a* solution. It's not the only solution but it does--in the opinion of its developer and seller, me--offer high odds of success to most people.

Partly this is due to its combination of natural materials that are soft and rough, characteristics that appeal to cats. Partly it is due to interactive features that help owners attract their cats to the post.

Mainly though it is due to the behavior modification training booklet that comes free with the post. In simple, easy to understand language, it teaches people how to train their cats. Learn all about it at naturalscratch.com.

Orders for Natural Scratch scratching posts are arriving

Since getting the new Web site up and working, I'm happy to say that orders for Natural Scratch are rolling in. Great. You never know how customers will react but hope they'll like it.

This new Web site is the best I've had--at least I think it is--and I've had at least five or six different ones over the years.

Creating a multi-page site is a major task, but I have to give a lot of credit once again to Seamonkey's Composer. What an ace HTML editor it is.

It might not have all the horsepower major Web developers need but for someone who authors Web pages only now and then, it works great.

New Cat Scratching Post Web Site

After a number of tryouts with various new-to-me HTML editors, I found one named Composer that works wonderfully well. It's part of a suite of applications called Seamonkey that is available at http://www.seamonkey-project.org/. In the past I've used Dreamweaver and Pagespinner but both are difficult compared to Composer.

In addition, I discovered that I can create tables and pictures with arrows and callouts in Word, copy them, and paste them into a mini-Photoshop app I have called Photoshop Elements. Once the table or picture is in Photoshop Elements I can save it as a jpeg or gif file and import it to my Natural Scratch site. This is an incredibly valuable ability that saved many, many hours of time. I've been using Word apps since 1990 so I'm well-versed in it.

Hope is of course that the new site will be pleasing to customers and result in more Natural Scratch sales.