Empire State Skyscratcher rocks our feline world
Hello, people and Happy New Year. Our human mom, Beth, is very very busy, so we wanted to help her out by writing a blog post to tell you about the amazing thing we got for Christmas this year. We’re not exactly sure what it is, but mom acted really excited when she opened it, so we know it must be pretty special. (And no, we no longer speak like those Cheezburger Cats. We are 5 years old and have learned proper grammar!)
Anyway, Christmas Eve, Mom came home and started talking really loudly when she saw a big box at the front door. She said stuff like, “Wow. He didn’t use plastic tape or plastic label covers. This is great.” We don’t know what those things are, but we know our mom doesn’t like plastic. And we love boxes, so we started to get excited too.
Mom cut open the top with her keys and was even more excited when she looked inside. She said there was cardboard, twine, paper tape, and only a little plastic… the cap on a glass bottle of “Catnip Spray.” We wondered what that could be for.
Then, she took a great big cardboard thing out of the box. WHAT IS THIS?
Mom said it had no plastic or glue… just cardboard pieces held together by pressure and gravity around a wooden stick. She told Dad that this thing was special because the pieces could be replaced when they wore out.
She said it’s an Empire State Building Sky Scratcher from a guy on Etsy and that one of her blog readers told her about it. When she ordered it, she wrote to the Etsy guy (What is this Etsy thing and does it taste good?) and asked that it not be shipped with any plastic packaging. She kept telling us to scratch it. Is she crazy? This is not something frivolous like furniture or carpet. Clearly, it’s a work of art. Why would we scratch it? But then she sprayed some of the “Catnip Spray” on it. We loved that. It didn’t make us want to scratch, but rub up against it.
Most of all, we love our cool new house.
Also? We love brown paper. No, the paper didn’t come in that box. It came in a different box. This is called a non-sequitur. See? Told you we were smarter than those Cheezburger cats.
Okay, bye bye for now. We will write again next week because people keep asking Mom if we still like the homemade cat food that Dad makes for us and if it is still keeping us healthy after 4 years. Not to give away the answer, but check out Soot’s fur. What do you think? (Stay tuned.)
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We love the SkyScraper here at BlanCat and are totally chuffed that it got its start from Kickstarter.
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I am really impressed by this design and that it uses no glue and the cardboard pieces can be replaced. Wow! You beautiful cats will certainly find the love for this, even if at first you are cautious. Please keep us posted, kitties!
those kitties are so cute.
Bad news from Peru where my daughter has just married and is moving to Lima. It turns out that when you move, you have to wrap everything in plastic! Check it out (scroll down to see all their stuff wrapped in plastic. http://adventuresincuzco.blogspot.com/2013/01/packing-and-waiting.html
I think I just had a plastic heart attack. Holy crap.
Our kittens love their plastic-free toys, too…crumpled up paper from the recycling bin and pieces of pine bark mulch pilfered from the houseplant pots. These were free, but the Skyscratcher is definitely cool!
The secret to a good scratching post for your cat is stability. Cats don’t like to scratch on anything that moves under pressure. This is why they will use a tree or the couch or even the floor. If you have to weight your skyscraper down to the floor, or even screw it down they will enjoy it more and use it more than the furniture. Always keep it in the same place. Once they know it’s not going anywhere they will start using it. The catnip just gets them started. Soon they’ll be heading over daily to get their nails done.
heading over daily?! :D My cat can’t seem to walk past the scratching post without using it! :D
Hello Beth,
Thanks so much for the great review! What I’ve found best is to dangle a piece of string/twine or a feather [or even your fingers in a hide & seek fashion] towards the top of the building, or just about 3/4 of the way up. Something that they are already used to playing with already. Once they realize that their claws dig in nicely to the corrugated sides, they’ll fall in love. Just keep with it, for once they get it, they’ll be hooked!
Many thanks again & do keep me posted!Mike Estes
Creator
https://www.etsy.com/shop/theskyscratcher
Love this! I hope you can get pictures of your kitties hanging off the sides like King Kong :)
I’d be happy if I could just get them to scratch it. I’ve been demonstrating with my own fingernails, but they don’t understand demonstrations, no matter how smart they think they are.
Hi Beth,
I love that one even though it’s pretty expensive.
What do you think of these (wood and cork)?:
https://naturalscratch.com/wf/index.php?route=common/home
Happy New Year!!
Hi Christy. I wonder if the cork pieces are glued together. It looks like agglomerated cork, which is particles of cork pressed together and depending on the intended use of the cork product, they can be combined with different binders, including “asphalt, rubber, gypsum, glue, and plastic.” http://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Cork.html When it comes to wine corks, I like the corks that are made from one solid piece of cork rather than the agglomerated ones because I don’t know what kind of binder is being used. Will you ask the company what else is in the cork posts? They say it is solid cork, but from the picture, I can tell it’s not.
Thanks – I’ll let you know what I find out.
What are your thoughts on the wood one?
I think the wood one is probably fine. But I don’t know… can they get splinters? I’m not an expert. I’ve only used cardboard and sisal so far. They also use the carpet… without permission.
on his site he said that over the last 12 years (I think that’s the right time frame!), and thousands sold he has not had one complaint about splinters. He also guarantees your happiness with his products!
:-)
We have a scratch post our kitties love but their fav place to scratch is the raw wood on our human kids’ bunk beds. My kitties don’t like cardboard, its too soft for them, maybe.
My kids think this is the coolest thing ever… they’re planning on building one of their own for our cats :)
cc Michael Stoler
Thanks for your help, AryaandSoots Stoler-Terry!