Friday, March 10, 2006

Scratching Post/Cat perch


Scratching Post/Cat perch
Originally uploaded by sanfranfamily.
The other day I went to our local "green dog" pet supply store. It really strives to sell sustainable supplies for pets. I went there to buy a scratching post/perch for Cordelia, our new cat, since we aren't letting her outside. I wanted a good place for her to scratch, since she doesn't have trees available for her to scratch, and somewhere she can see the birds and other outdoor activity. I looked through the catalogue (ha!) they had there at the store and was dismayed to see how pricey these things are. I started to look also at how simply constructed these things are...and then thought, hey, we could *make* one! So, I said to the owner that I was thinking about making one instead, and she was so supportive! Instead of seeing it as revenue gone, she saw it as a way for materials to be re-used. I told her that SCRAP has carpet samples, and she told me someone used to make posts for the store using all re-used materials. She'd use a spool from newsprint, from the Oregonian, for the pole. So, we went to SCRAP today and found the carpet AND the spools there. We got a bit ingenious, and came up with some great ideas, and now we have a great cat scratching post and perch for only about $26! The rope was the priciest thing--it was 80 feet (yes, 80 feet!) of rope and it cost $20. The rest of it was re-used stuff from SCRAP and two pieces of wood from the ReBuilding Center. Cool, huh?

3 comments:

Jennifershmoo said...

That is too cool! What a lucky cat!

Marisa said...

Isn't the Rebuilding Center a great place! It's one of the many things I miss about Portland.

Mimi said...

Very cool!