For The Little Ones

How to make a cardboard cat scratcher?

14 May 2023

Kittens love to scratch cardboard. And you will want to keep your furniture safe from little paws. So, to keep you & your kitty happy, why not make an easy cardboard cat scratcher out of recycled cardboard boxes.

You will need:

  • A tape measure
  • Rubber bands
  • Cut resistant gloves
  • A razor knife
  • Non-toxic Gorilla glue, or other non-toxic super glue
  • A pen
  • And of course, you’ll need some corrugated cardboard

Sanicat does not take any liability for its usage.

Instructions:

 

1. Line up the cardboard. The strips that need cutting need to be parallel with how this piece of cardboard is positioned below, and every strip should look like this! Then make your markings, drawing straight lines as cutting guides.

Instructions:

2. Cut the cardboard into strips using your razor knife and wear your gloves for protection.

3. Line up and organise the strips.

4. Glue the strips on the edge.

Now that everything is stacked up, put a little rubber band on the opposite side in the back. That helps keep everything together and we can start going in and adding dots of glue; you won’t need much – one drop should be enough!

5. Rubber band the edge and then glue the middle and other side.

Add a rubber band to this side, keep everything super tight, maybe even let it dry for a few minutes first. And then do the exact same thing on the opposite side! Make sure your rubber bands are as tight as possible without breaking or snapping. For the opposite side, start from the middle and add two drops of glue: one in the middle and one on the side. Make sure to move quickly. The super glue on the cardboard dries super quickly so you want to make sure everything has a chance to settle in the right place.

And once you’ve added a glue layer between every single layer of cardboard, you can add a bunch of rubber bands, and then you’re pretty much done. Make sure it’s completely dry. Let itsit at least 10 minutes and your cardboard cat scratcher is done.

Did you know that cats use scratching to release stress or excitement – so it’s a perfect toy to calm your kitten and safe your furniture.

Optional – add some cat nip to attract you kitten and let it scratch away.