How to Make a Cat Scratching Post With PVC Pipe

7 Materials
$30
2 Hours
Easy

We almost never say that a project is quick and easy, but this one actually is! We purchased the materials and made it all in a couple of hours.


Steph was fostering a cat, which took a liking to her new sofa. That wasn't going to work, so Steph came up with this scratching post idea to give her a better option other than her sofa!


Take a look at how it all came together. See the full post here.

See the entire building process in this short video.

We're using a precut piece of 3" diameter PVC pipe with matching cap, precut wood round, a bit of felt, rope and a scrap piece of wood.

We first cut a piece of felt to fit the wood round. We made it about an inch or so around larger so that we could glue the raw edges to the back. The felt is attached with spray adhesive on the front and then the edges are glued with hot glue.

On the scrap piece of wood, we traced the inside diameter of the PVC pipe. I'm cutting it on a scroll saw but a jig saw would work just as easily. This small wood round is how the PVC pipe is going to be attached to the large felt covered wood round.

The small wood round is screwed into place with two screws. We chose to put our post off-center, but it could be placed anywhere on the wood round.

The PVC pipe is put over the small wood round and screwed into place.

The rope is hot glued into place at intervals along the post. It's helpful to have a buddy to help with this process--one to wrap, and one to glue! If you want, you can paint the PVC cap to coordinate with the fabric, carpet, or felt you use.

...checking it out...well?

She likes it!


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  • Jeanienne Jeanienne on Oct 01, 2019

    This is cool, however I would drill tiny holes and put catnip in it and then wrap it with rope, especially good for kittens learning to use the post and not yr furniture

  • Wyldecent Wyldecent on May 27, 2020

    I did something similar to this but put 2 posts on a base and then put a smaller piece of wood on top (added edges on 3 sides). I drilled holes into 4 flat pvc caps and screwed the wood on, using wingnuts on the inside of the caps so the screws were flat with the wood. Then I just pushed the top onto the posts and then posts into the caps in the based and wrapped with rope. Places to sit and scratch. I put two velco strips on top piece and just fold up old towels, etc. for padding. They don't slide off and easy to wash. Base is just painted with non-toxic paint. Sorry no pictures (gave it to my daughter). Her cats really like it.

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