It's become clear that Meow Meow likes anything string-like. Strips of fabric, sewing thread, window pulls -- she'll play with any and all we dangle before her.
She's also discovered that she enjoys scratching the microfiber couches in our living room. We've offered her other textures via a carpet-and-sisal-rope scratching post and some mats she's shown interest in too, but the couches are still too attractive to her. So, after covering the targeted locations on the furniture with aluminum foil (which works great as a deterrent if you're dealing with the same issue), I hit up a local fabric store and bought some sueded upholstery nearly identical to what our couches are covered in (it's microns thinner). Wrapped the post in said fabric. Placed it prominently in the living room where we usually hang out, fastened string toys to it for added interest.
But without someone actually making the toys move, Meow Meow's pretty indifferent to them. And as I said before, she doesn't respond to catnip, so we don't have a truly effective way to draw her to the post. Playing with her toys near it hasn't quite done the trick to get her interested in the post itself.
Any suggestions, oh wise kitty parents? I have half a mind to figure out what treats she likes and hang them somehow from the sides of the post. That's going to require some creative engineering ...
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I would suggest moving the scratching post to right near where she naps, so that when she wakes up and proceeds to do a little post-nap scratching, it is right there for her. Also, and this might sound weird but it worked with my three cats, I've demonstrated the scratching on appropriate surfaces in front of them. Literally----I used my fingernails to scratch. Also, each time that I got them to touch the scratching post, I would give them a treat. Gradually, i worked up to only giving them treats when they actually scratched the appropriate surface. I hope some of these are helpful!
Thanks, Rebekah! We're using the treat advice, now that we've found something Meow Meow will nibble (she really prefers wet food to dry). Dieter's been playing with her favorite strings and laces only around the base of the post as well. Hopefully she'll catch on soon!
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