Cardboard Cat Scratcher Bowl and Bed for Indoor Cats

She will scratch something today. You get to pick what. Scratching isn't misbehavior, it's how she stretches her spine, sheds the outer layer of her claws and leaves her scent where she wants it. The sofa arm just happened to be at the right height.

A cardboard cat scratcher bowl works because it beats the sofa at the sofa's own game. The arm doesn't move, and that's the only reason she chose it. Give her something that does the same job better and she takes it.

What this bowl does differently:

• Flutes facing up: claws sink into the honeycomb instead of skating across a closed surface
• Raised rim all around: it's a bowl as much as a scratcher, so she settles into it after she works it
• Two things in one footprint: a scratcher and a bed in the floor space of one item
• Rim catches the shavings: most of the cardboard dust stays inside the bowl rather than on your floor
• Flip it when it wears: lift the board out, turn it over, and the surface is new again

The board is turned so the open flutes face upward. Corrugated edge-on is the part cats want, the texture they keep returning to and the reason they walk straight past a flat scratching mat.

A full stretch, front paws to back. The surface is long enough for her to lean in and pull, which is the stretch she's really after when she reaches up the side of the couch.

Then she falls asleep in it. The rim curves up the whole way around, so she scratches, turns twice and settles into the dip. That's the difference between a room that works and a room full of cat equipment.

Round for a curler, long for a sprawler. Two round sizes and two longer shapes, with the Modern carrying a printed band around the outside for a room where a plain brown bowl would stand out.

Getting the size right

Check the size chart before ordering for the best fit. Between two sizes take the larger one: a scratcher she doesn't fit in is a scratcher she ignores.

Specifications

• Material: corrugated cardboard, flutes up, printed paper band
• Shape: bowl with a raised rim, scratcher and bed in one
• Round sizes: 11.8 in (30 cm) and 15.7 in (40 cm) across, 3.5 in (9 cm) tall
• Oval: 17.7 × 11.8 × 3.5 in (45 × 30 × 9 cm); Modern: 17.1 × 13.4 × 3.9 in (43.5 × 34 × 10 cm)
• Suitable for: kittens and adult cats
• Care: vacuum around it; flip the board once one side wears

Choose what she scratches. Set the bowl beside the sofa arm she has claimed, and the cardboard wins, she falls asleep in it, and the arm stops being the interesting option.