NYT Wirecutter The Best Cat Scratchers
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Cats scratch when they play, to sharpen their claws, to relieve stress, and to mark their territory. If you don’t have a scratcher, your feline may direct this behavior onto your furniture instead. To find the best cat scratcher, we sought the help of 74 cats and kittens at the Little Wanderers NYC rescue group. Our experts loved the Pioneer Pet’s SmartCat The Ultimate Scratching Post because it’s sturdy, time-tested, and tall enough for even large cats to enjoy with ease.
The Ultimate Scratching Post’s sisal surface and tall, boxy design should satisfy most kitties. But if your cat doesn’t like it, we also have picks for a carpeted post scratcher, a cardboard lounger, and a scratcher that you can mount on a wall or lay on the floor.
Our pick: Pioneer Pet SmartCat The Ultimate Scratching Post
Our pick
Pioneer Pet SmartCat The Ultimate Scratching Post
The best cat scratcher
Its durable woven sisal lasts longer than carpet and is better for your pet than rope. It's also one of the tallest scratchers we tested, so your cat can stretch out.
$50* from Chewy
$50 from Amazon
*At the time of publishing, the price was $60.
Why we love it: Pioneer Pet’s SmartCat The Ultimate Scratching Post is the best-looking, most durable post scratcher of the 16 post models we researched and the five we tested. At 32 inches it’s tall enough for your cat to stretch out comfortably. Its solid-wood base is sturdy, so it stays upright even during vigorous scratching or leaping, and its woven-sisal scratching surface is a natural fiber that shreds cleanly (unlike carpet) and won’t become prickly over time (unlike sisal rope, also common among scratchers).
On top of that, woven sisal is extremely durable: We let 20 cats abuse it for a week and a half, and it had no visible marks. Several Wirecutter staffers have owned this scratcher model for years, including senior staff writer Kimber Streams, who’s owned the same scratcher since 2017. “It’s had a long run for sure,” they said. Elizabeth Llewellyn, a feline welfare and behavior specialist, writes that she has had hers for over five years. Newer Ultimate Scratching Post converts also report minimal wear and tear: “It’s still going strong one year later with one tiny but determined cat,” Wirecutter’s Sasha VanHoven said. On Amazon, where it currently has a rating of 4.7 stars (out of five) across more than 21,000 ratings, reviewers praise its durability: “Still going strong five years later,” writes one owner, who may actually have had it for 10.
The SmartCat scratching post, a light-colored sisal with tan top and bottom, in a living room.
A fluffy white cat stretching up to scratch near the top of the SmartCat post.
A closeup of the base, which is a tan particle board, blending in well with the hardwood floor.
The post is covered in woven sisal, which is easier to scratch and less likely to fray than sisal rope. Photo: Michael Hession
The SmartCat scratching post, a light-colored sisal with tan top and bottom, in a living room.
A fluffy white cat stretching up to scratch near the top of the SmartCat post.
A closeup of the base, which is a tan particle board, blending in well with the hardwood floor.
Unlike with most post scratchers, The Ultimate Scratching Post’s wooden base isn't covered in scratchable material, but its rectangular post has nearly 900 square inches of woven-sisal scratching surface, more than most other models we tested. At 16 pounds, the post is hefty enough to stay put during vigorous exercise but still easy to move when needed, and it has a wooden platform on the top for your cat to perch on. It’s also the least-ugly cat scratcher we tested—by a significant margin—and it doesn’t look out of place with mid-century decor.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: We found a few spots in the woven sisal where the weave missed a loop or two, which a determined cat could loosen or even get their claws caught on. (We recommend spot-checking your post and securing loose threads during setup.)
This is the only scratcher we tested that has a rectangular post, so you’ll need to rotate the scratcher periodically as it wears; traditional posts are tubular, so a cat can scratch them from any angle comfortably. Finally, our test unit of The Ultimate Scratching Post came with hex screws to attach the post to the base, but no Allen wrench, so you’ll need to keep your toolbox handy.
Although woven sisal is an ideal scratching material, not all cats will like it right away. It may look unfamiliar and feel rougher than other surfaces such as your couch cushion. Nicole Kay of the Just Cats store in the Denver area told us you can attract your cat to a scratcher by dusting it with catnip, or scratching your nails against its surface so your pet knows it’s okay to approach. (Just don’t press your cat’s paw pad to a scratcher; this scares some cats.)
Dimensions: 16 by 16 inches (base), 7 by 7 by 32 inches (post); 16 pounds
Also great: North American Pet Classy Kitty Cat Carpet Scratching Post
Also great
North American Pet Classy Kitty Cat Carpet Scratching Post
For cats that prefer carpet
This model is the tallest carpet scratcher we researched, and it holds up well to abuse.
$27* from Wayfair
*At the time of publishing, the price was $40.
Why we love it: If your cat won’t scratch sisal, the North American Pet Classy Kitty Cat Carpet Scratching Post is the best carpeted model we found. It’s tall, sturdy, and inexpensive, and its carpet is a soft material that’s familiar to most cats. While cat owners may prefer the look of a loftier carpet scratcher, thinner carpet is better for cats because it shreds and pills less—our Classy Kitty post held up great for 10 days in a 10-cat habitat.
A carpeted scratching post next to a mod armchair.
A cat, flopped onto the base of a carpet scratching post.
The North American Pet Classy Kitty Cat Carpet Scratching Post comes in a version that’s 32 inches tall; it’s the tallest carpeted scratcher we found. Photo: Michael Hession
A carpeted scratching post next to a mod armchair.
A cat, flopped onto the base of a carpet scratching post.
The 32-inch scratcher is light for its height (less than 6 pounds), so it’s easy to carry from room to room or to reposition in front of a new sofa. But it has most of its weight in its base, so it doesn’t wobble when scratched. A Little Wanderers volunteer noted: “It’s the perfect height, and very sturdy. My cats tend to leap on scratchers during zoomies, and this one never tipped over.” It has also held up to a year’s worth of abuse in our own homes: Carpet pilling has been minimal, requiring just occasional sweeping, and the scratcher is durable enough that you have to rotate it only every couple of months to ensure even wear and tear from scratching. And larger cats, such as my own 15-pound Maine-coon mix, haven’t tipped it over.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: Because this is a carpeted scratcher, it will eventually pill and shred, and bits of the carpet will fall out all over your house. It won’t last as long as our main pick. (I’ve personally needed to replace it annually for my cat.) And one major complaint of carpeted scratchers is that cats can easily get their nails caught in the carpet mat, which is a grid of tiny holes. That’s true of our pick too, but our volunteers told us their cats freed themselves more easily from this scratcher than others they’ve used.
Dimensions: 16½ by 16½ inches (base), 4 by 32 inches (pole); 6 pounds
Also great: Pioneer Pet SmartCat Bootsie’s Combination Scratcher
Also great
Pioneer Pet SmartCat Bootsie's Combination Scratcher
Versatile and made for small spaces
Made of the same hard-wearing sisal as our main pick, this model is flat, so it takes up less space and can work in many orientations.
$22* from Chewy
May be out of stock
Buy from Amazon
$23 from Walmart
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $23.
Why we love it: The Pioneer Pet SmartCat Bootsie’s Combination Scratcher is made of the same strong woven-sisal material as our main pick, so it’s more durable and leaves less mess than carpet or cardboard. In our tests, 10 cats scratched it for a week and left no marks. At 24 inches it’s long enough for cats to scratch comfortably when it’s horizontal, and you can wall-mount it at any height to accommodate their vertical reach. And at less than 3 inches thick, it can even work mounted in a hallway, without blocking the path.
A flat, low to the ground scratching platform, with a prone cat digging its claws into it.
Photo: Michael Hession
The Bootsie’s scratcher has rubber feet (bootsies?) that muffle wall bangs when cats furiously scratch it; the feet also keep it from sliding across the floor during intense pouncing sessions. It’s big enough for cats to use comfortably yet thin enough to work in small spaces, and it’s just 5 pounds, so you can move it easily. Senior editor Christine Ryan has owned the Bootsie’s scratcher for a year and loves its portability: “It fits beneath my couch, which is good for when I have to clean up the place for company.”
Flaws but not dealbreakers: In our tests, some cats had trouble digging their claws into it when it was new, and those that did often got their claws caught. (This wasn’t the case with the larger Pioneer Pet model because it was tall enough that cats could position their claws where they preferred.) Still, that didn’t deter them: “They loved it,” a Little Wanderers volunteer said. “The height is good, the material is great, and the width is perfect.”
Dimensions: 7 by 2½ by 24 inches; 5 pounds
Budget pick: Catit Style Scratcher with Catnip (Urban Bench)
Budget pick
Catit Style Scratcher with Catnip (Urban Bench)
A cheap scratcher that cats love
Cats enjoy pouncing on this inexpensive scratcher because it’s slightly elevated.
$18 from Chewy
$41 from Amazon
Why we love it: The Catit Style Scratcher with Catnip (Urban Bench) held up better to abuse than most of the cardboard scratchers we tried. In our tests, it didn’t wobble or fall when cats sat on it, and it’s large enough for most cats to use.
A cat standing on a bench-like cardboard scratching platform, face and claws down.
Photo: Michael Hession
This Catit model is made of 57 layers of 4 mm corrugated cardboard, and after we put it into testing for a week and a half with eight cats, they “barely made a dent in the cardboard top surface,” wrote one Little Wanderers volunteer, who frequently repairs flat cardboard scratchers with duct tape because they’re so flimsy.
The legs are stubby, so it’s unlikely to wobble or tip when a catnip-crazed cat jumps on it. The Little Wanderers volunteer told us the cat panelists favored this scratcher over more interactive ones (like the K&H Kitty Tippy Scratch n’ Track Cardboard Toy) because the Catit was more stable: “The cat stopped scratching [the K&H] until he restored his balance and then went onto the reliably stable bench scratcher for an enthusiastic scratching session.”
We’re happy to report that after a year of use, this little scratcher is surprisingly still going strong. As the volunteer told us: “The thick materials from which the scratcher is made are fairly durable after a year, although the raised bench-like design didn’t hold up in the middle after a rather short while. (I might have accidentally stepped on it, or it was smushed down under the weight of a large cat.) Another upside of this securely glued scratcher is that I don’t have to sweep up so much mess after the cats use it, whereas my flat scratchers inevitably add to my daily need to sweep up.”
Flaws but not dealbreakers: The Catit bench is still cardboard, and it will still shred. Our volunteer tester estimated that it would take several weeks for her eight cats to destroy it. In households with fewer pets, it should last longer.
The lounger came with a sample of Catit’s catnip, but the catnip was cream colored and full of stems, not the deep green leaves of fresh ’nip. If you really need catnip, consider our pick, Yeowww Catnip. No matter which catnip you use, prepare to clean up a mess. Wirecutter's Sarah Kobos noted that it’s easy for catnip flakes to fall through the cardboard and onto the floor.
Dimensions: 20 by 9 by 2 inches; 2 pounds
How to pick a cat scratcher
Scratchers can be vertical or horizontal, and they come in several shapes, sizes, and materials. The most popular scratching materials are cardboard, carpet, sisal, and wood. (Cardboard and carpet are less expensive than sisal and wood, and prices can vary depending on the quality of the materials.) The most common shapes are small horizontal slabs, slightly elevated slabs called loungers, and vertical scratchers with a long post attached to a square base. Some cat scratchers have interactive elements, such as attached feathers and crinkle balls, while others have poles of various heights and materials on the same base. As the quality of the scratcher rises, so does the price: In our research, a good scratcher could cost up to $80, though the cheapest we found was just $8.
A vertical scratcher should be 30 to 32 inches tall so that cats can stand on their hind legs and stretch.
Before buying an expensive cat scratcher, observe your cat’s behavior. If your cat scratches the wooden legs of a barstool or the fabric of a sofa cushion, consider similar materials when selecting a scratcher. “They’ll most likely prefer the scratching post [over your furniture] because of the texture and the height,” said certified pet behaviorist Russell Hartstein.
The scratcher should also be big enough so your cat can fully stretch out while using it. Our experts agreed that bigger scratchers were better scratchers. For a horizontal scratcher, we recommend that it be at least as long as your cat’s body minus the tail, which averages 18 inches. And a vertical scratcher should be 30 to 32 inches tall so that cats can stand on their hind legs and stretch. That height is difficult to find, however, so look for a scratcher that’s at least 25 inches tall.
When the scratcher gets beaten up, or if it’s the only scratching opportunity in your home, a cat may lose interest fast. You can keep a cat engaged with a well-worn scratcher by moving it, said Fara Erspamer, director of product development and design at K&H Pet Products. “Cats like variety. They tend to stay interested a lot longer if you move things around.”
Lastly, don’t be afraid to experiment with styles and shapes, or to put duplicates of their favorites in different rooms throughout your home. This way, they’ll head straight for their scratcher instead of your stuff.
How we picked and tested
We found 34 cat scratchers in three categories: posts, loungers, and wall scratchers. Then we condensed the list to scratchers that had strong online reviews, were available for purchase from multiple retailers, and were big enough to accommodate a cat’s long reach—at least 18 inches for horizontal scratchers and 25 inches for vertical scratchers. We short-listed 13 total cat scratchers for testing.
Our experts agreed that durability, stability, and size were all important in picking a cat scratcher. We conducted control tests with those categories in mind, and then asked the volunteers at the Little Wanderers rescue group in New York to make evaluations of each cat scratcher’s performance as well. This process helped keep our internal test protocol tight so that we could prioritize real-world testing with our 74 cat panelists.
Quality of construction and durability: We assembled each cat scratcher and examined their craftsmanship. Then we took plastic meat shredders to each cat scratcher and noted how easy it was to leave claw marks. Finally, we unleashed our cat panelists on the scratchers and examined them after a week or two of use.
Stability: First we took our house cat stand-in (a 10-pound bag of rice) and knocked it against each scratcher to see how likely the scratcher was to scoot across a hardwood floor or tip over. Then we asked our human volunteers to evaluate each scratcher’s stability when their cat panelists used it.
Scratchable area: We favored cat scratchers with greater scratchable surface areas—the areas covered in sisal, carpet, or cardboard.
Size: We favored larger scratchers over smaller ones within the same category, since they offered more room to stretch out. We also noted whether our cat panelists were more likely to scratch near the top of longer scratchers (they were), and whether they favored a lower position like that of smaller ones (they did not).
What about Instagrammable cat scratchers?
Nowadays you can buy cat scratchers that are shaped like cherries, flowers, a unicorn, and more. Truthfully, though, most of those cat scratchers suck. We set out to find novelty scratchers worth testing for this guide, and most didn’t meet our size criteria because they were too small. A cat scratcher should always be big enough so that your cat can fully stretch out while using it. So we’ve limited our testing to horizontal scratchers that are at least 18 inches long and vertical scratchers that are at least 25 inches tall. (And bigger is always better. So if you have a bigger cat, we recommend snagging a larger vertical scratcher, around 32 inches tall.)
Many of the novelty cat scratchers we found are under 19 inches tall and are too lightweight to remain upright against a cat’s scratching. Some models seem tall enough, but they feature a smaller scratchable surface once assembled. For example, the Frisco Animal Series Cat Scratching Post (which looks like a llama) is roughly 25 inches tall, but the scratchable area, covered in sisal rope, is only 17 inches tall. The remaining 8 inches are covered by a faux-fur, stuffed llama-shaped head that cats can easily snag their nails on.
However, we thought the Vetreska Blooming Cactus Cat Tree showed promise with its 41 inches of scratchable surface, cushioned bed for kitty nap sessions, and weighted base to prevent tipping. We hoped to test it, and we placed an order through the company’s site—but it never arrived. When we reached out to customer service, we received no response. We’re unable to formally recommend this model.
Notable competition
Post scratchers
The tube of the Max & Marlow Sisal Scratch Post is divided into two pieces with a spacer in between, so in our tests it was less stable than scratching posts with poles that were a solid piece. And at 26 inches tall, it’s one of the shortest post scratchers we tested.
The MidWest Feline Nuvo Grand Forte Scratching Post is the largest post scratcher we tested. It weighs 20 pounds and measures 19 by 19 by 41 inches, too big for most households. Due to its mass, it’s harder to assemble, and you need to retighten the post several times to ensure a proper seal. Because the pole is divided by a spacer, it was less stable than half the posts we tested; stability problems are also a common complaint among online reviewers.
The Trixie Pet Products Parla Scratching Post is 24 inches tall, making it the shortest post scratcher we tested. Next to the competition, it isn’t as securely attached to the base because it doesn’t come with a washer, which is meant to distribute pressure evenly and give the nut a flat surface to lean on so that it doesn’t loosen over time.
Cardboard scratchers
The Catit Scratcher with Catnip (Wide) is a slab version of our budget pick, the Catit Style Scratcher with Catnip (Urban Bench). Although the cardboard density was the same between the two (4 mm), our testers favored the bench-style scratcher because it was elevated, which gave some cats the confidence to hang out in a high-traffic area for longer.
The K&H Kitty Tippy Scratch n’ Track Cardboard Toy came with attachable feet that made the scratcher wobble from side to side. While kittens enjoyed this interactive element, adult cats didn’t; they opted for stable cardboard scratchers instead.
The Kong Naturals Cat Scratcher (Incline) was the only scratcher our cat panelists didn’t scratch—we suspect that’s because they were too busy batting the crinkle ball that dangled from it.
The PetFusion Ultimate Cat Scratcher Lounge and the PetFusion Jumbo Cat Scratcher Lounge are the largest cardboard scratchers we tested, as well as the most expensive, at about $50 and $80, respectively. The cardboard is denser than that of the competition, with the layers being just 2 mm thick versus 4 mm thick, which makes it highly durable—but as a result, the layers are too dense for most cats to scratch comfortably. In our tests in a habitat of 30 cats, more of them preferred lounging on these models, so they’re ideal as shared beds in multicat homes.
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