I'm adopting a male brown rosetted bengal kitten named Hunter in about three weeks, and so we're busy kitten proofing and bengal proofing our house.
Today we went out to a pet store to buy heaps and heaps of toys, a bed, litter tray and all of those things and we realised what we needed, a scratching post!
We already have two domestic short hairs, one who does scratch, a tiny little grumpy black and white girl, and a big fluffy black mummy's boy who stretches up on the kitchedn cupboards, but doesnt actually scratch. When we got our black boy we bought a small scratching post but he never used it as he couldnt stretch out at all as he was already way to big, so we got rid of it.
Now we're getting our new little guy and want him to be able to fully stretch out and scratch to his hearts content, but we dont know how big he will be when hes stretched out!
The last thing we want to do it spend 60-150 dollars on a scratching post thats too small and have to buy another one!
We all know how annoying it can be when you cant stretch out properly, and we dont want Hunter getting frustrated and moving on to our couch or somewhere else just because his scratching post is too short!
Please help us, we're very experienced cat owners, so we know they can stretch out incredibly far, but we have never had a bengal or a really large cat! How long will he be stretched out and fully grown?

Hiya

My advice would be to get a cat tower not a post ...have a look on this thread

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=16737&hilit=cat+trees

No nothing ever Elaine - I did wonder when putting it down but they show no interest in it at all

All of mine hate the gravel in our garden, they avoid walking on it when I take them outside. Will balance on the thin curb to avoid wet grass on one side and gravel on the other! Lol makes me laugh every time.

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Lollo

How long? Last night Max was laying on top of my scanner and stretched the rest of his body past my 17" monitor.
He can reach up and hook my belt loops (I'm 5'6") and can do a vertical leap/reach 4" above our light switches.
Get tall things. Really tall things

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the taller the better! I have a cat tower that had tall post and had to trash it because it was falling apart. Now I have bought a new one to replace it and the cats never use it to scratch, because the post are not tall enough! They do use the horizontal scratcher that is attached and also the other cat tower! Make sure you get it TALL! I would also check out eBay! You can buy a cat tower for the price of a single scratcher on there! I get all of my cat furniture from eBay!

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hi again,
thank you so much for the input guys!
ive been looking mainly on ebay and gumtree and have found some great stuff! Now just to decide which one!
im just worried about getting a really tall one incase he knocks it over!
i found a 240cm tall one, but the base is only 30cm x 43cm and is probebly easily knocked over
which is best to get? a simple tall one, or a slightly shorter one with lots of toys and dangly things?
thanks,
christina

Hi Christina, it would help to at least know which country you are in.

I bought Benji this one which he loves. It is in a corner so it is more stable and you could also fix it to the wall or ceiling if you were worried about it falling over. Benji has given this some severe grief as in throwing himself at it at full pelt with absolutely no sign of it falling!

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/scra ... ling/98034


Heather

hah woops, cant belive i forgot to add my country! i live in australia, in victoria to be exact, but if i find the right cat tree, i dont mind shipping it :)
speaking of, that cat tree is amazing! not sure we want a floor to roof one, just incase as a kitten he falls off (i know he probebly wont, its just me being a worried mum!)

we're just throwing up between a few main ones at the moment,

this one is 60cm x 40 cm x 153cm white and fluffy with 4 levels and a hammock


this one is 43cm x 30cm x 240cm, so its a floor to roof one, but we're just concerned that its too plain and simple and straight


this one is 148cm x 46cm

137cm tall
170cm tall
these two are really similar, just different in size

i hope all of those photos worked, or thats just a bunch of letters!
just let me know which one you think is best, i trust you guys to know which is best!

also, just curious if anyone knows from experience what type of material i should use to kitten proof holes and crawlspaces? im not really keen on the little guy sneaking under my wardrobe or next to the fridge or anything like that :)

christina

I like the last but one tree you've posted for a new young kitten coming into the house

Just an observation, but most of these trees when shipped come in sections, with screw in roped scratch post elements. Therefore - they can be modular and height added as your kitten grows.... Just because it can reach the ceiling doesn't mean it has to!

I would build two levels, using the cubby-hole and a scratchy section, then put the upper piece on,(so no sharp edges / holes) and add elements as required.