You probably don’t agree with your cat’s ideas for remodeling your living room. But your cat doesn’t claw the couch or scrape the drapes because she’s a bad kitty, she does it because it’s a normal, instinctive behavior- one that you don’t want to discourage either.

Cats scratch objects in their environment for many reasons: to remove the dead outer layer of their claws, to mark their territory by leaving both a visual mark and a scent, and to stretch their bodies and flex their feet and claws. To appease your feline and save your furniture, try this DIY cat scratcher that they will love.

You are going to need a cat-shape cut out, a large piece of cardboard, box cutter, ruler, pencil, craft glue, and hair pins.

The Furry Gurus suggest first finding a cat-shape that you like. You can print one off of the Internet. Next, glue the cutout to cardboard and then carefully cut out with a box cutter.

On another piece of cardboard, make 2-centimeter strips and cut them out. Glue one strip along the edge of the cut out. Be sure to hold the cardboard down until the glue dries. Glue a second layer inside of the edge strip. Use hair pins to keep the strips in place, and then cut and measure short straight stripe of cardboard to glue inside of the edge.

Fill in the entire shape of the cat with stripes of board ensuring you secure with glue. Add some catnip and watch your cats scratch away.

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