Any suggestions on how to transition semi-feral from scratching outside wood (some tree logs used to partition off garden) to a scratching post? Totally not interested in a post. Also, I'm in the process of making an outside house out of bins. He hasn't been interested in other outdoor shelters for more than a few days, so any pointers on getting him to use the new shelter I'm building? There is a crawl space under house that I've left accessible for his safety which he does go into if feels threatened & might sleep there at night (not sure)--and wondering if I close it off whether he'd be more apt to use new house? I'm a little apprehensive about taking away his refuge?
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Scratching & Housing Advice
- Thread starter yemiya
- Start Date
I know when I was a teen we had an outdoor cat that became and indoor/outdoor cat that used a piece of driftwood my dad had that he had placed it in a corner thinking it was artistic. Maybe you could find something like that and spray it with catnip?
This could be a little bit hit and miss and you will have to try various things like the driftwood, catnip, corrugated scratching toys, etc. As for the shelter under the house, last summer a feral mom had a little under my neighbor's house. Neighbor was cool about it but did want them to leave but they were very much attached to the place where I am sure they were born. Ultimately, we had to get them out as she was having the house remodeled and they did transition to living on my property and seem to have forgotten about the crawl space. However, only one of them uses the cat beds I have for them in the garage. The crawl space is your cat's refuge and it might be a process to get him to leave it without making him feel as if he is homeless.
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Regarding scratching, I have experimented with corrugated objects and sisal, but he's not interested. I've considered buying a wooden post (not many manufacturers out there), but will give it some more time. I can also try covering the logs I don't want damaged any further with something temporary. Regarding the cathouse, I'll see what he does. Although I don't want him in the crawl space, I really want him to be warm which is what the cat house will provide. He's afraid of any foreign object but did go into two other sleep spaces (one after a few months, the other after a few days) but then stopped & can't figure out why. A puzzle!
Cats are often a puzzle and you have to keep trying combinations. 
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