Cardboard Cat Scratcher with Ball - Foldable 2-in-1 Lounger

A corrugated cardboard scratcher built like a concertina: it folds flat into a ring, bends into an arch, or opens out into a curved lounger, and a bell ball runs in the groove that the fold leaves down the middle.

What you get is one board. Several of the photos show two boards joined together to make a longer shape, because they connect magnetically end to end. That is two units. This listing is one.

Why cardboard, and why flat

Cats scratch in two directions and most homes only offer one. A vertical post covers the stretch-up-the-doorframe kind. This is the other one: the horizontal, dig-in-with-both-front-paws kind that otherwise ends up happening on a rug or the arm of a sofa. Corrugated card shreds a little under the claws, which is the point. That resistance is what a scratching surface is supposed to give.

Size and materials

• 24 x 24 x 10 cm (9.4 x 9.4 x 3.9 in), 350 g. It is a floor accessory, not furniture, and it is small enough to move from room to room.
• Corrugated paper bonded with cornstarch glue, in a dense honeycomb so the layers hold their shape instead of collapsing after a week.
• Magnetic joints on both ends, so two or more boards clip into one longer run and come apart again whenever you want.
• A bell ball is included, sized to roll along the central groove.

The ball is half the reason it works

A plain cardboard pad gets used when the cat happens to walk past it. The groove down the middle turns the same object into something to chase, and a cat that has already been playing on it is far more likely to scratch it. That is the whole idea behind pairing the two.

Where a scratcher fits alongside the rest of an indoor cat's day is covered in our guide to cat toys for when you work long hours.