How to Make a Simple and Cheap Cat Scratching Board.

You will need:

• a piece of old carpet
• a thin plank of wood
• a staple gun

Trim the wood, or the carpet, so that the carpet and wood are the same length (ie. so no wood will be showing when the carpet is wrapped around). Fold the carpet, wrong side out around the wood, so that it meets. The side of the board with the join will be the reverse side. Using your staple gun, staple the carpet onto the board.

When we bought our kitten, we also felt compelled to buy her the biggest scratching post/tower in the pet shop. It was pretty much a waste of money, since she showed no interest in scratching the bamboo posts on it.

So my husband made his own scratching board using nothing but a short plank of wood about two feet long, a square of carpet and a staple gun. He folded the carpet wrong side out around the wood and used the staple gun to attach it. Our cat loves to scratch the reverse side of the carpet which is like loosely woven hessian.

It's so light you can move it all over the house, and she will use it while it's lying down flat, or propped at an angle against something else. You could even make several of them for different areas of the house.

And when the piece of carpet is completely shredded (it lasted a year and a half), simply take the carpet off and replace it with a fresh piece.

Her favourite toy isn't any of the things we bought from the pet shop. What she really loves are little satin jewellery pouches. She loves the way they slide all over the floor. She also loves hair elastics, and recently we pulled out 47 of them that she had tucked under our rug.

And the bed we bought her? She prefers a wicker document basket that she found in the study. Now that's her bed, lined with a pair of my daughter's flannel pyjamas.

My advice as a new pet owner to other future pet owners - take a look on Hubpages and other sites for the ideas and money-saving tips of experienced pet owners before you visit the pet shop!!