Emery Cat fail

We have five cats in the household; we also have fairly new, relatively spendy furniture, a sofa and two chairs. Each of these pieces is upholstered in material that is both attractive to and vulnerable to cats and their overly-sharp claws. As a result, we’ve been forced to strategically place lengths of double-sided tape along the sofa and chairs in hopes of discouraging the felines from clawing. This has met with only partial success, as the cats – wouldn’t you know it? – tend to scratch at areas that don’t have the tape on them. In fact, the most sagacious of the cats, Baxter, delights in actually removing the tape. Nice.

We had seen television ads for a product which promised some relief:

The secret is the Emery Cat™ Board’s patented honeycomb surface that works like a nail file, gently filing away sharpness. Infused with irresistible catnip, kitty keeps coming back for more.

So we bought one – not cheap – from the local pet supply emporium, set it up, and awaited the good news. This news never arrived; the Emery cat experience has been a big fat fail. The felines showed no more interest in the device as they might toward a large block of wood – considerably less, in fact.

Here you see Venice keeping a disdainful distance from the Emery Cat, while one-eyed Jack treats it as a delinquent might treat a lamppost – good for leaning against, and nothing more. That’s how impressed our cats are with this thing.

Currently, the Emery Cat is located under a wooden chair in the living room, ignored by cats and humans alike. In the meantime, we’re running low on double-sided tape.