Cats who scratch horizontally are a different problem from cats who go up the arm of the sofa, and a tall post does nothing at all for them. This is built for the floor-level sort: a fruit-shaped ball wound in sisal, fixed onto a flat mat base, which a cat can rake at with the front paws while lying down or standing over it, and bat about between scratches.

The ball shape is more useful than it sounds. A cat's claws come in at an angle, and a curved surface means every stroke finds a decent bite no matter how they approach it, which a flat board does not manage. The sisal is tightly wound so it takes repeated clawing without unravelling into loose string across the carpet, and the flat mat base spreads the load enough to stop the whole thing skating across a hard floor every time it gets used.

• Fruit-shaped ball wound in natural sisal
• Flat mat base to keep it steady
• Two sizes, small and large
• Listed in orange
• Suits solo play as well as scratching
• Floor-level design for horizontal scratchers

On sizing, and on what this is not. And it is a horizontal scratcher: if your cat's habit is stretching up the door frame or the back of the sofa, this will not redirect them on its own, and you want a tall post as well.

Who it's for: Cats who claw at rugs, carpet and the base of the sofa, and single cats who need something to knock about on their own.