This is a specific conversation about Cat scratching posts — ones they'll actually use — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A territorial older cat and a kitten competing for scratching spots is a really common flashpoint — the older cat has claimed those posts as part of their territory, so the kitten either can't use them or keeps triggering conflict. The fix is almost always adding more dedicated posts rather than trying to share. Before I suggest anything specific: how big is your Snowshoe, does he or she scratch mainly vertically or does your kitten prefer horizontal surfaces too, and what furniture or surfaces are they targeting when the posts aren't available?
My Snowshoe, Biscuit, is a decent size — probably 5kg. She mainly scratches vertically, loves the corners of the sofa. The kitten, Pip, mostly copies her but has started going for the carpet by the door. Biscuit will literally sit in front of the post and just stare at Pip if he gets near it.
inparticular.ai
That stare-and-block behaviour is classic resource guarding — Biscuit sees that post as hers and Pip approaching it is a direct challenge. At 5kg, Biscuit also needs a tall, heavy post to get a proper full-body stretch, which is probably why the sofa corners appeal — they're the right height and they don't wobble. What does the current post look like? Height and base size roughly, if you know?
It's one of those smaller ones that came with a cat tree, maybe 40cm of scratching surface? It wobbles a bit if she really goes for it. There's also a flat cardboard scratcher on the floor which neither of them really uses.
inparticular.ai
That explains a lot. 40cm is too short for Biscuit — she can't fully extend, so the sofa is doing the job the post should be doing. And if it wobbles, cats learn quickly not to trust it. Here's what I'd do: get two proper tall standalone posts, one for each cat, placed in different rooms or at least opposite ends of the same room so Biscuit can't guard both. For Pip and the carpet scratching by the door, a flat sisal mat placed right there will redirect him immediately — cats scratch at thresholds as a marking behaviour, so location matters. The product I'd go with for the main posts is the Feandrea 100cm Tall Sisal Scratching Post — it's genuinely heavy-based, doesn't wobble under a big cat, and at 100cm Biscuit can stretch fully. Sisal is also much more satisfying to scratch than carpet-covered posts, so it tends to win over the sofa.
Would Pip actually use a tall post though? He's quite small still and I worry he'd ignore it.
inparticular.ai
Kittens grow into tall posts faster than you'd think, and they often use them partially — scratching the lower section while they're small. The bigger issue is that if Pip has his own post that Biscuit isn't guarding, he'll use it. You can also rub a little dry catnip into the base of Pip's post to make it more appealing from day one. The flat sisal mat at the door is still worth adding for him — that carpet scratching is him marking his territory at an entry point, and redirecting it early saves the carpet. But the Feandrea tall post will work for both cats at different heights, and two of them solves the territorial problem entirely.
That makes sense. So two of the Feandrea tall posts and a flat sisal mat — I'll give that a go. Is there anything I should do with the old wobbly post?
inparticular.ai
Retire it, honestly. Once you have two solid posts in place, remove the wobbly one — it's teaching both cats that posts aren't trustworthy. Put the new posts where the scratching is already happening: one near the sofa corner Biscuit likes, one somewhere Pip has started claiming as his space. Cats scratch where they already scratch, so positioning them on those existing spots gives you the best chance of both cats switching over quickly. Should be a noticeable difference within a week.
