REVIEW – I’ve got cats. Two of them, to be exact, and they are angels when it comes to using a scratching post. One of them has arthritis, however, so she is limited to scratching the base of the posts she has. The Mau Torii cat scratcher allows the elegant style of hardwood yet the flat, easy to scratch cardboard she can (hopefully) get her claws into.
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $139.00
Where to buy: Mau Website
What is it?
The Mau Torii cat scratcher is a simple yet stylish horizontal scratcher. It merges a solid wood base with the tried-and-true refillable cardboard scratcher. (According to my cat, it also comes in a very nice box.)
Design and features
Compared to the other pieces of cat furniture I have, the Mau Torii definitely had the easiest setup. I just had to lift it out of the box and find a nice place to put it.
It comes in two pieces: the wooden base, which is made of ash, and the cardboard scratcher, which rests on top and can be replaced as needed. The only downside is that refills are not standard and must, therefore, be ordered through the website.
The walnut stained wooden base is not too heavy and easy to pick up and move around. The size, at 21″ x 11.5″ x 5.5″ with a 17″ diameter base, seemed to be a good size to set parallel against a wall. This way the Torii aesthetic of the scratcher is there, yet it’s also easy for a cat to access. The cardboard scratcher is very lightweight and rests on top with just a little motion as it is not stuck down in any way. The quality of the cardboard scratcher seems better than the cardboard scratchers I’ve tried, as it doesn’t look to be slowly smashing down over the weight of my cat. We’ll see as time goes on, however.
Abbie, my orange cat, was the first to be intrigued about this new piece of furniture in the room. I think they somehow know when an item is theirs, as she sat on it like she owned it. Ever since I took the initial pictures of the Torii Mau scratcher, she’s used it as a chair to sit and watch while I walk around and clean up the room. As for Clio, the arthritic cat? She could not care less about it.
As a last resort, I added some of the catnip included with the Mau Torii scratcher onto the cardboard. I waited and waited to see if Abbie would utilize the scratcher, and I did catch a glimpse once of her carefully trying it out, but other than that, she used it as her own personal throne.
Final thoughts
Overall, I loved the aesthetic of the Mau Torii scratcher, plus it looks great in my living area, but my cats still preferred their sisal rope scratching posts. The cardboard intrigued them, and my orange cat loved to sit and relax on it, but I had no luck getting them to scratch. For the price, I would only recommend it if your cat is a solid cardboard scratcher user, else you might end up with an expensive (yet luxurious) cat chair like I have.
What I like about the Mau Torii cat scratcher
- Elegant looking for a cat scratcher
- Cats can sit on it as well as scratch due to the design
What needs to be improved?
- Quite pricey
- Refills are expensive
Price: $139.00
Where to buy: Mau Website
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Mau. Mau did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
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