Oh, Peno!

When I went to buy little Miss Ezra her Curl, Petsmart had a sale on - buy one scratcher, get one 50% off. And Peno was in sad need of a new scratcher

I bought it for her when I first adopted her almost 10 years ago (hard to believe it's been that long!). The saddle on top is her favourite place to hang out. We've always kept the scratcher in a dark corner, and it gives her just enough height to smack her brothers in the face if they get too close. But as you can see, it's in pretty rough shape - she's not just down to the wood...

But almost right through it.

When I told Dave of my plan - he told me not to bother - the current one is just fine. But he's not the one getting splinters in his feet every time the cat hair needs to be swept from the corner...

So, I went ahead and got one as close to this one as I could. Peno was ahead of me as I was carrying it up the stairs, and when we got to her corner, she turned around and HISSED at it (Peno never hisses!).
Of course, Dave was standing nearby, so he let out a smug "Toldya!"

Not to be deterred, I covered it in catnip. No luck. I figured she'd go in it eventually, but night after night, she's downstairs on the couch, looking depressed. So I finally got fed-up, picked her up (which she hates!), carried her upstairs and put her in it.

 "What is this thing? Where's my other one?!?"

"Fine... I'll sit in it..."

"...but don't expect me to like it."

She stayed in it for a couple hours, while I read my book, keeping half an eye on her from the bedroom. but tonight..... tonight she's back on the couch looking depressed...

...sigh....