Category: Behind The Scenes

Each month we ask our staff what they scratch, and each month the answers get worse. This time Dolores chose the arm of the break room chair. Fenwick chose a wooden door frame. Our delivery driver, a young cat named Bolt, chose a Dazzler Classic, which was a relief.

I abstained. As owner, I am required to maintain a professional distance from the product. That said, in the privacy of the stockroom, behind a pile of cartons, I have been seen to tap a post once with my paw. It was lovely, and I will deny it.

Friends, you have asked, and I have answered. Yesterday, for the first time in my career, I actually stood close to a scratching post. I put my front paws on it. I leaned in.

Reader, it was warm, and rough, and it smelled like a hardware shop. I scratched it for eleven seconds, then went and sat down, feeling strangely moved. The staff say they have never seen me so quiet. My business partner Fenwick says I looked ‘disturbed’. I looked at the post for an hour afterwards. It looked back. I have decided to put my paws on it again.

Ever wonder where your scratching post comes from? Come with me on a tour of the Dazzler Production Floor, a warm shed in Hinterfield where four rope spinners work from dawn until their first nap.

Here, bales of raw sisal are twisted into rope, wound around a wooden core and secured with 88 staples. Quality control is performed by Dolores, a tortoiseshell in a hairnet, who inspects each post by standing on it. Anything that holds her weight for more than four seconds goes out for sale. Anything that collapses goes to a nice farm.