This fellow reposted his ad as he had had a bunch of no-shows. I took the opportunity to email him about the scratcher. Here is his reply to that:

Me: J_____________, I can't take any of your stuff, but what you said about your cats and the new cat scratcher struck me as so funny and cat-typical that I posted that bit on a pet forum I frequent. Totally anonymously!

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?173562-Part-of-Freecycle-email-cat-scratcher-D&highlight=Freecycle

The cat owners there COMPLETELY understood. [?]

J: Glad you liked it.

Me: Have you tried catnip spray on it?


J: Actually, yeah - it came with a packet of catnip that you sprinkle over it. The part the cats are *supposed* to scratch is just layers of corrugated cardboard glued together and coated in a sort of sandpaper grit, so the catnip falls into the spaces in the cardboard. I used it, but the cats still totally ignored it. That was about when I lost interest too. I mean, if a *cat* doesn't care, why should *I*?


That last line - yup, he's owned by cats!