Cuddly Paws covers two everyday cat jobs: litter, in soy and bentonite versions, and upright sisal scratching posts in 40cm and 60cm.
Soy or bentonite
They behave differently and the choice is a real one. Bentonite is mineral clay: it clumps hard, it is what most cats are used to, and it is heavy — which is good for tracking and bad for carrying up stairs. It goes in the bin, not the compost or the toilet.
Soy litter is plant-based, much lighter, and lower in dust, which matters in a house where someone has asthma or where a cat has a respiratory problem. It is usually more expensive per change.
Whichever you choose, change litter type gradually. A cat that finds a completely different substrate in its tray one morning may decide the tray is no longer a toilet, and getting that back is far harder than mixing the new in over a week.
Scratching posts: buy on height
Height is the specification that matters, because a cat scratches to stretch as much as to sharpen. A post the cat cannot reach full stretch on gets ignored in favour of the arm of your couch. Measure the cat standing on its back legs with its front paws reaching up: a full-grown cat generally needs the 60cm, and the 40cm suits kittens and small adults.
Then get the placement right. Put the post where the cat is already scratching rather than where you would prefer it, and move it gradually once it is being used. And check it does not wobble — a post that shifts when leaned on gets abandoned.
