myKotty Can cat furniture make a good impression? Sure it can! Just look at the dignified LUI scratcher which has won your hearts from the very beginning, dear fabCats. At myKotty, we always say a definite YES to combining modern aesthetics with furrtastic functionality – to the delight of cats and their Guardians. But a minimalistic design and undeniable elegance are not the only advantages of our flagship LUI scratcher. According to the cats, LUI is a scratcher worthy of cat royalty – a shiny pearl in a cat treasure box. Today, fabCats, we’re giving you a unique opportunity to get to know it much closer.
FabCat – this is LUI
You could ask us where the idea for a big, cardboard scratcher with a hole inside came from. The answer is simple: necessity is the mother of invention! When the myKotty brand was first coming to life, we were simply cat Carers – living with Luis, whom we adopted from a shelter as our first feline friend and who loved cardboard, a lot. Cardboard scratchers were, of course, available on the market already, but none of those we could find fit our aesthetics and we didn’t really like how they were manufactured, with sharp edges instead of a suede-like finish – the technique later invented by myKotty. At this point, we thought to ourselves: “Could cat furniture go together with our interiors and be a beautiful piece of furniture?”. But what do you have two working hands and heaps of creativity boosted by frequent coffee cups for? We got into designing our first pieces right away and soon after we came up with the first prototype for LUI.
Why LUI? After the name of the one the idea came from – our cat, Luis. The shape of the scratcher was not an accidental choice. We love curved shapes in Zara Hadid’s architecture and the sleek cat silhouette and those two purrfect muses inspired us to create an aesthetic and functional cat scratcher. As a fun fact we can tell you that, when designing LUI, the inspiration for its curved-like-a-cat-spine shapes were also skiing goggles! A casual clash of architecture, nature and sport 🙂
The opening inside LUI seemed natural to us – because of the size of the scratcher, the entire thing seemed too clunky and it didn’t have the lightweight look we were looking for. Cutting out the hole turned out to be the perfect solution and the inside of LUI, in the spirit of using every square inch of material, became our strongman – the VIGO scratcher. That’s how we made not one, but two original cat scratchers which, despite their many similarities, are very different from each other and are both equally accepted by cats and their Carers.
LUI – a scratcher fit for cat royalty
Popularity of our LUI scratcher is in no way a coincidence – its shape, size, scratching surfaces and multifunctionality are the things that cats love the most. After all, there’s no better feeling than digging your claws into a sturdy cardboard and working out all the muscles, from the tips of the paws to the end of the tail. LUI is a fully ergonomic scratcher that fits purrfectly with the position cats naturally take to scratch horizontally.
For another fun fact we will tell you, that it’s the pose of our Luis stretching on a LUI prototype is the one that was captured for the myKotty brand logo. And despite our beloved Luis not being with us anymore and he’s now running around with our other cat friend – the ginger Figo – on rainbow fields, being able to look at our products with the myKotty logo, we know that thanks to them, he’ll “live” forever.
What can a distinguished cat nobleman expect when training on LUI? A luxurious experience, of course. When he gets to a comfy spot on top of the scratcher, he’ll feel a soft, smooth corrugated cardboard under his paws, one that feels like suede to the touch. And even when there are signs of use on the scratcher, it still stays gentle and safe for cat’s paws. No wonder every self-respecting cat decides to take a nap on it right after their training.
LUI is more than a scratching board. It’s a comfy lounger, a cosy cat sofa – a true sleeping pod that one can take to fly away to the catnip-filled dreamland. Set up by the window, it can serve as a great spot for observing birds outside the window, sunbathing and suppurvising everything that happens at home. Paired together with some other furniture, it can be a starting step for a cat superhighway around the house, a footstool leading to the couch and a trusty guardian of the upholstered furniture, always protecting them from a scratching demise. LUI is also a cat playground, double-decked and ready for some cat mischief. LUI can do everything and cats who have LUI can do even more.
Fun for cats, design for the cat Carer
The designs for myKotty scratchers are made with cats and for cats. It’s thanks to the opinion of our fur friends that we know that scratching boards should be sturdy, durable, comfy and happy to be scratched. Cats can’t imagine having a piece of furniture that slides out from under their paws or one that shreds so much, there’s not much left of it after a week of use. LUI passed all the cat quality control tests in those categories. Besides the technique we invented to manufacture the scratchers, the one that makes them a sturdy and solid piece and also makes them gentle for cats paws, as well as using high quality materials and making sure all LUI surfaces are purrfect for scratching, the durability and longevity of the scratcher is secured by strengthened front pieces that make the scratcher last even longer.
And what do cat Carers have to say about it? No worries, fabCats – as far as design and the final look of the scratchers is concerned, we’re not compromising. By the decree of Luis and cats on the myKotty team, LUI and all the scratchers that come after it should look elegant and fit all interiors. When a cat and a human share their space, everyone should be happy. This is why cats can go on top of the sofa to leave their fluffs behind and in return, hoomans get good looking cat furniture that they don’t have to hide in the corners and their sofa doesn’t scream to be saved from the claws.
Tip treasure chest – what can you do to make LUI last longer?
Scratchers are not quantum physics – even kittens understand them with no issues! You don’t even need a manual to use them – just jump up, stretch out and scratch. But we do love digging around our tip treasure chest for you, fabCats, and sending you some useful tips and tricks that make using LUI even more pleasant.
- Don’t put the VIGO scratcher inside the LUI scratcher. Though similar in shape, LUI and VIGO prefer to perform solo. Standing beside one another they get along just fine, but it’s not their favourite thing to be inseparable. As a matter of fact, when VIGO is pushed inside LUI, taking it out can be impossible and dramatic for both scratchers! We know from a trusted source that cats prefer to have two scratchers, so putting them together into one completely misses the point.
- Beware of humidity. Cats don’t like it, scratchers don’t like it – LUI and dampness don’t go hand in hand. So if the LUI finds itself on a balcony or a patio in the summer, remember to take it back home before it gets a rainy shower.
- Clean it carefully. Accidents happen even to the cat royalty. Removing them is not an easy task, but if you approach the matter carefully, you should be able to deal with anything. Because of the nature of corrugated cardboard, LUI doesn’t like to be cleaned with a wet cloth or any detergents. But if you do remove most of the dirt with a dry cloth or a sponge and then let the stain dry out, scraping off the rest of it later with a brush, LUI will feel much better. And though it will have the war scars for the rest of its life, from a cat’s point of view, it will still be fully usable.
- Use it double-sided. We love to make the fun last as long as it can, which is why LUI is a double-sided scratcher. Once one of the surfaces is beaten up, just flip the entire scratcher upside down and let your cat have fun with it all over again. Double-sided design gives the LUI double the lifespan – less shopping, less waste, more eco-friendly. ♲
A word from our fabCats
We could tell you about LUI indefinitely, but what would a scratcher be without fabCats who use it? We asked for your opinion about LUI on our Instagram and got some really interesting responses! Asked to describe LUI in one sentence, you answered:
@ollie.thechartreux: because the LUI scratcher is the perfect spot for our cat to watch birds in front of the window.
@frodo_and_frenkie: the cats totally love it, because it is so multifunctional! They use it for sleeping, relaxing, playing and scratching.
@elchapo_adventures: we have our LUI scratcher as long as we have El Chapo, for 5 years now, such good quality, we love them so much we have 3 in the house!
@louisandpip: we love it because it’s so multifunctional, the kitties can sleep, play, scratch and hide: it’s purrfect!
LUI also got many great reviews on Facebook which we want to thank you for, fabCats. And now a question – do your cats use a LUI scratcher already? Let us know in the comments, tag us on social media, use #myKotty and show us how your fur friends sharpen their claws – we want to get to know them all!
