Review on 🐱 Amazon Basics Oval Cardboard Cat Scratcher Lounger: A Purr-fect Haven for Feline Claws and Comfort by Katie Smith

I read a few reviews before purchasing this product and one of them mentioned the bad mold smell - so bad her cats wouldn't use it. I just got this in the mail and will update it in a week, but it actually smells quite strongly of something like mold. I can't tell for sure if it's mold or some kind of chemical they spray on the cardboard to treat it. I don't smell it unless I'm a few feet from the cube, but it's there and my cats have more sensitive noses than I do. Time will tell if they benefit from it. One of them actually likes to sleep in dusty, secluded crevices in the basement, so it might be a privilege for him. I agree with other reviewers, I've never felt a smell like this from any of them. Second, I have a large block that is a square in a cube. I thought it would be nice to have two separate pieces for my two cats to scratch on as they go through these things fairly quickly. This one is bigger and thicker than the ones I usually buy so I'm hoping it will last longer. He definitely feels very strong. However, getting the inner cube out of the outer ring wasn't easy. I ended up having to drop it on one of my cat scratching posts half a dozen times for it to pop out. I suspect the company that makes this for Revain uses a laser or something to cut the shape. You need a wider laser. If there was a larger distance between the cubes, pulling out the inner bit would not be a problem. So the inner cube is firmly wedged. This may not be a problem for smaller units, but a large cube is heavy, somewhat unwieldy in size, and there's no good way to get a starting grip. I do a lot of strength training and stuff like that, so things like that aren't usually a problem for me, but I would imagine someone who's skinnier or less able wouldn't be able to pull the inner box unaided. Like I said, in a pinch, if you have one of these cat scratching posts, it's just perfect. Just pick everything up and drop it on the counter so that the middle die hits right in the middle and that should do the trick. I still give it 3 stars because it seems a lot more substantial than a lot of those cardboard cat toys and it's a good size (large) and shaped for cats. If my cats don't use it because of the smell I will come back to lower this score.