What is This Contraption?

Any idea what this is?
We have a problem in the house. We recently brought Vlaad in and made him a full time house cat, and since cats will be cats, he is sharpening his nails on every piece of wood trim in the house. We have a lot of wood trim. This is what happens:

Sooooooooooo, some friends of ours visited us this Sunday from Virginia and they told us about this cat contraption that will not only thrill the kitty but allow him to sharpen his claws at the same time. And it's not exotic or complicated, you can by it at Walmart. Basically all it consists of is a cork board, that you impregnate with catnip, set in a plastic disc with a slot containing a ball running around the perimeter. It's ingenious really.

Needless to say, the cat not only loved it, but sharpened his claws and did all the things he was supposed to do. He rolled on it, rubbed his head against it, chased the ball around in circles. Then he collapsed on it and fell asleep! Then he did it all again this morning. I would highly recommend this toy to every cat owner if only to watch the antics the cat gets up to (and of course Rascal, not to be left out of the action, had to stick his snout in and see what all the fuss was about).

It remains to be seen however, if the cat will stop scratching the wood in the house. I'll keep ya posted.

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