The Diogenes Scratching Barrel Review

The Diogenes Scratching Barrel review from the Bombadillo kittens - find out what they thought! Impartial reviews from the Bombadillo Kittens. Always.

Pet Product Reviews: The Diogenes Scratching Barrel Review

Medium, in beige

Rating 4/5 for adult cats

Rating 5/5 for kittens

The Diogenes Scratching Barrel is around 75cm tall, has three sections inside it, and a soft ‘nest’ on the top. We have only used this for kittens and their mums as we use much larger cat towers for our adult cats. If you have the space and the budget, I would suggest a larger tower for fully grown cats as it is very beneficial to the health of a cat for them to be climbing during the day, especially if they are indoor only cats.

There is no assembly required! It comes in a box from Amazon and you simply take it out of its protective plastic packaging and it is good to go. This makes it a great option for anyone who struggles with DIY, or anyone who has mobility issues.

The Diogenes Barrel does come in larger sizes, but as we were looking for something for young kittens, this was the perfect size. The exterior of the barrel is completely covered in sisal, which is fantastic for the kittens to scratch and keeps their claws from entering the razor blade stage!

Inside and on the top the barrel it is covered in very soft plush material. The very top of the barrel also has a ring of stuffed material covered in the plush fabric running around its circumference. This creates a very snuggly nest on the top and we often had the entire litter sleeping up there together, all piled on top of each other!

Diogenes Scratching Barrel review

There are three levels inside the barrel, and each has an entrance hole. The mid level can be access from the bottom level, which gives the kittens plenty of opportunity for super-cute play! The barrel also comes in other colours and sizes, including an XXL which we would love to get our hands on!

This tower is an excellent option for kittens, or for anyone for whom space is an issue as this is a lovely compact tower that still encourages the kittens to climb and play, and the nest on the top is very popular.

We have only had this barrel for a few months, so we have yet to see how long it will last, but we have high hopes for it because it seems to be made very well. The only imperfections is that the three pom pom balls all came off quite quickly. But, to be fair, there were a litter of 4 very bouncy, energetic kittens climbing all over it!

Update: we have now had this for a good while. Aside from most of the pom poms coming off quite quickly, the barrel looks as good as new. We like them so much we have actually purchased 2 more of these barrels. A lot of our kitten parents have also got these barrels for their kittens, and we have had very positive feedback from all of them too.

A very high quality item, and good value for money with an accessible price point. Highly recommended.