We have a small carpeted cat tree with a sisal/hemp covered scratching post support. The cats seem to love this scratching post more than any other, as they have torn up the sisal to where it is falling off the post in several places. I would like to repair this by replacing the sisal cord in its entirety. The post was commercially made and cost around $40 new.
I found this video that does make it look very possible to do this repair myself. The video (and several other sources) suggest using either white (Elmer's) glue or hot glue as a means of securing the sisal to the post. This would certainly be low cost, but I'm concerned about the toxicity. So far as I've noticed, none of the other scratching posts we've bought have used an adhesive of any kind. Instead, it seems they've used an out-of-sight metal fastener (staple, nail etc.).
One of our cats has a habit of eating everything he can get his teeth around. Is glue a safe material for repairing the cat tree, or would be risk of poisoning? Or should I just do the repairs the hard way and get a staple gun or break out the hammer and nails?
Update: I was all set to repair the post with solid materials only (new sisal and metal staples). I started disassembling the torn and shredded sisal and it became clear that the original manufacturer had used at least 2 types of glue. One is a hot-glue look alike used near the ends, which were also secured with numerous staples. The other was more of a contact cement applied to the whole cardboard tube, around which the sisal was wrapped. I'm going to look into the glue safety some more and see if I can't get something similar.