Cat trees

What do they look like? | Buying a cat tree | Building a cat tree

I've been researching cat trees almost from the moment I got my last cat. It was such an intriguing topic, yet it was quite difficult to find the right kind of info in the beginning. I thought I'd help other cat owners out a bit by creating a page about the topic.

First of all, what do cat trees looke like? The quickest way to find out is to go to www.ebay.com and search for the words cat tree. You'll find every imagineable type, and all kinds of vendors there, from resellers to people who make and sell them as a hobby. But before you buy a tree there, check around, some bidding rounds are a bit too enthusiastic!

If you want to look at home made cat trees as well, you could pop over to http://images.google.com/ and search for "cat tree". There are ways you can fit climbing possibilities into living rooms that wouldn't have space for the bigger store bought ones, and some have come up with awesome solutions.

There are many websites shipping cat trees as well. Go to www.google.com and search for "cat tree". Also, don't forget Ebay.

I live in Scandinavia, and unfortunately we don't have that much of a choice in cat trees. Most of the cat trees are of the same type of construction as the one I bought for Pusur (see below), but different models (some are large and quite nice). But watch out, pet stores especially in Norway mark them up sometimes to almost double the price as the mail order stores!

Do you feel up to building a cat tree?

I've been asking myself that question for quite a while. I think I'll figure it out...

Here are some thoughts that may help:

There are websites with designs for building your own cat tree:

• Amby cat tree
• Variant of Amby's cat tree
• Ron Hazelton's workshop
• Links to several designs
• Animals and Us
• Simple ideas for materials to use
• Martha Stewart, using fallen tree (stylish, more than useful)

Swedish language designs (these are excellent!):

• Kicki's design
• Simpsons klösträd

Norwegian:

• Henng kattetre 2006

Apparently home made cat trees and kitty condos:

• The Cats Own the Living Room
• Allen
• Mary - has a closet dedicated to the cats
• Cat woman
• Cincinatti Cape Cod used a plan she bought
• Huron Humane Society got a donated cat room from Home Depot.
• Frick Kitties cat tree
• World's largest cat tree (it looks scary!)
• Felis Arborealis
• zhibzhii
• Twin's realm

For sale. I don't want to put up links to lots of cat tree manufacturers here, but one item deserved honorable mention:

• Ikea cat tree - the Swedes are doing their own tree. The weirdest cat tree I've ever seen. I always thought Ikea should make one. Not a good type for my cat, but probably good for athletic cats!

Items that could come in handy for different types of constructions for cats:

Large wooden spools. These are used to coil wire by utility companies. They come in different sizes, and some are sent back to be refilled, so you'd have to buy them. The smaller ones are scrapped, and they're about kitty sized (small kitty). I don't have a workable design for a large tree yet, but if you tack two on top of each other, secure and cover the top platform with carpet, you've got one almost as useful as the one I bought for Pusur (see below). If you also cut away one side of the middle platform and string sisal rope around the middle, you've got a small perch with scratching pad! I'm sure it would need some more TLC to be perfect, but it's a start if you've got no talent at carpentry or woodworking whatsoever!

Pusur's story:

I've been researching cat trees since I got Pusur. Although I really want a tall one, I'm hesitating a bit. I did buy a small cheapo one (it was on sale) because of the sisal rope I thought he could use as a scratching post. Problem was, he had absolutely no interest in the cat tree at all! It took over a week to find the right spot (after keeping an eye on him I found one spot where he wished he had a perch in front of a window and could also be the center of attention). That was after it had stood outside for a while getting the weird smell out (no idea what he reacted to, but he did not like the smell of that thing). The top perch is only 56 cm off the floor, but he still didn't like jumping directly to the top at first, he'd use something else as a stepping stone.

He is kinda clumsy, so I'm not sure he'll go for the most advanced cat trees, unless they have the waterfall design or he can get to the top via safe increments other ways. He's a good climber, but not a precision jumper...

He's finally started to use the sisal rope part for sharpening his claws, but still doesn't use it exclusively (rugs around the house, and probably trees outside). But sisal rope is a bit better, so hopefully he'll use it more and more. He's still put off by the cubby hole at the bottom of the cat tree. Although I managed to get him to stay there for a short while, he's not interested (and he's already a bit too big for it!).

Pusur's first home made tree:

This is my first DIY cat tree project, and it's not exactly pretty. Had Pusur been a different kind of cat, he would have been all over it constantly. But as it is, he's so cautious he'll generally only climb it when I'm around. Nothing (except hunting) is remotely as funny as when I play with him, apparently.

I used a carpet core roll, and stapled green veranda type carpet to it (it's got globs of plastic underneath it. That's what came with the carpet core roll). I then used sisal rope to secure it to a bookcase. He can then reach various shelves. I also have a perch made of those wooden spools so he can jump down. Since the picture was taken, I added another spool, and used the 'two spool' structure to build him a bed in the sun. So he can jump from the carpet core to the 'three spool' to the 'two spool'.

After a long time being apprehensive about the tree, Pusur doesn't need much prodding to climb it. He'll start by sharpening his claws, and pretty soon he's hind legs have left the floor. If I tap the carpet core or use a toy to lure him, he'll climb upwards. But he still prefers to go butt first down before he reaches the top. Once he flipped backwards and jumped to the wooden spools, another time he got careless and fell to the floor!

December 2003: Pusur isn't a kitten anymore, and these days he's often too lazy to climb the cat tree. Having the trash can in front of it doesn't help either. I put him halfway up the cat tree the other day. He scratched furiously, then tipped his head backwards to check that I was still there. Then he let himself fall into my arms. Too cute for words!

February 2008: We joke about Pusur that he's got a fat butt. He's not into jumping and climbing, unless he gets very excited. He's always been less interested in that kind of stuff, ever since he was a kitten. He's got a large frame, big paws and is slightly overweight, even though he doesn't actually look overweight. But he's so big people are shocked when they see him. He's easily double the size of most cats, and triple the size of some. He looks powerful, but is a gentle giant. It comes with a price - he isn't as elegant as most cats. When he comes running, you HEAR him from far away! But those powerful back legs also means he's a mean sprinter. He loves running. And he sometimes misses when he's jumping up. It's not pretty when he's hanging from his front paws, you better hope he's not hanging from your legs! Thankfully he usually doesn't miss when jumping up on a lap (something he does many times in a day). But he needs a cat tree that's got a stair step design, because otherwise he doesn't dare jump up on it! Keep that in mind when you get a cat. If it's a kitten with huge paws, he might turn out the way my cat did, and you should choose a design with a stair step design. Something he'll feel safe on when he gets so big most cat trees wobble when he jumps up on them!

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