cat tree

So, I think I might buy this cat tree

http://www.armarkat.ca/b5301.htm

It says free shipping to Canada. I like this one. It's about 4 1/2' tall. The colour isn't too obnoxious. It looks sturdy. It has a lot of options for play and perching. It's only about $100. What do you think?

thats a nice one, and their cat trees are not bad at all we have 2 with 6 cats and well they LOVE their cat trees, although we have one similar to the one u might get and well the walkway staircase thing broke we dont know if it was my niece/nephews, the dogs, or the cats but its still usable and sturdy and the onee i have up in my room i havent had to tighten yet at all they are very sturdy the one downstairs we did tighten once already tho but they are great

I'm really tempted to just go for it. $100 isn't tooooo out of hand, and I've been wanting one for ages but didn't want to spend $200+. I think they'd get a lot out of it, especially when I'm at work and they're bored.
Spending money on the internet always feels wierd, if you know what I mean.
I don't have dogs, and kids visit occaisonally but not that often, so I think the ramp would be safe. I can always re-inforce it if it gets wobbly.

Ohhh I like it! Was thinking of getting that one, too. I want the fleece for Seb because he just loves his fleece bed. It really is a good price if shipping is included. Let us know if you get it

Fleece could be cool, however i noticed with my own fleece clothing that it attracts fur like a magnet and doesn't let go, even in the washing machine.

We have 4 trees from them. They've all done well even with 18lb Mister launching himself onto them

This was my first cat tree! I can't believe you chose that one! I had it for about 3 years before I decided to go larger! It was very sturdy, and my girls just loved it! Did you check out eBay? That is where I have bought both of of my trees - directly from Amarikat. I don't know what they charge for shipping, but there is a huge selection of cat trees on eBay! Congratulations!

Originally Posted by Fred&Nermal

So, I think I might buy this cat tree

http://www.armarkat.ca/b5301.htm

It says free shipping to Canada. I like this one. It's about 4 1/2' tall. The colour isn't too obnoxious. It looks sturdy. It has a lot of options for play and perching. It's only about $100. What do you think?

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I love it am sure my kits will. They have a cat tree now but it is simple and they love it. I think you should get it.

With the exchange it will be more than $120 plus even though the shipping is free, you may want to check how much Duty and Customs will cost you. I know Merrick sent me a half case of cat food and I had to pay more than $10.00 for them - it worked out to about a dollar per can for the "free" catfood.

Our local PetValu has some nice cat trees plus they have a book you can look at to choose one that they will order in for you. That route may cost you the same or less and be more convenient in the long term.

I'm personally not one to buy things on the internet or by catalogue since I cannot see the actual product to see what the quality of the item is really like but that's my thing. I'd rather pay say $175 for a better quality item than pay $120 twice in the same time frame for 2 cheaper quality items.

That is the exact same cat tree that I first bought, and less than two years later, it is in REALLY bad shape. The top piece is no longer sturdy from Ginger leaping onto and off of it (and she is only 8 pounds,) and I can't tighten it any longer.

The screws that hold the poles onto the bases stripped when I was first putting it together, making it wobbly from the get-go, and I had to change out a bottom pole to replace the top one so that it would be as sturdy as possible.

It is an inexpensive style because it is made with pressboard instead of real wood, and I'm close to tossing mine out and replacing it with a more expensive but MUCH more sturdy model from Drs. Foster.

I suppose for what I paid for it I got most of my money's worth, but they really aren't made to last more than a couple of years, IMO. Remember that you get what you pay for.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

That is the exact same cat tree that I first bought, and less than two years later, it is in REALLY bad shape. The top piece is no longer sturdy from Ginger leaping onto and off of it (and she is only 8 pounds,) and I can't tighten it any longer.

The screws that hold the poles onto the bases stripped when I was first putting it together, making it wobbly from the get-go, and I had to change out a bottom pole to replace the top one so that it would be as sturdy as possible.

It is an inexpensive style because it is made with pressboard instead of real wood, and I'm close to tossing mine out and replacing it with a more expensive but MUCH more sturdy model from Drs. Foster.

I suppose for what I paid for it I got most of my money's worth, but they really aren't made to last more than a couple of years, IMO. Remember that you get what you pay for.

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Those were my hubby's same thoughts - he wanted to make sure it wasn't (in his words) a piece of junk. He decided he would build one himself and he did. I still haven't posted pictures of it since he isn't quite "finished" with it, i.e., it isn't perfect yet! As soon as it meets his approval/standards, I'll post pictures.

I think it looks great for the price. Your kitties will probably love it. I need to get Bean one of those things.

Well, if it breaks down in a few years because they use it all the time, then I'll know it's worth spending money buying a really good one or spending time building one. I'm afraid that if I get one that's expensive, they may not use it.

You know, maybe I should attempt making one. It couldn't be that hard. There's a carpet store around the corner that I may be able to get some ends at.

I'll keep thinking about it, and won't make my purchase right away.
Thanks for all the input.

Originally Posted by Fred&Nermal

Well, if it breaks down in a few years because they use it all the time, then I'll know it's worth spending money buying a really good one or spending time building one. I'm afraid that if I get one that's expensive, they may not use it.

You know, maybe I should attempt making one. It couldn't be that hard. There's a carpet store around the corner that I may be able to get some ends at.

I'll keep thinking about it, and won't make my purchase right away.
Thanks for all the input.

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If you are worried they may not use it, then I would suggest you buy a cheap one first. You may not be quite the perfectionist my hubby is (nobody that I know is ) but even with him having the wood provided free, it still cost us a tad over $300 to make ours. We bought two shades of remnant carpeting, sisal rope for the posts and I bought some upholstery fabric for the interior walls of the 2 "houses". The sisal rope was $85.00 per roll of 100 feet and we needed just a tad more than a roll so opted to buy by the foot for the last bit we needed.

Yosemite: Some men eh!!! haha. I'm sure it will be purrrrfect when he's finished.


You know, the route I went when I got my 6 footer was I got it at a catshow in Barrie, from some retired folks who had been making trees in their reitrement. I know there's other cat shows throughout the province, you might want to check a few of them out. I wonder if you might be able to get a local carpenter (ie wood worker) to make you one too. I do know that the people I bought mine from said it took a lot of trial and error to get it just right (double reinforced platforms due to grandkids, removable linings to the bed with varnished bottoms incase of accidents, etc)...you might be able to get something better quality that way.

On the other hand, if its what you want, you can always get another one down the road. My parents got one from Petcetra that they say was inexpensive, and perhaps a little less sturdy than mine (mine is really strong) and they plan on recovering the fake fur with carpet this summer because they used mine a lot more with the carpet.

Oh! and mine cost $175

Happy hunting!

I love the style of it. Looks like there are a bunch of different features and activities for them to get into. Can't comment on the quality though as I've never bought anything from there.

As to your cats liking the cat tree, I just bought one a week ago and was a bit worried about mine not liking their new (expensive) toy. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. They love to sleep on the top platform and look out the window, and often I catch Nigel sleeping nestled in the bottom barrel. Whenever he goes missing I now know where to find him. The other advantage I noticed is that they seem to scratch less often in other places now that they have a BIG tree just for them. I never considered their scratching to be problematic before (really just a bit on my area rug and kitchen chairs) but that seems to have tapered off now that they've got the tree.

The only thing I can complain about since getting the tree is that, because my living room is pretty small, the tree looks just massive in there and is uh.... pretty darn ugly. Not at all like the beautiful things I'd prefer to have in my living room but hey, if it's a choice between a happy cat and ugly cat tree, or an unhappy cat and a beautiful living room, the happy cat wins every time.