A Cat Tree Cat-astrophe!

gingersmom

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
8,028
Purraise
22
Well, last night it finally happened. The Amarkat cat tree that I bought off eBay for Ginger when she was a little kitten has finally broken.


Here is a picture of the exact same tree.

The top perch got more and more wobbly over time from 8-pound Ginger leaping onto and off of it, and last night we found out why: the REALLY cheap pressboard that it is made from couldn't handle the stress, and literally broke in a complete (and neat) circle around the post it supported.

It finally crashed over sideways last night when Ginger took a flying leap onto it, and boy, was she ever surprised!
Poor baby girl - she walked around for the rest of the evening looking concerned and confused.

I paid $70 for it and it lasted less than a year and a half. However, as I started to take it apart, I realized that by turning the two perches upside down, they make excellent scratching posts, and if I save the rest of the sisal wrapped poles, I can keep those as replacements for when the posts get too chewed up, so in death, this cat tree will actually will give me MORE than my original investment back in long term use.


However, that leaves me with the need for a new cat tree for my living room.


I was talking to Ginger, as she was walking around the back of the couch, telling her that it wasn't her fault, that it was ok, and that I'm not mad at her, and she kept stopping, sitting, and looking up into the air, toward the ceiling over where the perch had been.

I asked her what she was looking at, and my roomie piped up and said: "She must be looking for the Cat Tree Fairy to stop by and bring her a new one."

I laughed until I cried - the Cat Tree Fairy!


Oh wait - I think that's ME!
 

alleygirl

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
11,814
Purraise
24
Location
hiding in the bathtub
Poor Ginger, I bet she had no clue what was going on!

LOL @ cat tree fairy.

I'm glad you can still get some use out of it as a scratching post though.
 

luckygirl

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 4, 2006
Messages
7,932
Purraise
1
Location
in a pile of open toed shoes!
awwwww poor Ginger.....
She's such a cutie! She musta been so scared....she must be a small girl like my LuckyGirl.....she's 8 1/2 lbs.... so Ferris out weighs her already?
 

lnbandcats

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
2,871
Purraise
1
Location
Watching the robins sing!
Poor Ginger, she must have thought she was being punished! I am on my 2nd Amrakat tree and did what you did, saved the sisal poles for future use!
Tell Ginger to put a piece of her old cat tree under her pillow - that way The Cat Tree Fairy will know where to bring the new tree!
 

clixpix

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 9, 2004
Messages
14,540
Purraise
2
Poor Ginger! I'm sure it's her pride that is stinging.


That's a cautionary tale, though! Sabina throws her considerable weight at her cat tree of the same brand.


C'mon tree fairy *snaps fingers* get hopping and get that girl a new tree!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

gingersmom

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
8,028
Purraise
22
Originally Posted by LuckyGirl

awwwww poor Ginger.....
She's such a cutie! She musta been so scared....she must be a small girl like my LuckyGirl.....she's 8 1/2 lbs.... so Ferris out weighs her already?
Yup, by at LEAST 3 pounds! Ferris used to sleep up there during the day, but I've never seen him leap on/off it the way Ginger would - she'd get air every time!


Originally Posted by lnbandcats

Poor Ginger, she must have thought she was being punished! I am on my 2nd Amrakat tree and did what you did, saved the sisal poles for future use!
Tell Ginger to put a piece of her old cat tree under her pillow - that way The Cat Tree Fairy will know where to bring the new tree!
Under her pillow...


I'm going shopping this weekend. Petsmart has a leopard print one that I've had my eye on for a while but couldn't justify buying. Plus it matches the one in my office.


There is one that Drs. Foster sells that I just LOVE, with cedar and sisal posts, but it is about $300...I know you get what you pay for with these, so I don't want to rush into another one, I want to make the right buy. No more of the Amarkat trees for me, though!
 

helga06

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Feb 9, 2007
Messages
83
Purraise
2
My cats have destroyed so much around my house that it is not even funny. The most expensive things they destroyed were my digital camera (cost well over $500), and my brother's laptop. The latter wasn't completely destroyed but it fell on the floor from a really high place and a lot of its functions were screwed up. Laptop was well over $1000.

My brother was pissed
... haha, but I wasn't. I ended up paying for him to get a new computer with my money from college. I ended up buying a new camera which I then lost. Now, I use my brother's camera. I'm so sad.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

gingersmom

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
8,028
Purraise
22
Originally Posted by Trouts mom

Awww, Trout would be traumatized too...Poor little Ginger
I'm just REALLY glad that it didn't happen to Ferris, because he has enough panic issues as it is - that would have made him revert to feral for sure!
 

valanhb

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Mar 2, 2002
Messages
32,530
Purraise
100
Location
Lakewood (Denver suburb), Colorado
Poor Ginger! That would be pretty traumatic for her.

The Cat Tree Fairy needs to stop by my house too. Only we really just need a good scratching post (which apparently is impossible to find unless you break a cat tree!). Ginger and Mojo, especially Mojo, prefer to scratch upright and the only option is my (Mom's) recliner. Not an option to me!
 

white cat lover

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
22,206
Purraise
35
The Armarkat trees that come off eBay don't seem to be of very good quality. I believe it was emily_325 who also had an issue with hers breaking. I won't buy from eBay.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

gingersmom

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
8,028
Purraise
22
Originally Posted by Helga06

My cats have destroyed so much around my house that it is not even funny. The most expensive things they destroyed were my digital camera (cost well over $500), and my brother's laptop. The latter wasn't completely destroyed but it fell on the floor from a really high place and a lot of its functions were screwed up. Laptop was well over $1000.

My brother was pissed
... haha, but I wasn't. I ended up paying for him to get a new computer with my money from college. I ended up buying a new camera which I then lost. Now, I use my brother's camera. I'm so sad.
I'm sorry to hear that your cats are destructive. My cats are NOT destructive - they have cat scratchers in every single room.

The breaking of the cat tree was the cat tree manufacturers fault - it was poorly made with cheap materials.
 

emrldsky

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
2,335
Purraise
2
Location
Nuh uh...might give me away!
Aww, poor Ginger! Glad everyone is ok, though.

These recent reports about Amarkat trees has me confused and worried. I've had mine in three apartments...I got it not too long after I adopted Scotty his "gotcha" day is in September (3 years).

I just don't know when 15lb Scotty or 13lb Oscar will break the thing. :/
 
Top