Cat trees

Hi all!

I'm thinking of getting a cat tree, and think I've found a couple that I can afford from an eBay company that seems to have a lot of good reviews from its customers - especially for the first cat tree I was looking at.

At the moment, I'm decided between this and this. The first one looks like it has a bit more for the cat, but I happen to like the blue on the second one better. On the other hand, when looking at the recent feedback, it seems that between the two, most people have been going for the first and loving it - there's only one review I found for the second (in white), though it was a good one.

I would appreciate any thoughts on the matter, including any other online sites that might have good trees for good prices. I just don't think I can afford a decent size one from petco or petsmart right now, so if this doesn't work out, ,I might just have to hold off on the idea for awhile.

I like the 2nd one (blue) better. The first doesn't look too sturdy to me - boards seem thin and if you have cats over 10 lbs they might be able to crash it!

Look for the Amerikat ones too - I like them and they look better then the 2 you have picked out.

I would definitely look at Armarkat Cat Trees. You can find them on ebay for a cheaper price, or go right to their website. I have two of their cat tress; one I've had for 1 1/2 years, and the other I just recently purchased.

http://www.armarkat.com/a6501.htm
This is the one I've had for 1 1/2 years

http://www.armarkat.com/b2501.htm
This is the one I just bought, basically cause they needed a new scratching post.

They love both of them. They love going up on the top shelf and looking down. I would definitely look into those. I think mine are very sturdy. Namine is 11 lbs and runs and jumps all over the taller one, and it barely moves.

Do your cats like high places? Both of these trees are 55" high, which is less than 5 feet. I figured that since my cats prefer the tops of 6 foot bookcases, they would probably ignore anything shorter. They love th 73" one I got and mostly stay off my bookcases now.

Also, be sure you know the exact cost of shipping before you bid. Those things are heavy and the shipping could easily double the price you pay.

Do a Google search for "cat trees" or "cat towers". There are a lot of websites out there. Some of them are very high priced, but there are also some with more reasonable prices and even free shipping.

Thanks Yam for the correct spelling on those trees. We currently have a 4 foot tree which ours has outgrown. DH will be building a 6 1/2 - 7 foot one this fall and we will connect the two trees together.

Well, Cleopatra's only about 4 and a half months old. She's about 4 pounds at the moment, and I'vve been told that she'll probably grow up to be about 8 or 9 pounds.

She does like looking out the windows on the second floor of my small condo, though, and I do have to keep taking her off of the breakfast area table. Other than that, there aren't really many heights around here for her to try, especiall considering that she can't yet jump on top of the counters unless there's something else for her to jump on in between. The upside about it being smaller is that it should be easier for me to move in about a year after I finish law school.

The other consideration for me is cost - It seems like getting something about that size from armarkat would cost about twice as much, even without shipping. As a grad school student, I don't have an actual income at the moment, $60 is a lot for me to spend right now, but it seems a lot smaller than the $100+ I would have to spend elsewhere for the same size. I could just get a smaller one, I guess, but it seems like the general consensus is - the bigger the cat tree, the more fun the cat will have.

I also kind of liked the hanging perches, but I don't know what other peoples' experiences have been with them.

I've seen the Armarkat trees, but it looks like they have more on their website so I'll check those out.

It will work for your kitty now. And probably full grown. Just keep an eye on things and you might have to weight it more on the bottom to keep from tipping over.

I'm only going by looks - if you get that one; after its put together, see how much "rocking" you can do with it. Think of it as kitty running full force and leaping onto the tree

Given your space and financial restrictions, you probably can't do much better. Also, I went back to eBay and looked more closely. They do list "Free Shipping", which helps. It looks like one of them has already been purchased (not the blue one), so if you really want to get one you need to hurry. I don't know how often they put up new listings once something has sold.

the eBay store actually has a bunch of listings for the same items, so I wasn't really worried about them selling out. I went ahead and got the first, beige one. It looks like 'Patra would have more fun on it, and it shouldn't be too hard to weigh down if I need to. Law school textbooks are heavy...

Thank you all for your input! Hopefully, I'll be able to get a job after this year, and hopefully, a fairly decently paying one! Then I might be able to afford a better cat tree for 'Patra if she needs it (though actually, my first inclination is to get a litter robot to replace the litterbox I got her - even if that would be more of a gift to me... ).

Nuts, I got here too late! I actually own the second one of the two options that you listed, only in beige, and my two cats LOVE it. It is pretty sturdy, considering they fight on it all the time, and any time I can't find a kitty, I can be fairly certain that they are sleeping in one of the perches.

I plan on getting a taller one when they are a year or two old, so they will have both cat trees to fight and/or sleep on.

Silly kitties!


Also, my experience with the company that you purchased this from was great! They were very easy to deal with, shipping was free, and they shipped it very quickly - it only took a few days to arrive. It was very easy to put together, also.


Good luck, and I hope your baby loves it!