Buying cat trees online

Hi, just adopted my first pair of cats ever...they are my first pets. I'm very excited and nervous at the same time. I have a whole bunch of questions. My two girls are both dozing off in the living room. Both unfortunately, are sick and will need meds for the next two weeks. URIs and parasites. In any case, I want to do my best for them.

I want to buy a tall cat tree and have seen a number of sites online. Can you recommend reputable sites? I've seen trees for $120-150 and they look to be very good deals but I worry about the stability and quality of such trees. These trees are usually made of pressed wood. Are they worth the $$? I'm not sure I can splash out for the $300-400 ones. Not after today's vet visit and possible return visits if the meds do no work.

I also noticed that one of them is slowly but surely scratching my sofa. I've got some cardboard for them, but she's not getting the point. Her sister scratches it just a tiny bit so I think she's getting the message. A very nice person has offered to give me her scratching post if her cats continue to ignore it...but I'm not sure I can wait any longer. Meanwhile, I'm guarding my sofa...

Congratulations on your adoptions! You should jump into the New Cats on the Block forum and introduce yourself and your kids.

I've not bought cat trees online but I'm sure that someone will come by and offer some suggestions.

But for scratching on the sofa.......Cats have an instinct to reach out and claw vertical objects. Your sofa, chair, etc are perfect places for them. If you want to get them to scratch on something else, you have to teach them (redirect them) to the appropriate scratching places.

Get a tall scratching post. One that is tall enough to allow your cat to stretch out on it. When you see your cats making a move to the sofa, give them a firm NO, then move them to the scratch post. Once there, place their paws on the post and rub them on it. If they start to do it, let go and run your hands on it also. Show them what they are supposed to do. It sometimes helps to rub catnip on the post (they also have catnip sprays), and to give them a treat when they use it correctly. Be very consistent when you do this.

They also sell cardboard scratchers which either lay on the floor or are shaped in a wedge. I personally prefer upright scratch posts over those, but I do have them and my cats do use them, only not as much as a post.

In the mean time, they do sell things like double sided tape that you can put on the edge of your sofa to discourage them from using it. But honestly, you'll get much faster results if you consistely work with your cats constantly for a few days until they have it figured out. The longest time its taken me to retrain a cat to a post was 3 days.

I found one that I will definitely buy, as soon as I get a job... It is secured on the ceiling, so it is very stable - it's got a lot of good reviews also:
http://www.dog.com/item/highrise-pla...22w-x-95-108h/

Momo, thanks...I think I'm going down to Petsmart to pick up a post. I could wait for the freebie from the friend, but I don't want to wait and then have my cats get used to scratching the sofa.

And Laureen, five cats and 3 trees make for a very strong endorsement! I will definitely consider Amarkat.

And finally, Carolina, the height of that one is exactly what I'm looking for! Hopefully, someone will come along and give us a review...It looks to be a great deal but I wonder if it's too good to be true?

Will introduce myself later, I'm going out now and have to make sure the girls are back in their space...don't want them out and about in the apartment alone just yet.

I disagree with a tiny bit of Momofmany's advice: I've known many cats who do not like to have their paws manipulated, so rubbing their paws on scratching posts would just freak them out. One easy way to show a cat that the scratching post exists to scratch is to get a string toy (careful: leaving string out can be a serious swallowing hazard, but you can do this supervised with any string you have around the house) and shake it against the post/run it up and down the post. The cat will bat at the string with claws out, and what do you know, their claws will sink in comfortably into the post. Otherwise I agree completely with that advice.

There is a lot of advice around here about different types of scratching posts, and scratching surface preferences depend on cats: I have one cat who prefers vertical wood (plain, unvarnished wood) and another who prefers horizontal surfaces (any surface will do). Carpeted scratching posts are usually not the best idea ever, because you are teaching the cat to scratch on carpet. Also, most cats prefer plain wood, or natural bark, or sisal to carpet for a scratching surface.

Originally Posted by Enuja

I disagree with a tiny bit of Momofmany's advice: I've known many cats who do not like to have their paws manipulated, so rubbing their paws on scratching posts would just freak them out.

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You know, you are right on that! It's been so long since I've come across one of those that I forgot about that. For those cats, I put them on the scratch post and rubbed my fingers across the scratch post to show them how to use it. Thanks for the reminder!

My cats love their Armarkat Tree!!
http://www.armarkat.com/1/a7802.htm

It wasnt too bad to assemble and was shipped quickly.

Sometimes I'll walk through the room and there will be six cats sharing it! It's really great!

The only thing I would change about it is that the platforms could be a bit larger for them to climb down off of. But they don't seem to mind!

i bought online w/ zooplus (for buyers in europe)
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/cats/scra...s/large/127273
it worked out great. they love it.
i'm moving across the ocean & have decided to ship it for them.

We also used armarkat, and have been mostly pleased with it. My husband reconstructed the base with plywood and carpet remnants that we bought seperately, though, because the base did not seem be stable enough support the way the cats wanted to jump on it.

We liked the design and price - also that all the posts were made as a sissel scratching post - I thought more cat trees ought to have this built in.

I bought the tall classic tree from Armakat and like other stories, the kitties were on the tree before I finished putting it together.

They love it and I'm happy for them but I miss cuddle time with them as they spend all all their snooze time on the tree now.

I have ordered from spoil my kitty...there is a link to it on the bottom of this screen.