Who has built their own cat tree?

Thinking about it. The ones I want from the pet store are anywhere from $150 - $200. Although it's not a horrible price I think I can do it for much less. I have looked at some "blueprints" on the internet and come up with my own idea. The biggest question I have is how hard is it to stretch the carpet and secure it? Do I need to buy a staple gun?
Anyone want to post their experience or photos of a home made cat tree?

I made mine with both glue and staples. First time we tried glue only and it came loose after a week, so we ended up stapling it. Once the glue dried, it held it together nicely with the staples to reinforce it. For glue we've used both hot glue and Elmers. We didn't really stretch the carpet, just folded it around the corners.

If you buy a staple gun, invest in a decent one as the cheap ones don't have the strength to go thru both carpet and the wood behind it. I ended up tapping the majority of the staples in completely with a hammer. If you don't have a stapler, you'll have to use broad flat head nails and do a lot of nailing.

I personally prefer sisal rope for the upright poles, as that was the hardest part to wrap carpet around. I wrap the end of the rope with masking tape so it doesn't fray (think of the end of a shoe lace) and nail it into the wood.

We made it about 20 years ago and it's still the sturdiest cat tree in our house.

I made a play house for my cats about 10 years ago, not having the room for a good sized tree. They knew it was theirs before it was finished (It was mostly different cats then)

I love to build things but never use plans and don't even know how to read blue prints. Just straight out of my head.

It has two rooms with a window between the rooms, one room is enclosed, the other open.

Back view



front view (with Tolly modeling the Window)



the cave runs the length



The 2x4 is for wood scratchers that was my Bibbs (rb 3/05) It also is a spot that I left in such a way that a taller piece can be attached to it someday, when I have the space.

In the meantime, for height, they have to be happy with the book case Steps. (three of which were built by me, the black one, the tallest one, and the built in the wall ones )

I made my own, after getting sticker shock from searching online I thought how hard could it be. It wasn't too bad, but ours is just little (about 38" high). I made it from a recycled industrial spool, a 4x4 timber, 300'-400' sisal rope, and about 2 yards of faux-fur, plus some misc deck screws, eye hooks, and interchangeable toys.

1. I started out by removing one section of the spool to 'open' the inside. I did this by loosening the bolts holding it together and wiggling one board out.
2. Then I cut my 4x4 into 4-20" pieces, and I screwed them onto the bottom of the spool.
3. I wrapped each leg with sisal rope.
4. Then I measure the inside round portion of the spool and sewed a strip the width and length plus about 2", quickly 'hemmed' down each side so I would have a clean edge and a piece tall enough to cover the inside of the spool plus a little longer so I could wrap around the opening I created by removing one of the boards.
5. I then cut a circle about 6" larger than the top of the spool and wrapped it around the sides and stapled it to the bottom of the top.
6.Then I started wrapping sisal rope around the 'bottom' platform of the spool, you can see in the pictures I ran out and need to finish it.
7. I added 5/6 eye hooks around the bottom round and in the 'door' of the middle so I can change out toys I make and keep her interested. The springy thing on top is just a toy we bought from PSP and stuck there for now but I'm looking into how we can add a few to the tree itself (looking for the spring).

I eventually would like to add another upright piece off the top with a perch or two, but it may be awhile until we add that part. I also 'experimented' with putting carpet on the legs and as you can see it didn't happen. I don't know if I wasn't doing it right or what but I found it extremely hard and it was too messy and discombobulated for my tastes. Thus the faux-fur and sisal rope which is holding up fairly well and if it doesn't $15 bucks for some new fabric and it'll be good as new again.

Pictures....

That's cute! It looks like a mushroom from Alice in Wonderland. Perfect for the Cheshire cat
$15 to make? That's a steal. How long did it take?

The cats look thrilled with the book cases! Your condo is nice too. I am thinking more tree-ish with maybe one room. You did an awesome job covering it with carpet. I have much to think about.

My DH (w/ me supervising of course) could so make the one with the cable roll! We have one of those in our sunroom right now and we've got some stuff we could use for the legs, too. I bet I could use some fleece to cover it along with some foam for padding the top.

Where can I find sisal rope on a roll? That's been our problem.

Don't they have sisal at Lowe's? If not maybe you could google and order online?

Originally Posted by BoomerKitty

That's cute! It looks like a mushroom from Alice in Wonderland. Perfect for the Cheshire cat

$15 to make? That's a steal. How long did it take?

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We like it too, lol. I never thought of it looking like a mushroom, but you're totally right. It took about 1 hour to get the 'framework' done and probably 3-4 to wrap all that darn sisal rope, it seemed like it took forever! I forgot to add the cost of the rope into my first post so all together it probably cost me about $45-50 to make, but it's a whole lot better than $200! I also need to figure out how to make a circular pad for the inside of the hole. It's just wood right now and it still has the original spool hole in it. I was thinking of cutting 4-5 layers of card board and wrapping it with the faux-fur. Do you think that would work?

Originally Posted by stephanietx

My DH (w/ me supervising of course) could so make the one with the cable roll! We have one of those in our sunroom right now and we've got some stuff we could use for the legs, too. I bet I could use some fleece to cover it along with some foam for padding the top.

Where can I find sisal rope on a roll? That's been our problem.

Click to expand...

Where do you get the cable thingy?

Originally Posted by stephanietx

My DH (w/ me supervising of course) could so make the one with the cable roll! We have one of those in our sunroom right now and we've got some stuff we could use for the legs, too. I bet I could use some fleece to cover it along with some foam for padding the top.

Where can I find sisal rope on a roll? That's been our problem.

Click to expand...

That was the biggest problem I ran into as well. I bought out all the small hardware stores around us and had to use 2-3 different sizes because we couldn't find enough. Most places only carry 50-100' rolls. If someone could track down a good source for bulk sisal it would be soooo much easier.

I think that wrapping the cardboard with faux fur would definitely work! I've thought about building my own cat tree as well but can't find the sisal.

Originally Posted by atinsley

I think that wrapping the cardboard with faux fur would definitely work! I've thought about building my own cat tree as well but can't find the sisal.

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Go to local hardware stores and ask around. I searched for 2-3 days before I got up enough courage to ask and it was off in a little inconspicuous place, and most places only carried 1 roll of each size. I ended up going to probably 4-5 places before I had enough and as you can see I still don't have it all finished. I wonder if you asked your local hardware if they could order it for you? Especially since you would want a couple hundred feet?

After I posted that I actually checked Amazon. This one is decent.

Sisal Rope

Here's the rest of the Amazon search

Amazon.com sisal rope search

Originally Posted by atinsley

After I posted that I actually checked Amazon. This one is decent.

Sisal Rope

Here's the rest of the Amazon search

Amazon.com sisal rope search

Click to expand...

Good find! I'm gonna save that search for future reference.

The sisal rope may be available at a feed/ranch/farm supply store.

Just checked. I found 3/8" x 50 feet at Tractor Supply. Same thing at Home Depot for $1 less, which is to say, $9.

We built the world's ugliest and cheapest "cat tree." Two 1/2 inch pieces of plywood, 2'x2', some thrown-away carpet, and a tree trunk.

I'll have to look around to see what we can find. Believe it or not, one of our local plant nurseries carries a lot of rope, chain, and stuff like that, so that's another place to look.

My DH brought the cable roll home from work. I was going to paint it and use it as a plant stand on my back patio, but this looks like so much more useful and fun for the kitties.

we got our sisal rope at Lowes.It was fairly cheap from what I can remember.I am uploading pics of our cat tree,that hubby and I made.Will share them in a few.It was EASY to make,and cheap.

Originally Posted by Ryffian


If your space and decor allows, an alternative to a free-standing tree is a series of "cat shelves." My cats love the ones I've put up. I cut a 1x6 board into 2 foot sections and covered them with carpet (with Liquid Nails adhesive) and installed them on the wall with L-shaped shelf brackets (kind of the home-made version of these: http://www.katwallks.com/ ) Super easy, and make for neat "wall art."

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It's a good idea but too permanent. Hard to remove and can't move them around. While we do own our home I don't want the walls to be destroyed either.