cat trees/ activity stands/ ways to keep kittens ocupied please

sorry fi this is in the wrong place

heya i have 10 wek old kittens and have bin debating the best things to keep them happy ocupied and away from destroying my furniture,

atm they have a cardboard box with plasy sticks with things on the end sticking out 2 corners they love it its full of cratepaper and random bits of rustley junk, they haso have a simple scratch post, a bed that hangs off the radiator, and they like to sleep on my windowsill when i tuck my curtains up in the afternoon when my lounge gets attacked by sunlight, they are currently playing with some curly ribbon i have attached to our baby gate and loving it lol

just wondered what else people have found good?

are cat trees any good if so could you please show me what kind you have ? 

my main goals are things to keep them ocupied, something to maybe get them out of toddler reach although my daughetrs are excellent with them they know to leave them be and something they can go a bit mad with and attack instead of thinking its a good idea to run up the back of my couch lol :-)

I'd recommend a cat tree. My cats have one and they love it. Get one that has a fairly wide base so there is no danger of it tipping over and stands around 5 ft tall. Cats like to be able to get up high. They feel a lot safer if they have a place they can escape to. Even if your daughter is great with them it would be nice for them to have their safe place for when people they don't know come round to visit you.

A cat tree with vertical and horizontal scratching posts will save your furniture too.

Just don't leave your daughter alone in the room with it, my 3 year old nephew came round to visit the other day and tried to climb our cat tree.

haha yeah I can imagine they would some how think its for them lol

I love the idea of them but some of them just look so cheep and I want one that will look nice in my home and serve its purpose, I also struggle to know what aspects are best besides wantign oen with the scratch posts as some have boxes some have like little pouches to lie in some have just flat surfaces at the top, which aspects of yours ahve you fond they like the most ? xxx

I've had a few cat trees but this is the one they liked the most.


It has another level you can't see in the picture. The cylinder at the bottom has a hole for them to get inside. They love that, great for ambush attacks, and they love the fact that they can go up and down the different levels.

It gets a lot of use so I have to re-string the sisal scratching posts every year. I recovered it last year and put a few pink feather trims on it too.


Mine wasn't very expensive. There are some gorgeous ones available, but before you buy check how well made it is. Some of them have cardboard inners to the scratching posts rather than wood and some of them are stapled together, rather than nailed. One of the cheap ones I had broke and it had some wicked looking staples sticking out of it. Luckily I noticed before any of the cats got hurt.

thanks for the pix hun your kittys look very happy on it :-)

Thats the thing there are loads fo reli cheep ones on ebay but a lot of them are entirely clad with like velure stuff which looks a bit cheeep and then because they are so cheep themselves makes me think they are not of the best quality , id love to find somewhere that ahd a good selection,

i have bin looking at kitty citys customiseable collection as financially it would be great as i can add to it and build it to fit my house etc something like this , its not the prettiest thing in the world but i think i could tart it up a little so you dont see so much of the frame


,

i have also bin looking at the things that hang on the back of doors

I got this one for my kittens when they was about the age of your kittens They love it but at 6 months old they are getting to big to share the top. They love playing keep out lol and when it time for naps one winds up on the bookshelf or in one of the many mtn. dew boxes, toaster box, or kennels. I'm currently looking for a bigger one that has two top pieces for them. If you are a do it yourselfer I have found where people have built their own trees from things like old drawers out of dressers and things like that.

we are a bit diy inclined and my oh has a degree in furniture and product design i reli need to get him on it, im sat with a pen and paper scowering ikeas website to work out what we could screw together to make a good play area for the cats, its hard because i want to find something that serves all the purposes for making my moggies happy without making my lounge look like wacky warehouse for cats lol , also something small child proof would be a bonus lol

currently have this one open as being ok price wise / kinda nice look wise

I was short of floor space, and didn't have a massive budget. I have this as my tall cat tree
(it's mostly used as a ladder to get down from the top of the wardrobe, which I cleared and set up for Asha to get comfy)
This as my smaller one/feeding platform
And this downstairs http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/scratching_posts/small/small_cat_trees_height_80_cm/15132

If you're interested in DIY then you can probably make something awesome for you cats that will fit in well with the rest of your furniture and decor. You can use the store bought ones to give you an idea of how much space to leave between the levels.

Make sure flat surfaces have something for them to get their claws into, they'll be up and down there at high speed once they've got used to the tree. Carpet tiles are good to cover things with. You can even get them to match the carpet you have in the house.

I'm interested to see what you end up with, let's see some pictures of your creations or purchases when you're done.

I would recommend large platforms.  My cats are 12+ and 9+ lbs and very long.  We found our cat trees at Petsmart and the top level has 14" square platform.   I have 4 cat trees at different heights.  The two tallest flank my living room bookshelves so the cats can run across the top and it keeps them off the curtain rods.  The cat tree in the family room is about 6" taller than the top of the couch and the cats can be petted while we are relaxing there.  The 4th is in my son's room currently and is the perfect height for looking out his window.  It will eventually be moved to my room in the corner where two windows meet..  Location, location, location.

I like to get mine at petsmart because you can return them within 30 days if the cats don't like them, however I've also found them at Big Lots, Costco, and Home Stores/TJ Maxx.  You can return at Petco as well but I think they are more expensive.

im in the uk so none of those places sadly mean anything to me america has all the good stuff lol

Zooplus, amazon and pets at home all have good selections. Groupon have some big ones at the moment - I've been seriously debating one, but I don't know where I'd put it (...well, I do, but mum would hit the roof... :lol3

That's a shame.  But since you're going to be making your own most likely, just remember size relative to location.  

This one is clever looking

 https://www.google.com/search?q=diy...lves-diy-modern-cat-furniture%2F96669;600;397

There are lots of cat ideas using ikea furniture.

That's really cool...until your cats or kittens decide books make great scratchers :lol3:

Originally Posted by gizmoandluna  

they are currently playing with some curly ribbon i have attached to our baby gate and loving it lol

Click to expand...

Please keep string and ribbon out of reach of the ktitens. Kittens are known to be curious and may eat the string and ribbon which can cause an intestinal blockage or perforation, otherwise known as a a very expensive trip to the vet ER for surgery. I wouldn't encourage the kittens to play with string and ribbon other than what's on a fishing pole toy (and that should be put away in a closet after playtime).

gizmoandluna said:

 
i have bin looking at kitty citys customiseable collection as financially it would be great as i can add to it and build it to fit my house etc something like this , its not the prettiest thing in the world but i think i could tart it up a little so you dont see so much of the frame

Click to expand...

I had a Kitty City set up a long time ago. Both cats destroyed it in a matter of weeks The nylon fabric and velcro and plastic tubing did not hold up to the constant abuse my cats dished out.

It may hold up better to less active cats.

I agree with LTS3!  Kitty City is real flimsy, and the nylon platforms are fabric only. They split at the seams - if the cats don't rip it first!

not to self no kitty city, i think its a cool idea but looks a bit flimsy as you say

im trying to get my oh onboard woith the idea of building something.

my lounge is kidna hippy /tribal so id love something a bit rustic

heck if i could saw a tree down and drag it in my house i totally would haha

just looked on groupon, would something like this actually get used i dunno if all the bits might be 2 small as they become big cats  (there mum was a very small 2 yr old i met her when i picked them up)

That's the one I was looking at. The base plate isn't huge, so you might need to get a wall bracket for stability. I think height is always welcomed by cats. I can never guarantee that they'll use it...cats aren't the most predictable creatures :lol3: On the plus side, if mum wasn't big then your guys aren't likely to be huge (and bear in mind I'm used to British Shorthairs). Asha's tree has an even smaller base plate. It's fine for her (probable burmese mix), but it'd be too small for Shadow (bsh). She uses the lower levels mostly, but I think that's simply because she's got the top of my built in wardrobe to play on - why use a little perch when you've got a big space next to it.

I'd either go for the Groupon one, or one of the zooplus ones myself. They have some with bigger bases for not too much more money.

I think you need to find out how big your guys are likely to be and take it from there. The Groupon one is a good relatively space saving tree. If you can give more space over to one, then the bigger bases are more stable. Don't forget about cat shelves etc

Here's a little inspiration http://www.thecatsite.com/t/297074/snick-and-jaspers-new-cat-wall-furniture