Cat trees - what you do & don't like

I saw some really nice ones on e-bay very reasonable awhile back, and shipping wasn't to awlful bad

Your kitties are adorable.

Originally Posted by Renny

I am planning to make a bit of a modification. My cats love to hide in boxes etc, so i think i'm going to make the bottom perch out of a full piece of sonotube so that they have a hidey hole. Add a couple holes so that can ambush each other and I think it will be great.

I was looking at the carpeting the posts idea, but i think my cats would much prefer the sisal. i may have to limit it to a few of the posts. Would an arts and crafts store be a better place to look for sisal then a home depot?

standby for some gratuituous kitten shots (just figured out photobucket! lol) Hope no one minds!

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by xocats

Your kitties are adorable.

Click to expand...

thank you very much!

I got some advice from the guys who know what they are talking about at the store. They made the same comment as others in this thread about the tree tipping over. The plans say to use to sheets of plywood for the base. The guy recommended that i use 2 pieces of 3/4" mdf instead. Not only is it a lot heavier it's also less expensive and is smooth if you want to paint it instead of covering it.

Just thought I would pass that on to any do-it-yourselfers out there.

The bolts can rip thru the MDF, particularly if you have a tall tree. Also don't use any pressed wood for the same reason. I use 1" plywood and the base is at least 24" x 24" square. I use either untreated 4x4's for the upright or screw together 2 2x4's to make a 4x4. I use 3/4" plywood and carpet on the perches (cover the entire thing top and bottom) and sisal rope on the upright only. I found that 3/8" thick sisal works the best and it is about $4.44 for a 50' package at Home Depot (last I bought it there).

To make it more stable, I use 4 2x4 cuts angled between the base and the upright at the bottom and screw them in with long screws.

For the top perch, my cat's favorite by far is a wooden platform with 3" sides that come up from the perch to make a nest. I cut a diagonal cut on the edge of one side to leave a triangular opening for them to look down upon me. They often sit up there and bat at me thru that hole.

For carpet - find remnants in a carpet store. Don't buy anything that is looped and don't buy indoor/outdoor carpet - it doesn't hold up very long. Don't get it over thick as you can't cut/shape it, but too thin will fall apart. Grab the carpet and flex it to see how pliable it is before you buy. Last roll I picked up cost me $20 and it can cover about 4 trees.

The cat tree I made is over 6 foot tall and I've had 18 pound cats fly up on it. It sometimes shakes but has never come even close to toppling over.

i have a friend who does flooring in peoples homes and he gives me scraps of carpets and my husband and i build our own, the amount of money they ask for those things is absolutely rediculous! i like to have several levels for them to climb on, and i make little hamock type things in them out of fleece which the kitties love to sleep on...i use scrap wood that i get from my friends who are in the construction business, and i've never had to spend any money on building them and i think the ones you buy in the store are just a rip off

Well here it is! With the help of some wonderful friends who contributed their labour, tools, scrap carpet and of course pizza, beer and a backyard we finished (almost) our do-it-yourself cat tree. The grand total in cost was under $60 CDN. This didn't include the carpet which was free and some of the hardware that we already had. All in all in was a lot of fun. The toughest part of the whole things was carpeting the sonotubes so they came out a little messy. Strangely enough rambo and Lucky dont seem to mind at all. I'm going to add sisal rope to one of the posts for them to scratch and i'm going to dangle some of their toys from the perches.

If you want more info on what worked and what didn't let me know. Or ask I AM FURNITURE because we are making his cat one tomorrow.

Awesome!!!!

Your tree is very creative & the price is right. Your kitties are going to have a lot of fun & good cat naping in their tree.
PS...Do you know where can I buy sonotubes in the US?

XO--you can usually find sonotube in various sizes and lengths at Home Depot, Lowe's or any other well-stocked hardware/lumber store. A lot of places have it in large quantities, you figure out the size you want and have them cut off a length for you. Home Depot usually also has some odds and ends lying around that are "discounted"-at least mine always did in NY.
Give a call to your hardware store before trotting over there, and they can probably even pre-cut and have it ready for you to pick up when you get there.

Goooooooooood luck!

Renny's tree was pretty straight forward to build. The site she mentioned before has all the directions except how to get the tubes carpeted. That was by far the most annoying part. Mainly since the adhesive we were using takes so long to cure. My tree is on hold right now, all the peices are prepped and ready to go we are just waiting for our contractor (friend with all the power tools) to get back from the road trip he is on for work. Honestly the tree came out much better than what I was expecting and I know Lightning will love it once I bring it home for him to use.

Nice one!

Thanks everyone! The tree did turn out even better then expected and I have to credit my friends for all their help. Lucky and Rambo love (especially once i put some catnip on it) and spend lots of time battling each other from level to level.

EXCELLENT! I see that it's met with approval by the inspection crew too!

Hubby wants to walk out into the woods this evening and see if we see some interesting limbs/trees. He's wanting to go a more "natural" route. What I really need to do is see if someone has cut down an oak recently. The branches can have some interesting crooks and bends in them.

Great job!

Originally Posted by RoseHawke

EXCELLENT!

I see that it's met with approval by the inspection crew too!

Click to expand...

it was thoroughly inspected and has now moved into the testing phase. Lucky is systematically taking serious cat naps on all levels and has promised to report her findings shortly on which is the best. Rambo unfortuntately is too small to reach all levels and instead is trying to see how long he can hang upside from various parts and which areas are best for ambushing Lucky's tail.

I'll be sure to pass on their findings once they report back...