Beware of cheap cat trees!

I thought it was too good to be true - I bought a ceiling high cat tree for my boys at a very good price. It obviously wasn't the most sturdiest of trees but they loved it. Until this happened



The uprights have come away from the plastic discs that secured them to the platforms so are beyond repair. The company I bought it from have offered to replace the uprights but I'm sure the same thing will happen again. I've only had it 2 months. I guess you get what you pay for with cat trees.

I would take them up on the offer and if it happens again, demand my money back AND a replacement!

Oh the same thing happened at my house! The boys demolished the cheep one we had. It was a sad day.

Oh no, thats horrible! I hope you get a replacement thats better!

Rosehawk made her own cat tree, when i move im going to make the same one as she has! Its much much more reliable!

That's terrible. I got a $35 cat tree from Walmart last year and (knock on wood) nothing's happened to it yet. I do plan to replace it in a few months though.

I'm so sorry to hear that! I bought a "cheap" cat tree online over a year ago and it's still fine (even with a 15lb'er jumping all over it). I guess it's one of those things you have to be careful about.

Neither of the kitties were injured, were they?

Mine have knocked over the wal-mart cat tree a few times. I found a good way to make sure it stayed was to put a piece of carpet gripper on top between the tension rod and the ceiling. (I'm talking about the stuff you put under big area rugs and scatter rugs so they don't slip) After two years and four cats going through kittenhood on it I retired it a few weeks ago and bought a nice "palace" from one of the sponsors. I'm hoping it will last longer and will be more secure as it doesn't rely on a tension pole, it is free standing.

Sorry to hear about your cat tree your kitty looks so sad in that picture!

I'll move this to Care and Grooming

I would get the replacement and maybe show them that picture and tell them they need to alter their designs for the trees so it doesn't happen to others.

It's true, you do get what you pay for but at the end of the day if it's not doing it's job then what's the point in selling them if their going to do that after 2 months and then keep having to replace them

The walmart trees used to be built much better(got one in 2000) and it lasted till 2003 then bought a new one lasted a few years, went to buy a third and after taking it home i returned it(the carpet was not what a cat would want to scratch-it almsot looked like in/out carpet) I bought a tree off ebay in jan...nice tree and its a lil wobbly but i have quite a few cats trying to kill it lol. I;m guessing its got a few more months left in it tho RJ

I've heard 50/50 about the cat tree from walmart. I have friends who use it and love it. The carpet is the good stuff too. (at least the ones they have and the ones our wal-mart carries. I've been thinking about getting one for Skittles for when he is up in my room. He tends to want to climb only when he's up there, so this might help him. I'll also look on ebay, but I'm certianly not paying the $100+ I'm seeing elsewhere. I think that's nuts! Perhaps if I were better situated in life, I wouldn't mind paying that kind of money, but not right now.

Originally Posted by DixieDarlin256

I would take them up on the offer and if it happens again, demand my money back AND a replacement!

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I agree with Dixie also ask them to replace the plastic discs with metal ones and if that dosen't work you want your $$$$$ back!

I had one made by amarkat from ebay that said it can hold 40 lbs. My cat is 16 and he almost tips it when he is doing his wild banchee kitty routine. I am reselling it on ebay and putting the money towards one from petsuppliesplus. They have the sturdiest trees I have seen yet. It took two of us to carry it. I think I could sleep on it! Its about 50 inches tall and has 3 sleeping areas and was about $111.00 PLUS its a local store so IF something happens I can take it back. All the little ones i bought he has knocked over.

Mine did that I got it from argos and I feel really mean but I don't see the point in getting another one they just don't seem to last !
They do have some nicer ones in this season and I am tempted...

I have an aramarkat one and so far so good. I'm only holding out hopes that it doesn't break - I understand if some of the material wears out. I have it anchored to the wall and I also have put 2 extra supports on it.

Originally Posted by urbantigers

I thought it was too good to be true - I bought a ceiling high cat tree for my boys at a very good price. It obviously wasn't the most sturdiest of trees but they loved it. Until this happened

The uprights have come away from the plastic discs that secured them to the platforms so are beyond repair. The company I bought it from have offered to replace the uprights but I'm sure the same thing will happen again. I've only had it 2 months. I guess you get what you pay for with cat trees.

Click to expand...

Oh dear! That isnt good. I got my cat tree from Zooplus.co.uk and I'm very happy with it. What is good about that site is that the customers leave reviews and you can get an idea of the good and the not so good cat trees

I think the problem with the zooplus ones (or any with a similar design) is when they have platforms, hammocks etc, leaning out to the side. The weight of even an average cat puts too much pressure on the posts if they're hollow. The ceiling high ones rely on the pressure exerted by the pole against the ceiling to hold it in place, but I found it just kept slipping so didn't really do the job. The shorter ones are probably better as they don't rely on that for stability.

I'm still waiting for zooplus to send me replacement posts (they said it would take a few weeks) and I'm going to try again but this time fix the upper platform to the wall with a bracket to secure it. Hopefully that should solve the problem, but I've told them the design of this tree is intrinsically flawed. Its' not even as if they were both leaping about on it - Jaffa was just lying in the hammock. They still use it now that it's broken and propped up against the wall!

Urbantiger - just so you know...when Zooplus messed up an order, I really complained and got the item for half price. So if you got that cat tree from Zooplus...get onto them!

I have to say my Zooplus cat tree is quite sturdy and 6 cats use it. It is not a ceiling one though (see below)



I have been told that the best ceiling ones are the Armakat ones available on ebay. As we're in the UK we can't get the ones on the US Armakat site (unless prepapred to pay a fortune on postage). But the US Armakat site has a link to its German counterpart who ship to the UK. I was also looking on ebay and saw that a seller in Belgium is selling the same Armakat cat trees. For the price of £60 to £80, I think thats quite reasonable for good quality.

Oh dear, that looks dangerous. It also sounds like it was very poor quality, hope that it gets fixed and lasts longer!
After getting our cat and looking at prices for cat trees, my dad and I decided to design and build one ourselves. It's a bedtable/cat tree and is fully carpeted inside and out with posts and complex designs. Works marvelously for both my cat and me. It is so strong that it's never even thought about shaking, even under the tricks Anastasia pulls off. Only took us a couple of weekends too. If you have the time and some experience with a hammer and nails, then I really reccomend building your own.