Here is a video of my foster cat enjoying himself on his cat tree condominium. What I particularly like about it is that he is using the scratching posts which are built into the tree. The tree should be reasonably substantial. This one is about 65 inches tall.
I love to see a cat using a scratching post (which should be solid like a real tree) and it is the main reason why I videotaped him. A lot of people are concerned about their furniture being scratched and this shows that a cat will use a scratching post provided it is well sited and solid enough.
I was also concerned about whether cats automatically use a piece of cat furniture like the cat tree, cat condo. They probably don’t automatically use them but they are likely to use them and when they do they can get a lot of enjoyment from them.
This one is sited next to a window which overlooks the garden where there is quite a lot of activity by wildlife because there are bird feeders which of course attract birds and squirrels. Also other cats often wander by for Downton to look at and even hiss at. I leave the window slightly adjar and fixed so he can smell the outside as well as observe it.
This cat tree also has a nice little hiding place on the first-tier. As we know, cats need a place to hide. They also need high places which is where Downton mostly uses this cat tree.
This particular piece of cat furniture costs £40 from Amazon and is made in Germany, which I think is very good value (it comes top in an Amazon ‘cat tree’ search on the UK version of the website). From my perspective, even if my cats did not use the furniture, it is a risk worth taking because to lose £40 is not the end of the world.
I wonder how many people have a piece of cat furniture like this in their home? I am not saying that they are obligatory or wonderful or that every cat caretaker should have one. I’m just suggesting that they are probably good value in terms of making the home a little bit better for the domestic cat. It is about environmental enrichment about which I feel that people are now more sensitive and aware.
A cat tree or condo with scratching posts both vertical and horizontal are necessary for cat because let her choose which scratching post she likes the most and a good idea about scratching is to make scratch posts with the different distances at home or in a large cage so that cat can feel better inside and out. 😀 thanks for the video as I was very tired but seeing him I am very relaxed and happy, Michael 😀
Good. I agree with you.
I have 2 cat trees and my cats barely use them. I have 8 scratchers and they use them a lot! I think they may not use the cat trees very often because they have a cat enclosure that connects to outside by going through a cat door that is in the dining area.
That’s a lovely cat tree! So nice to see Downton enjoying his claws. Our boyz got new wide scratch pads to try out, Walter loves his but Jozef prefers the narrow ones we have around, maybe because he is smaller made than Walt and has tiny paws but best of all he loves his fat boy scratcher.
Jo and his fat boy scratching post
That’s a super solid cat tree. Very impressed.