VERY sturdy cat tree/scratcher?

Alicat

Just wondering if any owners of large/heavy cats have any personal recommendations for cat trees? As per usual, the good stuff seems to be in the US. I have seen a few on Zooplus that reviewers have stated are sturdy enough to hold their Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest cats, but I don't want an absolutely massive tree. Has anyone physically bought one from a pet store here in Ireland? The few I've seen have been too flimsy for what I need, but I would prefer to see it in front of me before I buy, so I can give it a good wobble!

My cat, Riggs, is over 6kg and he broke the last scratcher in half when he took a running jump at it

ladyjuicy08

Alicat wrote: »

Just wondering if any owners of large/heavy cats have any personal recommendations for cat trees? As per usual, the good stuff seems to be in the US. I have seen a few on Zooplus that reviewers have stated are sturdy enough to hold their Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest cats, but I don't want an absolutely massive tree. Has anyone physically bought one from a pet store here in Ireland? The few I've seen have been too flimsy for what I need, but I would prefer to see it in front of me before I buy, so I can give it a good wobble!

My cat, Riggs, is over 6kg and he broke the last scratcher in half when he took a running jump at it

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/CAT-TREE-SCRATCHING-POST-SCRATCH-ACTIVITY-CENTRE-BED-X-/330605235015?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Cats&hash=item4cf99b8b47#ht_2263wt_922

This is the one I have 2 cats 6.1kg and 4.2kg holding up pretty good

Zapperzy

Can't reccommend any personally but anytime I'v been in maxizoo they have loads set up so you could give them a wobble , I'm always admiring them, would love one for my cat.

Sassy58

I have one very round cat and I love the alicante cat tree - but I would go for any of the ceiling trees that have a wide base at least that way you can secure it to the ceiling for extra support - it doesn't mark the ceiling so its all good. My cats love tearing up and down ours

Shanao

With an 8kg, and four 6kg cats I'm struggling to find one solid enough. I bought two from maxi zoo which have lasted twelve months, and would suit the 6kg cats fine, but then the big fella decides to sit on the weakest parts and they bend under him. I bought one on zooplus as well and it was broken in about four months, besides beng called 'sturdy'. I'm thinking of actually building one myself out of an old bookshelf if i can get the sisal, and attach it to the wall to make it sturdy.

Kali_Kalika

I think for awhile I was putting the cat tree people's children through very posh, expensive colleges with the amounts of them I was buying and what I was spending on them. :rolleyes: Shocking prices most of the decent ones are! :eek:

Even after ordering from the US a few times - once even from a company called "Fatty Cat" :rolleyes: who promised incredibly strong trees and levels and seats (that one, granted, lasted longer than the rest - but eventually one day it did give way when he was asleep on one of the high shelves on it)
They did at least send a free voucher for $50 for use on their website as compensation (it came with a guarantee but I worked out the compensation wouldn't be worth sending it back as that would cost nearly as much as the compensation was so they gave me the online voucher instead)

My friend is a builder with many talents and he was able to create us a lovely cat tree for him - it has extra big and wide shelves so lots of room for him and they are reinforced with 2 shelf brackets (found in B&Q, Woodies, etc) so no chance of them breaking - the "trunk" of the tree is part of an actual tree so no need for the sisal rope as its a natural scratching post and he loves it - its some type of Pine tree so when he uses it you get this lovely christmasy smell in the room! But yet its not sticky or any sap or anything from where its been scratched. I've placed a small, regular post with the usual sisal rope on it near the bottom so he has the best of 2 scratching options. There are also toys dangling from it and the shelves are covered in carpet (cozy and easy to clean)/. It does reach from floor to ceiling but that was personal choice (it gave him a space to get away from the pup!) and he loves a good eagles eye view of his kingdom :rolleyes::D And all in all - with the cost of materials and my friends time the total bill he presented me with was about 75 euros - so a far far outstanding product for a mere fraction of the price of petstore products that just were not made for a cat of his size (at the last vet check he had he weighed in at just over 10kg - he's not fat and perfectly healthy the vet advised - he's just a massive tom cat - I've had many people say he's single handedly the biggest cat they've ever seen):D:D

So if your cat is a sizable weight like mine - I can only personally suggest staying as far away from pet store products and online ones as possible. There are a lot of creative people out there who need some mini projects to make some money - advertise on gumtree or similar websites and say what you are looking for them to build and I'm sure you will get someone who is willing to give it a go. I'd be more than happy to link you with the creator of my tree but unfortunately he's off to greener pastures of Oz with his skills. But I could also take some pictures of my tree and give you the model that he designed as we planned it and that might help you to direct someone into building your ideal tree for your cat(s) that will last and make them happy.

Shanao

Kali_Kalika, do you mind putting up a pic of it? I'd love to see it and get some ideas as I have no idea where to start

Alicat

ladyjuicy08 wrote: »

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/CAT-TREE-SCRATCHING-POST-SCRATCH-ACTIVITY-CENTRE-BED-X-/330605235015?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Cats&hash=item4cf99b8b47#ht_2263wt_922

This is the one I have 2 cats 6.1kg and 4.2kg holding up pretty good

That looks huge though! My apartment isn't that big so I kind of want something that won't take over the living room Cool tree though!

Sassy58 wrote: »

I have one very round cat and I love the alicante cat tree - but I would go for any of the ceiling trees that have a wide base at least that way you can secure it to the ceiling for extra support - it doesn't mark the ceiling so its all good. My cats love tearing up and down ours

I don't understand ceiling trees, how exactly do they work?

Shanao wrote: »

With an 8kg, and four 6kg cats I'm struggling to find one solid enough. I bought two from maxi zoo which have lasted twelve months, and would suit the 6kg cats fine, but then the big fella decides to sit on the weakest parts and they bend under him. I bought one on zooplus as well and it was broken in about four months, besides beng called 'sturdy'. I'm thinking of actually building one myself out of an old bookshelf if i can get the sisal, and attach it to the wall to make it sturdy.

I was only thinking this the other day as I was looking at a bookcase we just put together in the living room. The two cats were jumping in and out of the alcoves and it was only about 20 quid!

Alicat

Kali_Kalika wrote: »

I think for awhile I was putting the cat tree people's children through very posh, expensive colleges with the amounts of them I was buying and what I was spending on them. :rolleyes: Shocking prices most of the decent ones are! :eek:

Even after ordering from the US a few times - once even from a company called "Fatty Cat" :rolleyes: who promised incredibly strong trees and levels and seats (that one, granted, lasted longer than the rest - but eventually one day it did give way when he was asleep on one of the high shelves on it)
They did at least send a free voucher for $50 for use on their website as compensation (it came with a guarantee but I worked out the compensation wouldn't be worth sending it back as that would cost nearly as much as the compensation was so they gave me the online voucher instead)

My friend is a builder with many talents and he was able to create us a lovely cat tree for him - it has extra big and wide shelves so lots of room for him and they are reinforced with 2 shelf brackets (found in B&Q, Woodies, etc) so no chance of them breaking - the "trunk" of the tree is part of an actual tree so no need for the sisal rope as its a natural scratching post and he loves it - its some type of Pine tree so when he uses it you get this lovely christmasy smell in the room! But yet its not sticky or any sap or anything from where its been scratched. I've placed a small, regular post with the usual sisal rope on it near the bottom so he has the best of 2 scratching options. There are also toys dangling from it and the shelves are covered in carpet (cozy and easy to clean)/. It does reach from floor to ceiling but that was personal choice (it gave him a space to get away from the pup!) and he loves a good eagles eye view of his kingdom :rolleyes::D And all in all - with the cost of materials and my friends time the total bill he presented me with was about 75 euros - so a far far outstanding product for a mere fraction of the price of petstore products that just were not made for a cat of his size (at the last vet check he had he weighed in at just over 10kg - he's not fat and perfectly healthy the vet advised - he's just a massive tom cat - I've had many people say he's single handedly the biggest cat they've ever seen):D:D

So if your cat is a sizable weight like mine - I can only personally suggest staying as far away from pet store products and online ones as possible. There are a lot of creative people out there who need some mini projects to make some money - advertise on gumtree or similar websites and say what you are looking for them to build and I'm sure you will get someone who is willing to give it a go. I'd be more than happy to link you with the creator of my tree but unfortunately he's off to greener pastures of Oz with his skills. But I could also take some pictures of my tree and give you the model that he designed as we planned it and that might help you to direct someone into building your ideal tree for your cat(s) that will last and make them happy.

I wish I knew someone who could do that! I'd be afraid that if I hired some randomer to do it I'd end up with a DIY monstrosity in my living room :pac: I'd love to see yours though, if that would suit!

Kali_Kalika

To those who asked to see my tree - I'll do my best to comply!
My laptop and new camera don't really like eachother yet! :rolleyes: So if I can ever get them to act civil with eachother I'll certainly post some up for you all to admire!

Kali_Kalika

Alicat wrote: »

I wish I knew someone who could do that! I'd be afraid that if I hired some randomer to do it I'd end up with a DIY monstrosity in my living room :pac: I'd love to see yours though, if that would suit!

I know how you feel - even I wasn't too sure about it at first either! He's usually on a building site and at the time I was in a small one bedroom apartment - I feared the cat and cat tree would completely own the living room and I'd be entertaining guests in the hallway! :rolleyes::D

But he was actually really good - we sat and planned it together - me from the animal and apartment side and himself all on the building and practicality side of things. In ways he was too practical - he tried using his tape measure (the retractable metal one!) to measure Floyd's arse to see how wide the shelves should be! I wish I were joking! :rolleyes: The cat wasn't impressed! haha

But there are alot of talented people and builders out there who work is low for them and any job is a job to them - gumtree lets you post free ads - create a new email account and put up an ad explaining fully what you'd like - I bet you'd get some replies - creative people like that like new projects that they can add to their boasting list of success projects. I think my friend took about 100 pics making it, putting it up and when it was fully finished to add to his portfolio of projects!

MaryK666

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/scratching_posts/large/large_cat_trees_height_180_cm_over_/138487

This is the one I have and I got it from zooplus when it was a lot more expensive but it's virtually bomb proof.

I have two boys who are 6kg and 7kg respectively and two girls who ate 5kg and 4kg and they all tear up and down it, jump on an off it, use it to dive-bomb each other and scamper up the posts like squirrels and it's still standing and looking good.
It's big and takes up one entire corner of the living room but it was the best investment ever and I'll be getting another one soon, while they're reduced, and keeping it in the attic for when this one pops it's clogs but I can't see that being anytime soon. Ours has been up for just over two years and it's virtually perfect although at this stage there is some fraying of the sisal but nothing to cause concern.
It does need to be tightened up about once every two months but I think that's more about me being careful than out of necessity.
Seriously the best investment we ever made and the cat's just love it.