The Best Cat Tree — 5 Things to Consider

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Cats love to have vertical space, and your kitten is no exception. Not only does a cat tree give your kitten an appropriate place to scratch and climb, a cat tree also provides your cat with the exercise she needs and a natural opportunity to groom her own claws. A cat tree can also help stop your cat from scratching your furniture.

However, in order to make your kitten’s cat tree experience a good one, you need to take a few very important things into account.

1. Look for a cat tree with a wide base

A cat popping out a cat tree. Photography © lisegagne | iStock / Getty Images Plus.

First, the base of your cat tree needs to be sturdy enough to keep it from tipping over or wobbling when your kitten climbs on it. If it does fall over, your kitten certainly won’t want to use it anymore; worse, she could be seriously injured. Although even the cheapest cat condos might do for a tiny kitten, plan ahead: your cat will weigh anywhere between 7 and 20 pounds (depending on breed) when she’s fully grown, so be sure your post has a wide and sturdy base.

2. Look for a cat tower with different levels

Be sure that your cat tree has a variety of scratching surfaces and sitting or snoozing areas on different levels. Hang toys from the cat tree to make it even more tempting.

3. Catnip makes a cat tree more enticing

If your kitten reacts to catnip, you can get her interested in the cat tree by sprinkling some catnip on the base and in a couple of the perches.

4. A good cat tower isn’t cheap!

You can expect to pay quite a bit of money for a well-made cat tree. High-quality cat furniture retails for anywhere between $100 and $600 US (and more!).

5. You can build you own cat tree

If you have more time and DIY skills than money, there are a couple of excellent websites that offer information on building your own cat tower. Thrift y Fun has instructions on how to build a cat tree, and this post on the Toolcrib blog has links to 20 websites that offer free cat furniture plans.

Tell us: Have you ever built your own cat tower? What kind of climbing and scratching surface does your kitty like?

This piece was originally published in 2010.

About the authors

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