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Old 01-16-2013, 08:33 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,527,214 times
Reputation: 5162

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The best thing is if you can check it out in person, but of course that can be difficult. Petsmart or an independent pet store seem most likely to have something better in my experience. I haven't really looked at Petsmart recently, but I've been in Petco and the stuff I've mostly noticed in there does not seem as good as some others. But I haven't exactly looked closely.

The big thing in my mind is weight. With a taller tree, you really need it to be fairly heavy. This creates an additional problem when trying to order and have shipped since weight adds shipping cost.

I have two somewhat taller trees in the house. One is an old one from I don't know where because it was a gift. I think it may have been Petsmart but not sure. This came fully assembled and entirely covered in carpet. It's at least reasonably heavily weighted on base and seems fairly sturdy, and Amber still uses it regularly. It's also not in a position where she can give it a real running jump that would push it over. I bought one a few years ago from Costco (online order, in a box needing assembly) and found it to be kinda cheap. Amber liked it a lot actually, which is why I didn't take it back (Costco's return policy is pretty liberal and I could have returned it to the store). But it didn't hold up especially well, particularly the rope wound around some pieces. And it was VERY light with all cardboard or plastic tubes. She still uses it sometimes but given the condition it's now in it has been relegated to the downstairs TV room which she usually goes in only when we're down there, so she doesn't use it very often.

I also have a tall scratching post from a local pet shop. This is heavy and bought fully assembled, and has a small flat perch on the top. I'm planning on turning the post over on its base to put the remaining fresh rope on the top, and I suspect I'm going to find that the post itself on this one is actually wood and not cardboard given the weight. For all I know the shop or someone locally that they know made these, but I didn't inquire at the time. They still sell them so perhaps I will find out eventually.

It's definitely a good idea to read through different levels of ratings rather than just go by the overal average stars. I am always curious what the one and two and three star reviews say on an otherwise high-average product. Often times the low reviews are for quite stupid things, sometimes not even related to the product (e.g. shipping was slow, etc). But sometimes there are useful insights in there. On some sites at least I wouldn't expect too many shill reviews (Amazon, for example, lives and dies on reviews and expends some effort on review integrity), but some will slip through I'm sure, and other sites can be more easily duped by them.

At one time a few years ago I did a lot of searching online for good trees, but I didn't exactly come up with anything so conclusive that I can remember it enough to recommend to you. Some really interesting ones are quite expensive. I have often thought for my next scratching post or piece of cat furniture I might try making it myself.
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Old 01-16-2013, 08:40 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,527,214 times
Reputation: 5162
Quote:
Originally Posted by shelby1half View Post
I bought a "Molly and Friends" cat tree and my cats LOVE it! Very solid and well made. It was the smaller one with the cat face and it's very cute. I think I paid $104, but that was about three years ago. If you click on the link, you will see three of my kitties.

Amazon.com: Molly and Friends "Tabby's Hide-away" Premium Handmade 2-Tier Cat Tree with Sisal, Model 38, Beige: Pet Supplies
Ah, now that you mention this name, I recall this company. I remember being close to ordering one a couple times. But they have since changed their focus and now only wholesale to pet shops and other retailers, plus Amazon. Used to be you could custom configure a piece online and have it shipped directly. I wish on their present web site they had more description of what kinds of materials go into the furniture, but I recall it being all wood and so forth.
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Old 01-16-2013, 09:23 AM
 
2,280 posts, read 4,480,458 times
Reputation: 1851
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alicia64 View Post
I haven't had a cat in years, but when my elderly dog died we adopted an orange motorboat who is now five months old.

We have one really tall window (among smaller ones) and it would be cool for him to look out. So I've been researching and researching cat trees on Amazon, Overstock, Petco etc. and getting absolutely no where. They all appear to have four stars for the most part, but if you scroll down and read the one and two star reviews, the perches are too small, the pasteboard construction is flimsy, the carpet falls apart after a month, the whole thing smells like glue or urine etc.

I can't believe that buying a cat tree is such a big deal, but I don't want to pay $130 and two months later have a piece of junk.

Do you have any suggestions? It appears that the Amarkat and Go Pet products are the two biggest culprits for producing poor quality stuff.

I don't mind going as high as $150 or $160.

Making my own is a great idea, but I don't have the skills.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Alley
Unfortunately, a tall and well made, durable, safe cat tree is expensive and I think you have to pay more than you feel able to for a good one. The best brand I know of, for quality, but which is expensive, is Angelical Cat Cat Furniture, Cat Trees, Cat Houses, Cat Condos, Cat Perches and Scratching Posts..

Probably you don't want to, but you can attach steps to your wall that lead up to the window and place a cat perch at the window.
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Old 01-16-2013, 10:04 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,527,214 times
Reputation: 5162
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martha Anne View Post
Unfortunately, a tall and well made, durable, safe cat tree is expensive and I think you have to pay more than you feel able to for a good one. The best brand I know of, for quality, but which is expensive, is Angelical Cat Cat Furniture, Cat Trees, Cat Houses, Cat Condos, Cat Perches and Scratching Posts..
This looks good. They even have a page that tells you in general what to look for. I do vaguely remember the name from previous searching.

Alicia, when you say "tall window" do you mean the lowest point of the window is really high off the floor? How high would something need to be to reach it?

Attaching steps (shelves) to the wall can be a good option as mentioned above, but getting the shelves stable enough for cat jumping still can require a certain degree of handiness that you may or may not be comfortable with. The tree-type furniture is certainly more versatile as it could be easily moved around, etc.

Just to mention in passing, one way to make a tree stable without it being too huge is to have it stretch to the ceiling, like this: Cat Trees: Deluxe Cat Tree by Drs. Foster & Smith Only good if you don't have an insanely high ceiling. 8-9 feet it works decently. The Foster and Smith stuff seems not too awful, although it does look like the sisal and carpet posts are going to be cardboard. Hey, at least they show you!
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Old 01-16-2013, 10:31 AM
 
Location: Near Nashville TN
7,201 posts, read 14,882,033 times
Reputation: 5448
We bought all our cat-trees and condos at Petco and PetsMart. We went and looked at them in person before buying. I waited for sales. Two are quite large and complex. Three cats worked them over for several years. Now the 4th cat joined in the clawing and climbing. So far all but one are holding up great. The last one, from PetsMart (no name on it) is shedding the carpet when they scratch on it. It's getting bald in one area. I'm forever sweeping up the tufts of carpet they've clawed out. The other 5 are still like new. One has some kind of fleece on it rather than carpet and is made by Ameracat or something similar. But all the poles are covered in rope they love to claw. We're in FL now so I can't go check for names.

Those tall ones that tend to tip over are weighed down with cinder-blocks. They're not making the bases wide enough on some of the taller cat furniture.
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Old 01-16-2013, 10:40 AM
 
Location: Southern New Hampshire
10,009 posts, read 17,911,869 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alicia64 View Post
Thank you for writing. The reason I look closely at the one-star reviews is because I'm worried that the companies pay people to write the five-star reviews. For example, I buy a lot of clothes for my boys from Lands End and read their reviews a lot before buying. It's very obvious that Land's End is paying people to write reviews. They sound silly: "my son loved these shirts so much, I'm going to buy one in every color!"

Those sort of sentences come up again and again because I don't think the writers can think of new things to say after awhile. So on the cat trees I keep seeing "perfect for multiple cats!" and they go on and on about the company and how good it is and how you "can't beat such-and-such company."

For the real truth it's a good idea to read the three, two and one stars.

Alley
Hmmm. I always read the lower-starred reviews too, of course, but I hadn't noticed "the same review over and over again." Maybe we have just looked at different products! (Haven't bought anything at Lands' End in years but from what I remember, their quality was excellent.)

I have written a bunch of reviews for overstock, amazon, etc., sometimes very positive, sometimes not. What I look for are DETAILS in reviews so I can see they actually bought it, put it together (if applicable), used it, etc. Honestly, maybe I am naive, and I could be wrong of course, but I don't see reputable companies like overstock, amazon, Lands' End, etc. paying people for reviews.

I can say that all of the cat trees I've bought from overstock (probably 6-8 total) have worked out well. I wish my kitties would use the taller ones more for scratching instead of just climbing.
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Old 01-16-2013, 10:51 AM
 
Location: Earth Wanderer, longing for the stars.
12,406 posts, read 18,898,633 times
Reputation: 8909
I bought a huge cat tree for our cats and they loved it. I got it at a cat show. The woman selling them was from Maryland and said the people who she made it for did not show up to pick it up. She gave me a good price. It's around seven feet tall.

Here is a company that I've been looking at, but the ones that I like are expensive:

Cat Trees | CatsPlay.com Cat Furniture

I always start with the lower reviews, but don't allow them to prejudice me if there are a LOT of rave reviews. Don't forget that some of those low reviews can be made by competitors, so you really must use judgment.
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Old 01-18-2013, 10:17 AM
 
Location: St. Louis, MO
758 posts, read 1,630,660 times
Reputation: 945
I have two cat trees, the most recent bought for Christmas 2012.

Christmas 2011, my cats got this Armarkat tree from Amazon.com
Amazon.com: Armarkat B5701 57-Inch Cat Tree, Ivory: Pet Supplies

It's currently 90.99 with free prime shipping, I got it for just under $80 (also free shipping). The price changes a bit, depending on availability.

The cats love it! It seems to be pretty good quality. Only one of my three cats have claws, so they obviously haven't all been scratching on it, but they all climb on it, sleep on it, play on it. The posts seem pretty big and sturdy...but it rocks a little bit. Definitely not enough to encourage my cats from jumping onto it, off of it, or from it to their second tree....

Their 2nd tree was their 2012 Christmas present. Also from Amazon.com

Amazon.com: New 72" Large Cat Tower Tree with Condo House Scratcher Post: Pet Supplies
(I paid a total of $95 dollars...I think it was $60 + $30 shipping) I'm not actually sure which brand this is.

I didn't go with the Armarkat equivalent, because I wanted something where the levels weren't completely stacked (since only one cat has front claws), but in retrospect I wish I would have bought Armarkat again. The sisal posts (which provide the support for the tree) are not as big in diameter, so the tree rocks a bit more. Still, all three cats climb on it, even up to the highest perch! And I have both trees side by side, so they jump from one to the other. I removed the ramp since no one used it. It was a selling point (again, older cats with no claws), but it was a little to vertical to be useful.

If I had to do it again, knowing that the two are side by side for jumping from tree to tree, I probably would have just gone ahead and gotten this one.

Amazon.com: Armarkat Deluxe Cat Tree, Model B7301, Ivory: Pet Supplies

I also have the pet stairs from Armarkat which all three cats love (for playing, scratching, sleeping on...and actually using to get on the bed). I've only been with Armarkat products since last Christmas, but so far, so good.
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Old 01-18-2013, 10:32 AM
 
Location: Nantahala National Forest, NC
27,074 posts, read 11,686,373 times
Reputation: 30347
Agree!

Armarkat is the BEST!

I even posted a thread on them months back...




Quote:
Originally Posted by hodgemo2 View Post
I have two cat trees, the most recent bought for Christmas 2012.

Christmas 2011, my cats got this Armarkat tree from Amazon.com
Amazon.com: Armarkat B5701 57-Inch Cat Tree, Ivory: Pet Supplies

It's currently 90.99 with free prime shipping, I got it for just under $80 (also free shipping). The price changes a bit, depending on availability.

The cats love it! It seems to be pretty good quality. Only one of my three cats have claws, so they obviously haven't all been scratching on it, but they all climb on it, sleep on it, play on it. The posts seem pretty big and sturdy...but it rocks a little bit. Definitely not enough to encourage my cats from jumping onto it, off of it, or from it to their second tree....

Their 2nd tree was their 2012 Christmas present. Also from Amazon.com

Amazon.com: New 72" Large Cat Tower Tree with Condo House Scratcher Post: Pet Supplies
(I paid a total of $95 dollars...I think it was $60 + $30 shipping) I'm not actually sure which brand this is.

I didn't go with the Armarkat equivalent, because I wanted something where the levels weren't completely stacked (since only one cat has front claws), but in retrospect I wish I would have bought Armarkat again. The sisal posts (which provide the support for the tree) are not as big in diameter, so the tree rocks a bit more. Still, all three cats climb on it, even up to the highest perch! And I have both trees side by side, so they jump from one to the other. I removed the ramp since no one used it. It was a selling point (again, older cats with no claws), but it was a little to vertical to be useful.

If I had to do it again, knowing that the two are side by side for jumping from tree to tree, I probably would have just gone ahead and gotten this one.

Amazon.com: Armarkat Deluxe Cat Tree, Model B7301, Ivory: Pet Supplies

I also have the pet stairs from Armarkat which all three cats love (for playing, scratching, sleeping on...and actually using to get on the bed). I've only been with Armarkat products since last Christmas, but so far, so good.
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Old 01-18-2013, 07:53 PM
 
Location: NW Penna.
1,758 posts, read 3,813,917 times
Reputation: 1880
Search your local Craigslist and see if there's a local person who makes and sells them. There is or used to be somebody in my town and his trees were $75-$100 for huge ones that would be $250 or more + freight to buy online.
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