It was simple and straightforward to assemble. Everything arrived neatly boxed, all of the pieces were there, everything was labeled correctly, nothing was broken, and we didn't have any exposed staples or anything like that. There weren't any written instructions, but the company did provide an illustrated assembly image that was helpful. It's so simple to assemble, though, that I'm sure anyone with half a brain could figure it out even without the instructions they did provide; overall, my Husband and I got it built and moved into position in less than 15 minutes- though there was some confusion with one piece early on, which made later stages of assembly impossible until we figured out what had gone wrong. That was our fault, though, and nothing to do with the product or assembly instructions.
So far we've had it for a couple months.and the cats definitely love it. Our tubby 10 pound English Shorthair has no problem getting up and down from it, or navigating the various ledges- nor does our 8 pound Siamese or 4 pound Calico Kitten.That being said, it did take them a little bit to get used to it. We did have to place treats and catnip on it in various places to encourage their interest (which is standard, to be honest; it's normal to need to assist interest in new toys and it's certainly not a fault of the product). After about 20 minutes of catnip, cat treats, and manually picking them up and putting them on the tree, though, they took to it with glee.
*** I was surprised to find that the frame for the hammock was made of metal as opposed to something less stable- a fact I'm happy about. I did have to make a small repair in the hammock fabric after the first month, but all it took was 5 minutes of my time and some heavy duty embroidery thread. It's lasted just fine since then. Even my 10 pound English Shorthair can fit in it just fine and it supports him without issue (though it's certainly a funny sight to see such a huge cat disappear into such a small hammock!).
*** Another issue is that the fabric at the top of several scratching posts has also come undone. This isn't necessarily a problem with the product, however, and is due more to how and where my 10 pound English Shorthair scratches; he prefers scratching higher up on the posts as opposed to in the center like my other two, and unfortunately that area's simply not meant to be scratched on like that. Some fabric glue has solved the issue rather well- though I have to reapply it every now and then when he pulls it back down.
** It is a bit shaky, too; the tree is a bit top heavy and I don't quite think that the base is wide enough to sufficiently stabilize it. That being said, though, it was an easy fix. My Husband and I simply mounted it to the wall via a pipe bracket in the center of the back post. Problem solved.
** I your cats like to go screaming across / around / up the tree at fast speeds then (on occasion) you'll also have to re-tighten the house that's attached to the base board (center bottom of the tree)... It tends to spin when they do that and needs an occasional re-tightening so it doesn't wobble around. I'm sure it'll likely strip the screw eventually, but when that happens we'll simply pull it off altogether.
Other than that, there isn't much else to say. It's a pretty standard cat tower- and by that I mean that it's made from pretty much the exact same fuzzy material, plywood, jute rope, and cardboard that pretty much every other cat tower I've ever seen is. Comparatively, though, it's pretty good quality for the price and size- especially when you're looking at MUCH smaller trees and towers of the same (though often lesser) quality at Walmart, for half the cost of this one. In all, I'd say it's worth investing in if you (like me) understand that cats (being incredibly destructive creatures) are just going to destroy it within a year anyways.
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Customer Review: A really good cat tree (worth its price)
AdityaMukadam
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Customer Review: Love it, easy to put together!
Mel S
Reviews with images
Glad I took the chance on this
This took me a while to put together, about 1 hour. I've seen a few reviews knocking the product for being "shaky" and unstable, but then some of these also claim that they took 15 or 30 minutes to put it together. That is amazing. For a first time set up, even people with experience in putting together these things are unlikely to manage assembly in such a short time, not if they want a good solid finish anyway. Having tightened each pole/part (to within an inch of it's life), I can testify to it's sturdiness. Definitely do not rush the assembly part, you and your cats will thank you for it later. Tighten until it will not tighten further - then stop before you break something.The instructions I received were visual, anyone can read them. I worked out which pole was which, different sizes, some of the posts screw onto the frame. I actually lined them up as was being scatterbrained and they aren't labelled. I think my cats were laughing at me the whole time. The screws types also vary, and an Allen key is included. You can make adjustments to the final design, here and there. Though to be safe I would only recommend changing the top level fixtures as I did (see my images).Some of the reviews on here state that it is not "real carpet", this is true, it is soft and plushy like the photo. My kitties seem to like it. For the price I never imagined it would be real carpet, and the cats certainly do not care and at the end of the day that is what counts. The material is perfectly secured to the boards/fixtures, so I can't comment on a few of the reviewers who claim otherwise as sounds like a different product entirely.We put blankets inside of the 2 huts and it definitely helped sell those to the kitties as they're not much into confined spaces like other cats. The boards themselves are strong, not sure what material but if you were hoping for something like wood remember what you're paying here. Let's be real your cats don't care whether it's made out of gold or boards - they care that you feed them. (I should add "that you are feeding them the good stuff, not mushy supermarket/superbrand cardboard pulp!" Else shame on you.)It is true the mouse toy will most likely not last the day so goodbyes are in order very soon after set up. I apologised to it as soon as I saw that glint in my naughtiest kitten's eye. Honestly I've yet to see a toy short of a sturdy dog toy that can withstand my "un-feralled" kitten's devotion but they have plenty of toys scattered around the house and on the tree so it seems hardly worth mentioning.If you find your cat gets stuck up top then I can only suggest putting it near something like a couch or a smaller tree, especially with older cats. Our kittens don't have trouble jumping down, even from the highest level, but I imagine if you have large/overweight cats it might become an issue. Personally I wouldn't blame the product for my cat's being fat but there you go. Hopefully the tree will help reduce weight problems.Overall this is definitely worth the money and I think you would easily pay about $200 or more in pet stores for this product. Just look on Petco/Petsmart websites. Even some of the $300 trees have issues but if you want to go that crazy then do - I might have but not for their first tree. I'll wait until they kill this one first. Also it's a great size, so do not see how a 10lb cat could find it too small as one review states - again sounds like different product received? I would recommend this tree be placed in a corner, mostly for your cats safety, especially if they like sleeping on the flat surfaces but stretch/roll around like mine do.I like that I only paid (I think) $80 with shipping included. It's definitely worth at least that.
