Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsThe beauty of this tower is its ability to look classy in any room, even the most upscaled room possible.
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2018
STELLAR CUSTOMER SERVICE: First, Amazon's customer service pulled through with flying colors when we had problems with shipping due to a couple mishaps by both Amazon and UPS. Our prime shipping turned into an 8 day arrival time even though our tree was only 30 miles from our front doorstep by day two at a UPS warehouse, and no one thought to first give us the chance to at least come pick it up ourselves on day three. It was a birthday gift to be given at the same time as two new kittens in a wonderful and surprising way, and that was ruined. We ordered it six days prior to when we absolutely had to have it to set it up for the gifting, even though it was marked "Prime Shipping," just to be safe and ensure we got it in time. We didn't, and it spoiled the kind of experience and surprise we wanted to create. However, Amazon always makes things right and in an extremely fair way, because they place the customer first and take responsibility. So we are 5-star pleased on that front with no hard feelings because of it.
CONSTRUCTION and MATERIALS: Second, if you're considering this particular tower, it's worth it. We saw in person several other brands and styles. All were way overpriced for the size and quality, some 1/3 the size of this without any thing but one shelf to sit on and a scratching post, but still $70! Others as large as this one were flimsy, cheaply made, and wobbled, or had no other creative activity spaces but one. This tree has many, and it is very sturdy. Any tree you buy at this height is going to have the potential to wobble or sway if you try and make it do that, like if you lean your full weight up against it or push it, or if two large cats jump on it and scramble up it at the same time. But the tree sways only a small bit when cats do that, and never to the extent that it may topple over. You can't avoid that at all with this height in respect to its base width. You would have to double the base size and use all solid 2x4s or 4x4 wooden posts. It will look more bulky, take up more space, and that kind of quality and construction is going to cost a lot if it still comes with all the various play levels, two houses, perch, and a feeding platform like this one does. For the pillars/scratching post base, this tree uses what many others use, rolled hollow cardboard tubes rather than top-heavy wooden posts that might topple over at this height, and wrapped in quality and highly durable sisal. However, many others use tubes of a smaller diameter making the weight from the height put too much pressure on them and they can break or bend. While this tree uses 3" diameter posts, and not the 4-5" kind other models boast, it uses a lot more cardboard material for its tubes to create a thick and tightly rolled post that is incredibly sturdy and unbendable - short of driving a car over it, so don't let the diameter worry you with this particular tree. Not all 3" posts share that quality.
ASSEMBLING and HOUSES: Putting it together delivered a solid tree without anything loose, wobbly, or cattywampus. We laid out all the scratching posts according to their designated letter in order to make sure we didn't mix them up. We kept a lot of space between them so like E wouldn't roll over to F without our noticing. We laid out the hardware in the same way too. The instructions were easy to follow because my 16 year old son read them and directed me as to what to do. It went together easily. My husband gave every level's screw or post a last tightening without overdoing it of course. You don't want to strip anything and give reason to future instability. The houses are very different than many other trees too. Others between $80 and $130 price range had the material stretched over a frame, so the walls of the houses were just like a tent. Or, they were made out of very weak and cheap cardboard or flimsy particle board that quickly looked uneven and sloppy. (Display models at your local pet stores can corroborate this, testifying to how little use it takes to make some trees unsturdy or unappealing, as well as how little "extras" and platforms/houses they have on their trees for their price in comparison to this one.) This tower uses a 3/8" thick particle board for the house walls and 5/8" for the ceilings, and they are also very sturdily constructed, compacted well. Sure, if you put enough bendable pressure on the walls in ways it wasn't built for it is going to crack. How do I know this? I was trying to staple gun a hanging mouse over one of the door openings, and while the particle board is heavy duty enough to NOT allow a staple gun to penetrate the staple through its material flush, and only 1/3 of the staple went into it, when I hammered it as hard as was needed to sink it into the particle board, the board bent in with a crease about 2" and got a 3/4" crack. Most people know to not hammer particle board LOL ... doh! So, unless you perform WWE wrestling moves on it, the houses will remain sturdy for years to come. No cat will be able to bend or crack it. The best part is the size. The largest cat can fit through the openings and they are extremely spacious inside. The top one could fit two full grown cats curled up, and the bottom could easily fit 3 or 4. They are fun. None of this kitten-sized-only stuff for only $40 less.
WATER/FOOD BOWL: Another favorite feature that makes this tower unique is the feeding dish on the middle platform. It is marketed as a water bowl. Uhhh, no. Not in my family room it isn't. I don't think that is wise at all, not so much because of the room it is in or the flooring it is on, but because of the cat tower itself. Water around any kind of particle board no matter how solidly crafted is never a good idea and softens and weakens it over time, if not immediately. Additionally, the wet material covering it might dry quickly all the way through, but it might not. Repeated exposure will create smell, mildew, etc. So we use it to feed them their dry food. They eat there every single day. No batting at water and getting the carpet and platform wet and soggy over time weakening its sturdiness. Just dry food. It's wonderful. Then in our kitchen there is a spot where we feed them their wet food. Their dry food bowl is always empty by the end of the night, and it's a rather large bowl too!
IVY LEAVES: Sure the kitties like to bat at the green ivy leaves, and the leaves are much cheaper than the quality you'd buy at a craft store, comparable to a dollar store frankly. However, they are of the perfect shade of green that makes the ivory tower look lovely and elegant, not too dark and not too light. Too dark can create a messy or harsh look, and too light creates a cheap look. To be safe, we used a staple gun and stapled the ends of the vines into the platform "wood" (about 5/8" thick platforms,) and hammered them flush to the board below the carpet for safety, being careful with the hammering force, (but the platforms can handle a lot more than the house walls.) A 1/2' staple worked best. Occasionally one of our little stinkers accidentally pulls a leaf off when using one of the scratching posts, but it's still not noticeable. The leaf can't be put back on unless you glue them with an immediate drying craft glue. I don't think you need to worry about the cats chewing the ivy. Ours don't, only bite at them once or twice now and then, but don't chew. They have grown accustomed to them just being a part of the tree, albeit sometimes in the way of their scratching. Eventually I'll exchange it out with a better quality ivy from Michael's that has the leaves attached by sliding the stem over another little stem sticking out of the the garland. Then they can just be placed back on when they come off. In the meantime, it is not a deal breaker or a reason to not use the ivy. The beauty of this tower is its ability to look classy in the most upscaled room possible, (better than ours,) because of the effect the contrasting green ivy leaves have with the ivory scratching posts.
SIZE: Don't fear that something so tall might look imposing or obnoxious in your home. Of course every home and room size offers different options for different sizes. If this were shorter, it might seem too bulky/wide, but at this height it looks more slender and narrow. Since I have included pictures of ours in our room and how we use it, it will be helpful for you to know that the room is 20' long and 16' wide. The wall in the photo that has the cat tree on the left of the fireplace and the artificial tree on the right side is 16' across if that helps. Our ceilings are 9 feet. I'll admit that if you have standard 8 ft ceilings, it might be a bit intrusive to your space depending on the layout and size of your room, but with a large window nearby or good lighting and such, it can work. We previously had a second tall artificial plant in the spot we put the cat tree in, and this replaced it tastefully and quite easily to keep the balance on both sides of the fireplace. It is the best cat tree on the market today because a room can maintain its elegance while providing a playground for cats.
ACCESS TO EACH LEVEL: Our cats had no problem learning to climb to each level, and the top pedestal is their favorite spot. Every level has an area that allows jumping to the next level unlike many other cat trees who have one or more levels directly above the lower one with nothing to jump from, and only the most determined and crafty cats will use the scratching posts to climb their way to the next level. Such a silly oversight if you ask me. Our cats use every single platform equally and energetically, chasing each other up and down the entire tower continuously to our amusement. They immediately made this their home, errrr Palace!, and their play yard. They get so much use out of it every single day, keeping them plenty busy and entertained, and we just know that wouldn't be true for most other towers. Some reviewers on this site or others might say they wish that the two outer platforms to get to the top house stuck out a bit further to give more space from which their cat can jump, but still love it regardless. I would have to agree, and about 1" more would do it nicely, however it might make the tower look too out of proportion, since it presently is perfectly proportioned. Some cats like ours have no problem. Since they learned it as kittens, they will have no problem as an adult. When compared to so many other towers, I don't see many large cats having any problem at all getting used to this, getting to each level and to the top, unless of course you own Garfield.
NOTE: Our photos - We have more toys hanging and attached than come with it. The mouse at the very top and the two ropes are what come with the tree and are sturdily attached, with the ropes using a very smart attachment style which is screwed into the upper base. But we added various other toys on other levels for more fun, so if you see any of those don't expect them to come with the tower.
