Furniture For Your Cat

The term "Cat Furniture" refers to many different things that you might buy for a cat such as scratching posts and litter tray enclosures, up large cat trees and cat condos.

In this article we look at the larger items that you might consider and the benefits of these plus the points you need to look out for.

The first thing to consider is the terminology. The larger items of furniture are usually referred to as Cat Tree, Cat Condo and Cat Tower and you might wonder what is the difference. Well this is something of a grey area. In theory cat trees and cat towers are more open. They have one or more vertical posts that have resting places on the “limbs which may look like shelves or short boxes. There may be various toys and items like a swing or hammock included. The lower part usually features a scratching post. A condo, on the other hand, is more enclosed with various levels offering places to hide and sleep as well as play.

In practice most items are a mixture of these types and the terms are more or less interchangeable.

So what are the benefits of this sort of cat furniture:

• Height - Cats love high places so a cat tree/condo gives them the opportunity to climb without causing damage elsewhere.

• Helps with Multiple Cats - where there is more than one cat they will establish a heirarchy. The vertical space of a cat tree/condo provides the opportunity to display this and can mean that cats that were previously squabbling can live together happily.

• Hiding Place - Most cat trees/condos offer a place to hide away, particularly useful if you have young children in the house.

• Scratching Post - Most scratching posts you can buy are not really long enough. They should ideally be high enough to let the cat stretch full length whilst scratching and many cat trees/condos offer this.

• Save your Furniture - Cats always want to climb and play so if you give them somewhere to do this it will save then damaging your furniture and curtains.

It is not a good plan to cut costs when purchasing a cat tree/condo, you should get the highest quality you can. Your cats will not be gentle with it and you want it to last many years. The cheaper examples are normally self assembly and beware, some are easier to put together than others. More expensive examples will be supplied ready assembled which means there will probably be a delivery cost to consider.

The most important point to bear in mind is that your cat furniture must be safe for your cat and others in the house. Your cat (or cats) should not be able to cause it to fall over even by jumping from the top. If this were to happen, or even if it is just a bit unstable, your cat will likely become wary of it and avoid it in future.

A good quality cat tree/condo will usually be quickly adopted by your cat and can make like easier for all involved.