I'm a bit of a quiet member on here, but I have 2 bengal babies. A spotted boy and a marble girl who are just gorgeous and nuts! I want to get them a good cat tree but not sure which ones are the best? I've seen one on Amazon, it's a leopet one and is pretty much ceiling height. Would that be ok? I would like to get one that's going to last and not be destroyed in a month
Where did you get yours from?
Thanks!

I would definitely recommend solid wood cat trees. They are more expensive, but they seem to last forever without a 'wobble' even after 12 years, so you save on not having to replace the more regular cat trees.

A few UK sites:

http://www.crrailisocats.co.uk/Cat-Furn ... mples.html

http://www.kalven.co.uk/

http://www.catplay-stations.com/

http://hicat.co.uk/ (I had to add this one as the two Bengals on the site were from my very first litters many years ago (Leroy and Rudy), and the owners were inspired to create the 'Hicat' from owning two very boisterous male Bengals who love climbing )

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Best Wishes,
Maddy

The poles from hicat look like lots of fun to me... if placed next to some shelves/tree even better.

But you can make a cat pole yourself for a fraction of the cost of these.
Take a trip to local carpet store and ask for one of the ''inner tubes'' (dont know correct name) from a finished roll of carpet (they are huge) and you should be able to get that free... then buy a length of cheap rough texture carpet the same length as your pole (need to cut it to the height of your ceiling) and use a decent glue to wrap and attach the carpet around the pole.

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Best Wishes,
Maddy

Yeah sorry Maddy ;)
I did get a pang of guilt about diminishing the value of the hicat poles... but in these times of economic pressure I personally have to try to save wherever possible. I assume its the same for all of us.
I find alot of the small company made cat products (not mass produced) are very highly priced... I also know a guy that ''knocks together'' (his words) real wood trees occasionally and he has a good laugh down the pub at how much he charges for ''bits of wood I got for nothing'' which makes me a little sceptical at the prices of some handmade trees.... I couldnt make one (lol) but I also wouldn't pay the current asking prices.

Unfortunately some really cool things that are over priced ARE purchased by some of the richer cat people out there and this provides enough market for them to keep prices as they are.
Cat wheels are the worst for this IMO ... those things can be made from very cheap material but because your average joe cant make them at home they are sold for just crazy prices.
There is even some smart arse that sells ''the designs'' (on paper) for making cat wheels on ebay...

Id love to see a cat wheel producer willing to reduce their profit margin a bit to allow more people with avg income to buy one or two... more cats would enjoy them and benefit from them too.

The thicker hicat poles that have the carpet lining inside and shelves to climb and peep-holes are not easily made and I am tempted to get one actually.

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Best Wishes,
Maddy

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The little monsters 3

Thank you everyone.
I do love the look of the wooden ones but they are a bit out of my budget at the minute. Will have to save a few more pennies! I would rather pay out for something that will last, so maybe they can have one for Christmas. Oh I'm in the uk btw

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Best Wishes,
Maddy

Louise from Happy House Cats (original owner) was making a cat wheel but found that it was going to be too hard to make for the money people wanted to spend. It just too up far too much time. So that is one thing you hav to factor into this when you say they are overpriced. Not all the makers on these things are a big business and often they have to factor in their time plus not being able to buy materials cheaply off they can't bulk buy.

I handmade stuff, stained glass and silversmithing and I rarely sell anything. I make for gifts mostly because I know I would never get what it costs me to make! So I appreciate the handmade small business person a bit and like to support them over large companies.

My cats will soon be getting a rather extravagant cat tree, I have loved the Tigga Towers ones since viewing them at cat shows. I love the look and the build quality is simply fantastic! I also want a HiCat as well. Worth noting that not all the HiCat poles could be made out of a carpet tube as they have fat ones as well. I also have a breeder friend who made a pole from a cardboard tube from carpet with carpet and sisal bits to it, her cats destroyed it in 10 months. But I guess it depends on how many cats you have and what their demand is.

People have used shelving covered in carpet to add activity to walls for cats at a fraction of the cost of trees.

I had a few trees cut down this summer so I got them to save me some long bits of branches and will be designing my own climber for the cats to use outdoors when the garden is cat proofed.

Love those links Maddy, will have a proper look tomorrow.

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Lollo

My kitty has three cat trees -- and Amarkat is really a good one and he can usually be found in one of the platforms. It wasn't that expensive and is quite solid. I also have one that is so top heavy that every time the cat jumps down, it falls over. I still need to fasten it down to the deck. Molly and Friends makes solid cat furniture. It's not cheap, but it's quality.

zooplus are good, ebay not so good, but I have 1 from accompany on there and went back for another, would last someone with 2 cats about 2years of good use

Thank you everyone

Can I have my thanks in form of piccys on the new tree please?
j/k but would be good to know what you decided to get and if its any good ect.