Hi, I'm getting my Bengal kitten 2 weeks today (not that I'm counting!!) and want to get him a cat tree. Any advise on which ones are best. I don't want cheap and cheerful that only lasts a few months, however, I also don't want a second mortgage to buy one!!

Any recommendations would be great.

Thanks xx

The type of cat tree you get is going to depend on the space you have. They come small, tall, huge and in between.

Raiden has three cat trees. The first one I purchased was an Armakat one! It has a small footprint and is very sturdy.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... t+cat+tree

The second one I purchased was North American. It cost more than the Armakat one and was poorly constructed. The base was so small that any time Raiden jumped up on it, it tipped over. Same thing when he jumped off. My husband put a larger piece of plywood under the base and now it's fine. I'd stay away from this company.

Molly & Friends builds the sturdiest and best cat trees. They are not cheap, but they are by far the best quality that I've seen out of the three I have.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... s+cat+tree

Trixie makes cat trees as well. Read the reviews for any that you are considering. I wrote reviews for all three on Amazon. These manufacturers make several styles. Raiden does not use the "hammock" on the Molly & Friends one (it's the 36" one). But he does use every one of the trees daily. Bengals do love being high up. I'm sure you'll find one that will suit your kitty cat.

Buying a tree is a little bit of a crap-shoot in my experience. I have some criteria like:

* tree should be 6' or higher
* should have at least one perch (per cat) with a nice wide base that can accommodate a cat bed on it
* wide base (for stability)
* sisel rope near ground level for scratching
* ideally has some fairly long poles for climbing
* there needs to have a way down from the high perches without a "crash landing" onto the ground (very important! - the first thing I do when I see a tree is try to trace such a path down with my eyes without having to jump 6' down to the floor).
* hanging toys from a springy string are a HUGE plus.

Aside from that though, one big factor is how well the whole thing fits together. I ended up throwing one tree into the trash after buying it, even though it had all my criteria, simply because it fit together so poorly and ended up being a rickety mess.

One really good alternative (or can even work in conjunction with) a cat tree are perches on the wall, or "hi cat" poles.
This stuff is ridiculously high quality:
http://www.catsplay.com/cat-wall-climbing-systems

And this is really neat too:
http://www.hicat.co.uk/

Hope that helps.

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The little monsters 3

How much space you have is really what matters. I know that my Raiden would not like the Hicat poles. He loves the two platforms on his Armakat cat tree and it has several other platforms that allow him to jump down from, although he usually just jumps down from the middle one. Since you don't have your kitty just yet and the kitty will be small, make sure there are "legs" where your kitty can climb up and back down. Cat shelves are great or you can just get several cubes and stack them up like steps. There are so many options. I know Raiden would love shelves, but my wall space is so small due to all the windows, so the cat trees have to do.

Petfun.de make some very good trees- all solid wood and sisal, with cotton hammocks.

Not the cheapest, but they look good for a long time, and are solid - on the website you'll see pictures of kids sitting on them to show they're strong.

Thanks for the replies. I decided to go slightly more expensive and get something built to last so gone with this one:

http://www.kalven.co.uk/products/sleepy-cat/t32

That looks like an excellent one. You cat will love it. My cats still go on all their cat trees each day and one still sleeps on the top of the first one I got each night. It is real tall and my cat is huge now. She plays on it before settling in on the top perch and it rocks and sways as she throws her 14 pound body all over it. I always get a little nervous, but it has never tipped over. It's in a corner and I have weights on the base holding it in place.

That looks super sturdily made, and is certainly an attractive tree. Great for climbing and snoozing on. My concern is: how does he get down once he's climbed to the top?

It may be that you either have to put it next to something that would help him jump halfway down onto, or install a shelf or two next to it.

But otherwise, looks like a great tree!

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The little monsters 3

Brian has given some very good advice which I wish I would have read before I bought mine lol.

Saying that though our tree is excellent quality and still looks brand new after over a year of heavy use. It's extremely well made.

We bought a tall slim one and that was the problem really as it's a little unstable although it is very heavy. We moved it into a safer position (on carpeted flooring and next to the sofa) just in case our cats come crashing down.

My two kittens love the top soft squishy basket but the tree is very high and when the two of them are in it I get quite anxious particularly when they start play fighting! When they do this I always remove one of them just to be on the safe side.

We had to readjust it a little so that it was easier for the cats to climb down but they still have to come negotiate a long sisal pole but they have both got it down to a fine art now!

You may or may not need to do some readjusting to your tree (although it looks very sturdy to me) possibly positioning it somewhere safe if it proves difficult to climb down.

I have a barrel at the bottom of mine and non of my cats have every gone in there but there are loads of scratching poles which they love but wish there were a few more comfy sitting position as in your tree.

Give us an update on how it's going and some photos!

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

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The little monsters 3

That cat tree appears heavy duty, however, it has a VERY small base on it. It needs to be placed up against a wall. I'd worry about it being a little top heavy! However, it may be a while before you cat would be heavy enough to topple it -- and they do get the zoomies and jump at full speed.

This is the one I got for Raiden. Has many platforms that stick out as steps. I had to show him how to get down a few times. Now he jumps from the middle platform.

The last two photos are from a year ago. Now Grace fills up the top area by herself. The one at the top was taken last summer. They knew instantly these things were just for them to play on.

Jill has a great setup for her kitties. Pure catification at its best! Her kitties scan jump all over the place! I've had cats for 50+ years and this is the first one that has ever had a cat tree.