In Search Of Feline Real Estate

[MissMina]

As some of you may know the real Miss Mina, the subject of my avatar, passed away recently leaving our 14 year old tabby and our family bereft. We have reserved an Oriental kitten born January 16th and will be traveling to pick him up in April.

We are starting to kitten proof the house and have decided
to get a kitty condo/tree to make him feel more at home since he has one at the cattery.

I started looking on line and am overwhelmed by the variety available. I know that I want one with an enclosed area "condo" for each cat and I would like some perches with a ledge so they won''t roll off. Other than that I am open to suggestion. If anyone would like to share pictures or tips on what to look for or avoid, Miss Heidi and Little Mr would be ever so grateful.

 

[portia]

I''m sorry to hear about your Miss Mina. My DH and I had to put our 11 yr. old Bengal to sleep a few days before Christmas so I understand how you must be feeling. I think a new kitten and new kitty condo will be a great addition and will help ease the sadness of losing a beloved pet. I don''t have any suggestions since I''m also in the market for a new kitty condo. I''ll be interested to hear any suggestions.

 

[Resonance.Of.Life]

Here''s one ... they have more variety as well but this one caught my eye since it has perches with a ledge


http://www.cozycatfurniture.com/catgyms_cattowers/catgymcathammock.htm

 

[Resonance.Of.Life]

Oh and I forgot to mention.. the sisal rope.. my cats go nuts with sisal!

 

[Elmorton]

At the shelter where I volunteer, they have natural wood ones that I love - they''re gorgeous and are apparently pretty pricey, but I think it''s worth it since they''re pretty and incredibly sturdy. I''ve looked at the trees at the pet stores and just cannot handle the price in conjunction with how tippy they seem and how shoddy the workmanship is. I inquired about the ones at the shelter and all the info I could get was that they''re done locally and the guy often has a stand at cat shows. Ugh.

Anyway, here''s a link to someone who does something pretty similar to the ones I saw at the shelter: http://www.northquabbinwoods.org/vendors/15

 

[zoebartlett]

El -- those are nice! We''ve thought about getting one from pet stores too but they are really unstable.

MissMina -- I''m sorry to hear the real MissMina passed away. I don''t have any suggestions but since we''re looking for something too, I''ll let you know if I run across a good one.

 

[y2kitty]

Have had many through the years. Best quality one was from EBAY.

 

[MissMina]

Thank you everyone for your kind words. It''s so hard to lose a fur baby.
Miss Mina delighted us for 12 years and at first I said "No more cats".
But my DS was so sad that I went online looking for breeders of Oriental Shorthairs.
(We have had three in the past 20 years) and finally
found one in our state. It so happened she had a mom cat about to
give birth. We have to wait till our kitten is three months old before
he can leave home and we are so excited.

Heidi our tabby was rescued from the bird seed department of Home Depot in 1998

Our cat condo budget is about $200 BTW.
Still looking

 

[Haven]

I''m so sorry for your loss of Miss Mina, MM. It''s heartbreaking, but over time I bet your memories of her will bring you joy, laughter, and happy tears.

We''re cat people, too, and we currently have four cat trees for the boys. The best one we have is from Pet Supplies Plus--do you have any of these stores near you? I think it was under $200, and it''s HUGE! It''s at least 6'' tall, and it has four of those half moon platforms and one full tube at the bottom. The poles that hold the tubes are made of natural wood, the wood was sanded down before they made the tower, but it still looks knotty and a bit twisty, it''s really beautiful.

We also have one that looks like a real tree, it''s all carpet, that one has a few levels. And then two others with a couple tubes and half moons. And one of those activity towers with the hanging balls and springy things stuck out of it.

We have a couple of scratching posts, too.

We wrap all of the lower level posts on the towers with sisal rope, and our boys LOVE it. We buy the rope at Home Depot, and they use it enough that we have to re-wrap them quite often. (They have all of their claws.)

Anyway, definitely check out Pet Supplies Plus or even Petco, if you have either near you.

My husband went crazy with the cat trees, by the way. I was not the one responsible for buying all of them.

Enjoy your new kitty! I can''t wait to see pictures!

 

[Haven]

I had to come back to this thread to share:

We just bought a new large file cabinet, and we thought the cats might enjoy playing in the box before we broke it down. I''d say they''ve spent the last two hours flying into the box at a run, fighting inside the box, and poking their little faces out of the holes DH cut into each side. It''s hilarious.

If you want to save yourself some cash, I say find yourself a big box for the kitty!

 

[MissMina]

Haven............... Thank you for your suggestions.
Playing with the box sounds just like kids.
I did find that there is a Pet Supplies Plus down town so I will
see what they have. I love the cat trees that actually look like
a tree.
We get kitty pictures from the breeder every week but they have the
name of the cattery on them so I can''t post them.
But as soon as we bring him home we''ll post lots of kitty shots

 

[HVVS]

Oh, not your pretty gray kitty! I am so sorry to hear that.

My cats liked the tray type the best. Half of a Sono Tube (a concrete pouring form), carpeted. Like this one. http://www.overstock.com/Gifts-Flowers/Kitty-Cat-Jungle-Gym-51-inch-Cat-Tree/3260534/product.html?cid=123620&fp=F&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=11366991
But, they would not share the tiers. As soon as the boss cat occupied the top tier, nobody wanted to be underling in a lower tray.

I did get them to share this style, with the tube. Apparently the tube offered safety from attacks from above. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=847

I have an different one that has flat boards carpeted, but they preferred that cradle effect of the curved trays.

 

[MissMina]

Just wanted to let you all know we did decide on a cat tree.
It is made by Amarkat, has everything we were looking for,
was easy to assemble and is not "loose" at all.
Prices can vary so check around. This company has many
models in all different sizes and price ranges.
Thank you everybody for your input.

http://www.cozycatfurniture.com/images/largecatcondotree_m.jpg

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

MissMina, I''m late to the thread, but I just wanted to say how sorry I am that Miss Mina has passed away. The death of a pet is never easy to deal with and my heart goes out for you!

I really like the cat tree you picked out. I actually bought mine from the same site (I don''t think it''s an Amarkat though) and quality is great. Our kittens love the tree - the one we have is smaller than what you were looking for but I''m excited to get them another (taller) one when we''re settled in a bit more permanently somewhere!

Here''s mine: Link

 

[MissMina]

Brown eyed girl
I appreciate your kind thoughts
Mina was definitely the alpha cat although she was half
Heidi''s size. Now Heidi sticks close to me at all time.

That''s a nice smaller cat tree. Do the kittens actually climb the ladder? Heidi has been all over ours but especially likes the sisal scratching posts.