Cat Stands and Climbing Towers

Is that clever kitty of yours so bo-o-o-o-red that he shreds your couch or sharpens his pointy little claws on your table legs, every time you go out for the evening, or you just want to sit down and rest, please, after a tough week? Cat stands and climbing towers to the rescue!

What worked for me - and, more importantly, for the sleep-disrupting Jasper Cat who arrived in my life when I was not at all prepared to be owned by a Smart Cat - was the introduction into our household of a cat stand. You know, like a plant stand, only for exclusive use of your feline friend.

Yes, as it turns out, what this desperate cat owner really needed was a clever (yet inexpensive) climbing tower, with a scratching post built in and a series of cat shelf platforms at various levels all up the stand, where Jasper Cat could perch and pounce and do his Big Wild Cat act. (You know that performance? It usually happens at 2 a.m., or halfway into your movie.) Height is key. And while a modest elevated platform is better than nothing (or your best chair) for his get-the-crazies-out scratching and climbing, what the truly ambitious furball really wants is a slightly more complex arrangement of levels and textures.

Photo: Cat stuck up in a tree copyright é123RF Stock Photos

Because let's face it, you can only barter yourself just so much peace-and-quiet with a supply of catnip mouse toys, before the Smart Cat is looking for more amusement...

Kitty Palm cat trees come in a couple of different styles, but they've got one thing in common - they're intended to look like read trees. Oh, and they're also hand made with natural manila rope and silk polyester leaves. Billed as the perfect "decorative alternative" to a traditional cat scratching post or "bulky cat condo" -- we can debate the "decorative" quality, but that's a matter of personal taste in home décor so I'll leave that aesthetic judgment up to you.

Half-scale TARDIS model makes a unique kitty condo!

Check out the clever Dr. Who TARDIS cat playhouse built by astromark for his lucky cat, Kaylee. He posted about the project at the hobby prop-building forum Tardis Builders in August 2011. Since then, the kitty TARDIS project has appeared on just about every website catering to cat lovers and/or model builders and/or Dr. Who geeks - and, now, the TARDIS has landed right here.

Cat-loving fans of Dr. Who will crave this homemade cat condo! Even if the classic British time-travelling TV series is not quite your thing, you can still admire the interior design of cat shelves and climbing surfaces.

"Kaylee's TARDIS is 2.5' wide and a little under 5' tall including the beacon," asys Astromark's wife, who set up a website to showcase the project. "It's a little shorter than perfectly half-scale because there's no sloping roof." See the lovely bonus photos on TardisCatFort.com to get a clear idea of what was involved in building this very unusual cat playhouse. You know, in case you want to build one of your own.

My favourite detail -- there's a round hole on top, for the cat to pop in and out when she feels like perching up on top.

Have you seen this video tour of "the most staggeringly huge and elaborate kitty climbing tower EVER"? This cat castle is called "Buckingham Palace" and it's hard to imagine a more appropriate name for it! Hat tip to Domestik Goddess (Kitty Mansions and Cat Castles) for pointing out this amazing construction.

Not all of the cat stands and climbing towers of Kitty Mansions designs are what you'd describe as "mansions" quite as over-the-top as the Buckingham Palace model, but there is quite a nice variety to suit every home and all but the most picky of kitties. Most of these have a fairly compact footprint - they tend to be tall structures, rather than wide - so you can tuck a cat tree into a fairly small space.

It's kind of fun, too, that a lot of the models are named after different places - Beverly Hills, Shanghai, Athens, Toronto, and the like - or names that otherwise bring to mind a particular part of the world. I don't know the reasoning behind that, but it does make it easy to remember the names of the cat trees that catch your eye. My fav is the Safari Cat Tree - for cats who like to climb on the wild side, you might say.

Java is King of the Cat Castle!

This imperious feline shown resting in the classic "load of bread" position atop a towering cat stand goes by the name of Java.

As you can see from the frayed edges on the carpet and rope that covers the cat tower, Java may look like a big fluffy softie but he's clearly an athletic kitty who likes to play Big Hunting Jungle Cat and really dig in his claws when he climbs to his perch on the top level of this impressive cat stand.

Java owns a fine human, Lisa Cee, who fully understands the importance of giving Java a climbing tower to show his proper rank in the household. Not only that, she also shows off Java's great beauty (and great climbing skills) in her photographs like this one on Flickr.

What a lucky Java cat!

Photo: Sweet Pea cat tower hug by Monica R. [CC BY 2.0] on Flickr

Cats love nothing better than a cosy cubbyhole to squeeze themselves into, and if that tight little spot is high up -- say, on an upper shelf of your bookcase, for example -- they're delighted. Waiting, lurking, spying on the scene below, the Shelf Cat is ever ready to leap into action. Unless, of course, he curls up and falls asleep first.

If you're not a fan of the playful Pink/Blue/White theme shown here - you can specify which 3 carpet colours you want for the roof, platforms, and posts, ordinary carpet or shag - and you can even order colour-dyed sisal on the scratching posts, instead of natural sisal, for a small extra charge.

You can go with a monochrome scheme, say, beige for all three colour choices, if you wanted to be more subtle... but I'm not sure a big giant dollhouse for your cats can be called 'subtle," ever!

Me, it'd pick this condo in a tasteful burgundy and cream color combo.

For the cat who shares her playtime with a little girl, could a kitty castle be more purrrrfect?

Watch the video below, and you'll find yourself smiling at cute cats having a blast in their Dollhouse Condo...

Seems to me like this one's a SmartCat solution worth a look for apartment renters who aren't allowed to poke holes in the walls, or don't want to install something fabulous in the way of a cat climbing wall when you don't know how long you'll be living there... or even if you're permanently planted but you just don't have the extra living space to install a full-size climbing tower or kitty condo.

One look at the the truly unique cat furniture of CatsWall Design Ltd., it becomes clear that these unique cat furniture designs were born in a loving multi-cat home:

"This is all began from a stray cat we first took in and offered it a home with us. Perhaps it is our destiny ... It did not take long before we realized that we have taken in more than a dozen of stray cats, naturally their living space and well-being became our first concern. ... After a series of experiments, we finally are happy with the concept of 'Modular Cat Wall' - which is like a cat playground, a combination of adjustable modular beds, scratch boards, ladders and shelves built on the walls designed for indoor cats to walk, run, climb, jump and scratch as well as to hide and sleep in."

CatsWall products are made of New Zealand pine boards, and come in several clear vibrant modern colours as well as natural wood. In addition to the Cat Climbing Wall shown here, their product line includes the Curvynest, Multi-Cat Raised Feeder, and Cat Scratching Board with new designs on the boards. You can stalk Catswall on Facebook to track down a distributor in your region -- not to mention, getting early word on whatever other clever cat furniture these inventive guys come up with!

One well-placed shelf would give access to a windowsill or top of a bookshelf, while a clever arrangement of two or three shelves could turn your place into a vertible kitty playground.

You know how cats always seem to work over the same place on a scratching post, all the time? so just one spot wears out, and then you're stuck with threadbare carpet on the post... and a bored cat. Well, check this out! The clever guys at ClawSkins have come up with a way to solve that worn-out-cat-scratcher problem.

Basically, it's a walnut-finish wooden post with a base and cap, with a "Scratching Skin" (rigid, replaceable tube of carpet) to slip over the post. When one part of the carpet gets worn out, take the Skin off and flip it over. And when the cat's scratching wears out the carpet completely, in time, just replace the Skin - you can re-use the post stand and cap, no need to buy a new one.

You've heard about my Jasper Cat and some of his online Feline Friends - now it's your turn to talk up your Tom or Puss. Have you set up a piece of cat furniture to keep your own Smart Cat amused... or is your furry pal more of a casual windowsill-perching kind of kitty?