Cat Tree Alternatives

Ugly Cat Trees (no offense, cat-tree builders)

 


The Animal loves her ugly little carpeted cat tree (donated by my dad, who was very eager to get it out of his house I might add). I want something for our wonderful kitty to climb and jump and scratch all over, but most cat trees seem like they are simply elevated beds that are always in the way of things. I decided to do a little research….




Two favorites are the HOLLYWOOD FRANKLIN Cat Tower and the HICAT Cat Climber:

Hollywood Franklin

The Appeal:

- Floor-to-ceiling tension (so no worrying about the thing toppling over or needing to find space for a massive base for the tree)

- They both look like an industrial take on something that one would find in NATURE. The Hollywood Franklin looks like a mod tree- perhaps a Ginko. I almost expect the “leaves” to turn bright yellow in the fall. The Hicat looks like one massive tree trunk that you  decided to build your house around instead of chopping down one more tree in the world, and I imagine your cat feels similarly.

- In short: they ain’t BUTT-ugly.

http://hicat.co.uk/

And of course, great things typically have their disillusionments as well:

- PRICE!

In order to purchase a truly functional Hollywood Franklin, I’d have to buy two “Pack A’s” (approx $77/ea) and one or two “Pack B’s” (approx $55/each). So in the end, I’m spending well over $200.00, which I’m just not interested in.

The Hicat, unfortunately, isn’t sold in the US- only in the UK & possibly the EU. If you’re lucky enough to have someone in the UK who will let you use their address for shipping, and then send it over to SEATTLE (where I am), the price- NOT including the eventual international shipping, amounts to about somewhere around 82 – 224… Great Britain Pounds, of course.

So how can somebody with a humble wallet such as mine POSSIBLY get there hands on an attractive, useful cat tree?? Is it the ultimate fate of our kind that we must resort to the hideous, carpeted monstrosities that represent most cat trees under $100? Must we sacrifice for the pleasure of our cats? Can there be NO COMPROMISE?!

This blog entry represents my personal determination to find something budget-friendly, useful, and above all attractive (or at least “artful”), and it is a call to all other do-it-yourselfer’s who detest turning to their wallets, checkbooks and CC’s as the ultimate solutions to these problems. PLEASE comment with any ideas!
Thus far, I’m thinking of seeking donations of emptied carpet rolls from carpet warehouses and Craigslisting sisal rugs….