May 102013
SmartCat Multi-Level Cat Climber
- Great unit for scratching, climbing, sleeping, and exercising
- Natural sisal post is ideal for scratching
- Spring-loaded bracket system makes it easy to move from room to room
- Easy assembly
- Fits on virtually any door
Why didn’t someone think of this sooner? Designed to hang on any standard door in your home, the Cat Climber from SmartCat is the perfect choice for smaller homes or people who don’t want to swap an end table for a traditional cat tree. Now your cat can scratch, play, sleep, and exercise safely on this patented product. The climber is easily moved from door to door because of its spring loaded bracket system. The natural sisal post is ideal for scratching. Made of durable wood, the climber will
List Price: $ 89.99
Price: $ 59.95
Great idea, but not ready for prime time,
What I great idea! I thought. A multi-level cat tree that does not take up half of the living room. And the picture of the kitties on it is so cute. Well, hold on before you click on the Buy button. The company needs to tweak this design. The darn thing refuses to lay flat against the door; it bows outward and the unit will actually sway when a cat jumps on it. The spring on the adjustable bracket is noisy and not sturdy enough to do the job. Combine swaying with noise, and guess what? Yeah, the cats act like the tree is a product from Cat He**. We’re talking non-stop fluffed tails, ears pinned back and finally, avoidance of the tree at all costs. If you want to take your chances with this, go ahead. But it is really pricey to return, due to its weight. I’d wait until the 1.0 model is available, and pass up the beta that the manufacturer obviously has released.
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Great concept, poor execution,
The unit is easy to assemble. The design flaw most likely occurred in order to make it more compact for shipping and stocking. Rather than a single board center support, the sisal wrapped center is 5 segments. Once assembled, the climber bows, which wouldn’t occur if the core was one board rather than segments. Once hung on a door, the slight bow means that the climber isn’t flush. Each time a cat jumps onto it, it bumps against the door. I was able to tighten the tension spring on the door mount to minimize this, but then damaged my door trying to get the unit back over it. Hanging would be easier with two people.
Secondly, the platforms are not that large. I have two adult cats weighing 9 and 14 pounds. Both cats looked rather oversized for it. As titled, it is a great concept, but nothing that neither me nor my cats cared for.
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Great for kittens,
This climber is great if you live in an apartment and want to give your cats a dual scratching-post/climber without sacrificing space. I have two small kittens (11 weeks old) that took to it in no time. We will come home from work and find both of them on the top platform looking down at us. Note: If you have small kittens, you might want to initially help them figure out how to get down from the lower perches before leaving them alone with it – it is a little easier to get up than down.
The review critiquing the construction is correct. The unit would benefit from a solid back (after I move, I will be looking into a way to create my own backing for the climber), and the platforms, while large enough for two small kittens to sit on with each other, may be too small for large cats. The climber does sway a bit when the kittens initially jump on it – this is not for skittish cats. If you have a cat that would have no issue climbing a tree branch, then they’ll have no problem with the climber. Unless you have a very well oiled door, the climber works just as well with an open door as with a closed one.
The actual material (sisal rope) is great for the cats to scratch, although they will not be able to stretch out to their full length to scratch when they get bigger. I would highly recommend the Smart Cat Ultimate Scratching post for that.
Declawed cats may have issues getting up and coming down from the climber, and due to their more precarious situation (missing the last joint of their paws – think of it as loosing your finger from the last joint up), may feel more nervous about the non-rigid nature of the climber.
We got it on super-clearance ($65) from a PetSmart, but, if you are concerned about space issues or appearances (it looks great!), the climber would be worth the Amazon price. If you live in a larger home or have larger or older cats, you might want to look into getting a similar priced cat tree instead.
As it is, I couldn’t imagine leaving our kittens at home without this climber to help entertain them. We’ll keep using the climber for the rest of our cats hopefully very long lives.
We also have the Smart Cat 3835 Bootsie’s Bunk Bed and PlayRoom, and can say that Smart Cat makes very nice looking and (generally) sturdy cat furniture.
Update 2/1/10: My cats are larger (about 1 year old and 11 pounds) and they still love to use the climber. Acclimating cats when they are young might be the trick to this thing. Again, if you don’t have a lot of space or are planning on moving a bunch (as we did), it is worth the $85 and better than a larger floor climber. If you hold on to the box, it is a cinch to pack up and move, and sturdy enough to toss all your other belongings on top of.
I never did end up putting a backing on the climber. Some cloth wedged behind it prevented most of the noise issues while allowing the climber to easily be packed and moved. Another issue you might have, however, is if the door itself does not tightly close. If this is the case, then when the cats jump on the climber it can make a racket. Again, some cloth padding to create a soft seal on the door took care of that for us, but again, we don’t have to open the door often.
Surprisingly the cats are still using it as a scratching post despite my earlier assumption that it would be too short. While their legs hang off of the climber when they are lounging on the steps, it doesn’t bother them. One of our cats has taken to leaping straight up to the third platform.
In summary, if you live in a small place and space is important to you, then this climber is definitely worth 4 stars and $85. If, however, your cat is older, declawed, or overweight then buy something else.
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