Go Pet Club Cat Tree, 80-Inch, Beige

I own two other smaller Go Pet Club trees that my cats enjoy, so I figured this one was a safe bet. It did take them a few days to warm up to it; I think they were intimidated because it's so big. But now they're comfortable with it and are on it daily. It's not their favorite perch, as it's not near a window, but they do enjoy the height.Miss Mousey, the 9-pound white cat, is a good climber and she's up and down this thing like lightning. She's often trying to find newer, more challenging ways to climb it. Her favorite spots are the very top perch and the little pouch to the left side. She loves sleeping up top because: a) it's really tall; and, b) she knows that if the other cat tries to get up there to mess with her she'll hear it in advance. She also likes sleeping in that little pouch to the side, as it is the perfect size for a 9-pound cat to curl up in.Jax is my big-boned 15-pounder and he's not as athletic as Miss Mousey. I worried that he would have trouble climbing it and later put a table to the side of it that he can use for getting to the higher perches. They're a bit challenging to climb up, the way the tree is arranged. Still, he'll often launch himself up into the tree without using the table. He just gets a running start and bounds up to the box-like 'condo' where he likes to hide. He goes up to the top, too, where he likes to beat up on those mouse-on-a-string toys.The one downside to the tree is stability. I know some people have fastened it to the wall for more stability, and I considered doing that but was ultimately too lazy. It does wobble around as the cats climb but they seem to deal with it okay, and it never seems like it's going to fall over or anything, that's not the problem. It's just the the upper portions will sway some as they climb. This has been an issue with other cat trees too, but like I said, the cats seem to deal with it okay once they get used to it.

First of all, take note to the height of this in the description. It didn't actually occur to me how tall it was until I was setting it up. By the time it was the same height as me, and there was another tier to go, actuality of the size set in.The instructions to this thing are almost useless. As a kid, I spent a lot of time with legos, so I developed the see-it, build-it skills this monstrosity required. If you aren't the handy builder type, lure some friends over and make a party out of it. Here's some guidelines that will help you. Lay everything out on the floor, grouped together by piece. Equip yourself with a tape measure, as it is helpful to measure the pieces to identify what goes where. Many of the columns are almost the same size, to the tape measure can help you make the distinction. Once it's together, make sure you anchor it to the wall on the "house" level, that way when you have a catnip fueled nightmare jumping on and off it, it won't wiggle (as much) and loosen up.The layout isn't all that terrific. It's pretty difficult for a cat to make it to the area with the little house. I put mine next to the couch, so the cat usually jumps on the arm of the couch first, then jumps to the house area. The little mice things are really cheaply stapled. I reinforced each with another staple. The strings that hold the mice are pretty flimsy too, and the cat has repeatedly freed each of the mice by chewing the elastic in half. Each time I tie it together though, so it's no big deal.Why did I give this 5 stars? For the cost, it's pretty damn cool (and ridiculous). I'm handy, and though I could build something like this, I couldn't do it for the price (especially considering my time). Though the instructions were poor, I wasn't missing any parts, and nothing was broken. I expect it to last many years.

** UPDATED ** PURCHASED JUNE 15, 2015 - REPLACED APRIL 25, 2018This was THE best item I've ever bought for my cats! We have 4 cats and each one absolutely loves their cat condo! The reason I didn't give this item 5 stars is because of the barrel on the second level. I had to rig up extra support from the back pole to hold it in place. Ideally what it needs is for the 2nd level platform to come under the pole holding the barrel so that it stays locked in place.My wife and I put this together in about 30 minutes from opening the box to putting the youngest cat on the top perch. It's very easy to assemble! To make it as easy as possible, remove all the items from the box and lay all the similar pieces together. Compare to the inventory sheet to make sure you have all the parts and just follow the instructions. My wife would hand me the next piece, tell me where it went such as right front, left rear, center front, etc. and before we knew it we were done!I realize one of the benefits some will see about this tree is the footprint, or the amount of space it needs on the floor. However, if I were to redesign this thing, I would either give it a larger base so it doesn't rock so much as the cats race up to the top to see who gets the favorite seat or add an L strap to anchor it to the wall. I found if you connect a strap (your choice of material, we used a 1/2" wide thick metal strap) from the pole to the wall, preferably a stud, it would help secure the entire tree from wobbling as cats raced to the top.Bend it into an L shape with the wall side longer.Drill a hole in the end to go over the bolt between the platform and the pole on the 3rd level.Put the long leg of the L against the wall and drill 2 holes. Screw that leg into a stud in the wall for extra strength.It made a tremendous difference as my cats LOVE to come from another room at a full run and hit that cat tree at a full run and race to the top. Without the brace, the cat tree would wobble and shake many of the fittings loose. With the brace, everything stayed right where I left it.So my suggestions to Go Pet Club for this particular cat tree would be to:* make the 2nd level platform cover the whole level so it connects the barrel housing pole to secure it.* put locking rings under each post so they don't come loose so easily, or maybe use Loc Tite* add a metal bracket as described to secure the tree to the wall for safety and security.* I (and my cats) would much prefer 3 paw perches instead of 1 paw and 2 smaller round ones.These are just suggestions based on how my cats use their cat condo. Please don't think these suggestions are in any way a negative for the cat condo!I would buy another one in a heartbeat if it wasn't for that barrel! But, it has the barrel and mine is worn out. I had 3 cats when I got it in June 2015 and picked up a 4th when a little guy showed up on our porch just as winter started a year ago. He was too little to be away from mama and we couldn't find her, so we had him checked out and brought him in. So now there are 4 cats racing for the top of the cat tree! The carpet is shot and sisal rope is quite frayed. At least they are using it instead of my furniture! So with 1 old girl and 3 kittens it lasted me almost 3 years. I was prepared to do the work myself to replace the carpet, replace the level 2 board to secure the barrel and rewrap the posts that need it ... but I couldn't find the part I need to repair the one post the cats managed to pull down and by the time I bought the carpet, rope and other materials, the expenses were more than a new one! Fortunately the prices on Amazon are GREAT! So we will buy a new one and save parts from this one in case we need them in 3 years.For you pet lovers out there. we originally bought this to put it in the living room. I had to change those plans and put it in the bedroom because that's where we are most of the time and the cats are so much fun to watch while they play on it! I swear my wife and I get just as much joy from watching them play on it as they do playing on it! My cats will start in either the living room or the kitchen and race each other to the tree! When they hit the cat tree, they don't slow down until they reach the top! It's like watching an animal going so fast that they can run up the side of a building! One will race up the front, leaping from one level to the next, the other two will each take a side and using their claws, climb the sisal poles all the way to the top. They will get to the top and apparently the winner is decided by who got in the most popular perch. Once they are done congratulating each other, high fives all around, they jump down, go in the other room and do it again! Our cats LOVE this cat tree! They played with the hanging mice until they pulled them off. I've tied them back on until there was nothing left to tie back on. They play on it many times throughout the day, each and every day. They take naps on it. One of them sits in a certain spot and watches TV from there. Out of all the things we've bought our cats, this is by far their most favorite thing to have. With that said, I'm on my way to order its replacement. Another Go Pet Club Cat Tree already picked out!