Cat Tower With Scratching Post: My Real-Life Multi-Cat Experience & Honest Lessons Learned
My two cats have turned me into a "cat tower expert" | A genuine experience that can even smell the cat scent
As a woman living in the San Francisco Bay Area who is socially anxious but has no resistance to cats, I always felt that buying furniture for cats was even more difficult than buying furniture for myself. A regular shoe cabinet can be used for three years. But if you choose the wrong cat tower… three days could make you question your life.
The two ancestors of my family, one is Mochi, my little rocket who’s always ready for takeoff, and the other is Luna who always scowls and is very particular. They turned the simple matter of buying a cat tower with scratching post into a full-on home renovation project. After several failures, several reworks, and several nights of wanting to dismantle the tower in despair, I finally came up with a "I will never fall into this pit again" strategy.
And today, what I want to talk about is the sense of pride that this multi-level cat tower with scratching post (by the way, it's the modern wooden style one with a hammock and a jumping platform, from mewzoom) has brought me, along with a bit of excitement for "finally finding redemption". It's not for promoting, nor for showing off the cat. It's just that as a person who has been educated by cats for a long time, I’m simply doing my civic duty of "someone has to write down the lessons learned from the past mistakes".
Why did I choose only the wood-frame + sisal post combo later?
If you have ever bought the cheap faux-leather cat tower, you know how painful it is.
When it was unpacked, it was cute and soft. But within less than two weeks, it turned into a "huge dust collector" behind the sofa. Plus, the cat scratched it twice, and the velvet fabric scattered all over the place. And the worst part was the smell—no matter what the merchants said, my nose told me: Trust me—it had a smell.
After I switched to a wooden structure, life suddenly got a whole lot quieter:
— It is more stable and won't be shaken into an earthquake simulator machine by a 10-pound Mochi in a single leap.
— It is easier to clean and the cat hair won't get stuck like glue.
— The cat's stress-relief tool is almost certainly the rope (especially the natural hemp rope).
The first time I saw Mochi's contented expression as it grasped the rope pole, I suddenly understood why humans go to the gym to relieve stress. It turns out that cats do the same.
Choosing the cat tower is not enough to rely on just "looks"
Don't be deceived.
Don't buy it just because it looks nice.
I fell into this trap for the first time too.
Later, I learned my lesson and came up with several golden rules:
① Measure the dimensions accurately first; don't eyeball it.
You thought your ceiling was very high, but when you placed the 70-inch cat tower with scratching post there, it looked like you installed a whole cell tower.
② Stability always comes first.
An unstable cat tower is an accident waiting to happen.
Wooden baseboard + sturdy column clamps = This is what you should choose even if there is no big cat at home.
Not to mention if you, like me, have a "performance artist" who likes to jump directly from the third floor to the fifth floor.
③ The material of the support column actually determines the lifespan of the cat tower.
- Sisal rope: The most satisfying scratching experience recognized by every cat I’ve ever met
- String: Passable, but not durable
- Velvet surface: You will cry.
As long as your cat continues to scratch the rope and the post after it starts doing so, it means you've made the right choice.
④ Multi-cat households really need to pay attention to the number of platforms.
My family lives in my little feline kingdom. The most obvious resource battles are about "height".
The one who gets to the higher position is the ruler of the house for the day.
So multi-layering is very important, and the spacing between the platforms should also be natural. Otherwise, it will become a device "suitable only for thin cats".
My experience of "failing" might help you avoid similar pitfalls.
Failure #1: The tower wouldn’t stay stable, and the cat was too scared to approach.
That really made me deeply reflect on life.
I thought "This slight shaking is no big deal", but the cat didn't agree at all.
The first time I did it, the second time it was like watching a horror movie live.
Later I learned that only when the cat is as stable as fixed furniture can it trust it with their acrobatic lives.
Mistake #2: Didn’t think through the cat’s personality
Luna doesn't like the hammock. At first, I didn't realize it; I thought she was playing hard to get.
Later, I found out—she simply doesn't trust soft things at all.
So I came up with a trick:
I placed her favorite old blanket on the hammock, and then sat beside it using my phone the whole afternoon.
She thought "this thing won't swallow me whole", and gradually accepted it.
That's how cats are. The more you insist, the more she will show you through her actions that "I don't agree."
Mistake #3: The disassembly and cleaning process is too difficult.
Previously, I bought a cat tower. To remove one of the cushions, I had to unscrew five screws.
Each time I did this, I felt like I was playing with an adult version of Lego.
Later, my principle was:
If a cat tower is difficult to clean, it will gradually become smelly.
(And this is especially true for families with male cats.)
The changes brought about by the cat tower with scratching post were much greater than I had expected.
The most obvious point is not "How attractive is the cat tower?", but:
① The cat is more willing to exercise now.
Previously, Luna was a "passive" type of player. But with the stable high tower in place, she would climb to the top floor every day to look out the window.
I began to think that she was actually an "observational" type, but previously she didn't have a sufficiently safe high place to showcase her skills.
② The situation of furniture theft has significantly decreased.
Grabbing the legs can really save your furniture—as long as you choose the right material.
The sofa is no longer a victim.
③ The conflicts among cats have decreased.
In the past, people would compete for the window sills. Now, one is on the top floor and the other is in the hammock. Each has their own space, and peace levels increased by at least 200%.
Regarding the cat tower with scratching post, here are the 3 things I want to tell you:
1.It tends to be more expensive because it is more stable, safer and more durable.
It's not that I'm asking you to buy the expensive ones. Instead, the "cost" of inferior cat towers is actually quite high:
— They tend to wobble
— They are difficult to clean
— They don't last long
— Cats don't like them
A cat doesn't like = It means not having bought.
2.The scratching posts need to be tall, sturdy, and plentiful.
The stretched-out posture of a cat requires a certain length. A short grip on the pole is like giving a person only a low barbell at the gym—it's simply not enough for training.
3.You need to observe your cat instead of blindly choosing the trending model.
The differences in each cat's personality are even greater than many people imagine:
Outgoing types prefer heights.
More anxious cats tend to like having cat holes.
Energetic cats tend to prefer wide platforms.
My two cats have made me realize profoundly:
The best cat tower with scratching post is the one that suits them perfectly.
Daily upkeep isn't hard at all, but it is extremely important.
Weekly:
Using a handheld vacuum cleaner to remove the hair
Shake out the soft cushion
Wipe the wooden board with a damp cloth
Monthly:
Check if the screws are loose.
Is the column damaged?
Do the cushions need to be washed?
Every 6–12 months:
Check if the rope used to secure the column needs to be replaced.
I used to think that changing the rope was quite troublesome, but after doing it once, I realized that it was actually quite simple. It was just a little bit more difficult than changing a light bulb.
As a "owner who has been taught by cats many times", my final suggestion is:
Don't rush to buy the most beautiful one. First, think about what your cat really needs.
If you are willing to observe its behavior habits a little, you will find that the cat tower with scratching post is not a "decorative item", but a "necessity" that truly affects the quality of its daily life.
The wooden multi-layer tower I chose (similar to the modern-style structure of mewzoom) is stable, aesthetically pleasing, has many support columns, and the platform is well-designed. It is one of the few large-sized furniture items that I wouldn't regret buying over the years of having cats.
Of course, the final decision is yours, but I sincerely hope you can avoid the pitfalls I have fallen into.