How to Choose a Cat Tower: A Nurse’s Honest Story About Stability and Cats
To be honest: As an emergency nurse, I started seriously studying cat tower simply because my cat forced me to.
I didn't originally plan to write this.
Really.
If three years ago someone had told me that one day I would be sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a cooled-down cup of coffee while seriously contemplating the structural stability of the cat tower, I would probably have burst out laughing.
But life is just so wonderful.
You thought you would study heart rate, blood pressure, and emergency procedures.
But in the end, what you ended up studying was -
Why did the cat land on your face at two o'clock in the morning?
Let's introduce ourselves to the "problem creator" in our family.
He's called Sunny.
It's an orange cat.
He weighs about 13 pounds.
His confidence level is about 300 pounds.
It has several fixed hobbies:
- Midnight sprint
- Jumping from a height
- Using my sofa to sharpen his claws
- Just one second after I lie down, he suddenly gets full of energy
You might ask what it does during the day?
Sleep.
Sure.
It was on a very ordinary but utterly crushing morning that I truly realized something was wrong.
That day I had just finished a 12-hour night shift.
The emergency room that night was as busy as an airport security check.
Some people have a fever.
Some people fell down.
Some people got their hands stuck in some strange place (don't ask).
When I got home, my brain was like a phone with 2% battery left.
I just want:
Take a bath
Have something to eat
Lie down
It's that simple.
As soon as I had hung up my coat, I heard --
Click.
I turned my head.
There is a brand-new scratch on the corner of my sofa.
It's very new.
It's very obvious.
It's very ‘artistic.’
Sunny sat beside me, watching me.
That expression was like saying:
"Look, this is the work I just finished."
At that moment, I wasn't angry.
I was just very tired.
I'm really exhausted.
Also on that day, for the first time, I seriously considered: Does this cat need some "serious equipment"?
Previously, I always thought that cats were rather casual animals.
Give it:
Food
Water
Cat litter
That's enough.
But later on, I gradually realized that it wasn't being naughty.
It was just -
He has nowhere to release his energy.
Cats are natural climbers.
It's not something they just do occasionally.
It's something they are born to do.
Just like us nurses, as soon as we see someone collapse, we will instinctively rush over.
The cat saw the height as well.
The first time I bought a cat tower, it was because it was cheap.
It's a bit embarrassing to say it.
But that's the truth.
At that time, I saw a cat tower with an extremely low price on the internet.
The photos looked pretty good.
The comments are also acceptable.
I thought:
"Anyway, it's just a framework. It's good enough as long as it's adequate."
So I placed the order.
Three months later, I learned a life lesson:
Cheap things usually make you pay the price in other ways.
The moment that cat tower collapsed, I was really terrified.
It was the early morning.
I was sleeping.
Suddenly, I heard a loud noise.
Not that kind of soft voice.
It's the kind of sound that -
The kind of sound that makes you sit straight up in bed.
I rushed out of the bedroom and saw the entire cat tower lying on the ground.
Sunny stood by, his tail standing straight up.
His eyes were as big as two golf balls.
My first reaction wasn't about the money.
It was to check if it was injured.
Because I have witnessed too many cases of injuries caused by falls in the hospital.
So do cats.
From that day on, my attitude towards the cat tower completely changed.
Now I choose cat tower. It's a bit like choosing medical equipment.
It sounds exaggerated, but it's actually quite similar.
What is the thing we are most afraid of in the hospital?
It's not because the equipment is expensive.
It's because the equipment is unstable.
The same principle applies.
A cat tower can be very beautiful.
It can be very fashionable.
It can also be very cheap.
But if it wobbles, then it fails to meet the requirements.
Later, I developed a rather simple but very effective habit.
Every time I see a new cat tower, I do one thing.
Push it with your hands.
It's that simple.
If it starts to wobble, I'll just leave.
No matter how beautiful it is.
No matter how much discount it offers.
I won't take any more chances.
One more thing, which I only realized later: The taller it is, the better it is not necessarily true.
I was once attracted by that kind of "super high cat climbing frame" as well.
It looks very cool.
It's like a skyscraper.
But later I came up with a question:
If my cat gets old, will it still be able to climb up easily?
In the hospital, we take care of elderly patients every day.
Their joints become stiff.
Their balance deteriorates.
Cats are the same.
So now I prefer that kind:
Many floors
Reasonable spacing
So he can climb up step by step
Rather than having to design something extremely high.
Once, I did a very simple thing, but it changed the way I chose the cat tower.
I was sitting on the sofa, not looking at my phone.
Just looking at Sunny.
Observe what it does throughout the day.
I found that it likes three places the most:
At the window
The corner against the wall
And also an old cardboard box
Yes.
Not an expensive cat bed.
Not fancy toys.
It is a free cardboard box.
At that moment, I suddenly understood:
What a cat wants is not complexity.
It wants security.
Later, when I was studying different designs, I noticed a detail.
Once I saw a cat tower of a Mewzoom.
Its hammock is placed on the middle layer.
Not the best.
This design made me pause and look at it for a couple more seconds.
Because from a behavioral perspective, this is quite reasonable.
The cat rests at a mid-level position, which makes it feel safer.
Can see the surroundings
While not feeling overly exposed
This design is not for aesthetics.
It is for comfort.
As someone who observes human behavior every day, I am particularly sensitive to such details.
If you have two cats at home, I sincerely suggest that you don't skimp on this space.
A multi-cat household is like a group of people sharing an apartment.
If there is only one good spot,
someone will surely occupy it.
Then the other one will get upset.
Cats don't talk.
But they express their emotions through actions.
For example:
Fighting
Feces on the floor
Ripping furniture
My friend has three cats at his house.
She used to have only a small cat tower.
Every day, there was a "territory battle" going on.
After changing to a multi-layer structure, the house became much quieter.
It's not magic.
It's just that there's enough space.
Let's talk about another very practical issue: location
Many people spend a lot of money on cat towers, but then just put them in some random corner.
As a result, the cat didn't like to use it.
Then I realized that I had made a mistake in my purchase.
Actually, it isn't.
It's just misplaced.
I have tried many positions.
Corner of the living room
Doorway of the bedroom
Next to the dining room
Finally, it was discovered that:
It is the most popular at the window.
Because there are:
Sunlight
Birds
The outside world
For cats, that is television.
And it's a free channel.
When it comes to cleaning, I might have a bit of a "professional obsession" with it.
But I really do suggest that you not ignore it.
Cat fur accumulates
Dust piles up
Odor remains
If you don't clean it regularly, a cat tower will quickly turn into a "bacterial resort".
I usually do it like this:
Vacuum the carpet once a week
Wash the covers once a month
Tighten all the screws every six months
It sounds very troublesome.
Actually, it only takes ten minutes.
But it can save a lot of trouble in the future.
Life now is much quieter.
It's not because I got a new cat.
Nor is it because it suddenly became intelligent.
It's just because it requires some effort to be done.
When I got home in the evening, I kicked my shoes outside the door.
I threw my bag onto the chair.
Sunny will jump onto its cat tower.
He stretches his body.
Turn around twice.
Then lie down.
No more sprinting.
No more grabbing the sofa.
No more landing on my belly at three in the morning.
For a nurse who works night shifts for a long time, this is already close to heaven.
If you ask me: How exactly should I choose cat tower?
I won't give you a bunch of technical terms.
I can only say three sentences.
First:
Don't buy anything that wobbles.
Second:
See where your cat likes to stay.
Third:
Buy something that you won't want to throw away in six months.
It's that simple.
Sometimes I would sit on the sofa and watch Sunny sleeping on its cat tower.
Sunlight streamed in.
The air was very quiet.
There was no alarm sound.
There was no call bell.
At that moment, I would think:
Today was quite good.
Really.