Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Presenting... the New Cat Tree!

Back in April I wrote a post about cat trees, mainly to discourage everyone from buying the furniture for sale at pet stores. Traditional cat trees are often made from materials that harm you, your kittens, and the environment, such as wood that isn't harvested sustainably and manufactured into particleboard using formaldehyde glue or carpeting that is made from petroleum byproducts and covered in toxic stain-repellents. I went so far as to recommend four alternatives that are safer and cleaner, and three months later I followed my own advice and bought a new cat tree!


I had to wait a week for Milly to be brave enough to try it out, but as you can see here she's become quite fond of the middle platform. This is Mountain Cat Trees' 58" Three-Level Cat Tree, with platforms at heights of 22", 40", and 58" if you include the base. The posts are birch trunks with the bark removed and the base and platforms are made of textured pine. These trees were harvested after storms when it is easy to find downed trees in the forest, and the wood was treated with a non-toxic clear coat finish.


Putting the tree together was a simple, straight-forward process. The minimalist cardboard and kraft paper packaging was easy to remove and set aside for reuse. I had no trouble following the instructions and was done in about half an hour. I didn't need any tools besides a screwdriver and the enclosed Allan key.


Each platform is bordered with sisal rope. This lets cats really dig their claws in to the edges of the platforms when they reach up and use the edge to stretch. My hope is that the corners of the dining room table become less useful for the same purpose! The sisal scratching post that you can see in the first photo (leaning up against and screwed into the tall post) should also discourage my cats from using the back of the couch to sharpen their claws. Sisal gives them a stronger grip and doesn't feel anything like upholstery!


I'm still waiting for the day that Donut ventures onto the tree and Milly has the guts to scale the 58" high platform. I've been able to entice her up there with catnip, but she never stays too long. If there's one thing I know, it's that you can't force cats to do anything they don't want to, so I'm content to wait for now. I'm just glad that in the mean time, no toxic chemicals are leaching from the tree into the air and onto my cats!


Would you switch to eco-friendly furniture for your pet(s)?

10 comments:

  1. What a beautiful kitten! When Donut joins her, it will be a very joyous day!

    Nice tree, too! What do they use to coat the wood? All the wood-finishes I know at least SMELL deadly (varnish, stain, and paint)...

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  2. Hm, I don't actually know. It's been a while since my last trip to the hardware store, so I don't know if alternative, healthier, environmentally less destructive products exist for public use.

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  3. Your cat is beautiful Andrea. Your post really made me think about all the toys and other pet supplies we have for our dog. I've always focused on her food- making sure it's safe and healthy. I really need to take a look at all her toys. May of them are made of plastic and she chews on them! Thanks for bringing awareness to such an important issue.

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  4. Hi Lori. You're on the right track - food is definitely the first place to make changes if you want to keep your dog healthy! But yes, plastic chew toys could leach nasty chemicals into her system. Isn't it phthalate that makes plastic soft and malleable? Scary stuff.

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  5. About the finish... Rebecca from Mountain Cat Trees tells me they use a clear coat from The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company, based in Massachusetts. The product is non-toxic and earth friendly as well as safe to use on children's toys. It has no odour when dry (I can attest to that). Here's the product page on the company's website: http://milkpaint.com/prod_cc.html

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  6. Thanks for the review on the Mountain Cat Tree. I have been looking at them online. This is the same one I am interested in for my 2 kitties who love to be up high.

    We have large carpeted trees for them but I am also buying them more environmentally friendly ones. Thanks for the info on the finish, I was wondering about that too.

    Judy

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  7. Hi Judy, and welcome to my blog!

    The tree is definitely worth the expense (compared to the generic carpeted ones at pet stores). I'm enticing my cats to go up to the top level by placing a cat nip plant up there. So far Milly is standing on the middle level and leaning up with her front paws on the top level to tear cat nip leaves off the plant! It's cute to watch. :)

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  8. Thanks Andrea. We love watching our kitties run around and play. So entertaining!

    We go a little crazy buying for our kitties. Our favorite are the Baobabs from Square Cat Habitat. Easy for the cats to climb between levels and the carpet pieces make for comfortable napping. I find out about alot of products on moderncat.net like you posted about in another entry.

    Is Milly on www.catster.com?

    Judy

    Zack http://www.catster.com/cats/1115469
    Zoey http://www.catster.com/cats/1115470

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  9. Judy, wow! I can't believe you have a designated cat room filled with cat furniture! Your little ones are very lucky. They're also really adorable. I noticed the Baobab in one of the photos. The design is very sleek.

    No, neither of my two fluffballs is on the Catster site despite being very photogenic. I do tend to add photos of them to my posts every now and then, though. I like showing them off. :)

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  10. can i use clear coat on my cat tree

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