Whether it is a cat tree or a pet ramp or a set of petstairs, I am always on the lookout for the best and most creative ways to makeuse of vertical space for my cats. Vertical space is such a wonderful way forcats to have more territory without taking away critical “human” spacehorizontally. A cat condo or climbing tree is a simple structure designed to help your cat climbto new heights, have places to lounge and observe his environment, and make useof that unused vertical space in your home to enrich your kitty’s life. The Cat Power Tower, though, is so muchmore than a simple cat tree.
Imagine a way for your cat to climb to new heights withtoys, treats, and scratching posts all along the way. Imagine a cat tree thatwon’t wobble every time your cat jumps on and off it or come crashing to thefloor when your cat is doing his daily floor to ceiling race or chasing histail on the top platform. Imagine, instead of a traditional cat condo, more ofa cat gym and activity center that’s sturdy enough to hold even the most aggressiveclimbers. That is The Cat Power Tower in a single sentence, and the reason whyyou need to experience it to believe it.
Needless to say, when I heard of the CatPower Tower,I was delighted to be able to try it with my cats Tiger, Coco, Pegasus, and Milo, who have conducted their own video review which wewill share soon. More specifically, I was excited to try it with Pegasus and Milo, since they were the only two who had never used acat tree in their lives, despite many efforts on my part.
My cat Milo is quiteelderly, quite large, and somewhat arthritic. His world rarely goes beyond theheight of the seat of the sofa, and although he seems perfectly content withthat, I have always wanted him to have more. Pegasus is young and healthy, buthas always had a phobia of cat trees. He would rather scale a wall in adangerous attempt to reach a 5-foot-high window than use a cat tree.Considering the fact that I have tried numerous solutions over the last severalyears, I doubted the Cat Power Towerwould be any different for either of these cats. Regardless, though, I knewtheir housemates would give it a fair try and provide a useful,cats’-eye-(re)view of this fancy new cat tree.
Impressed from The Beginning
When our Cat Power Towerarrived, I was immediately impressed with how heavy and sturdy it was. In fact,the components themselves were so heavy in their shipping box that my FedEx mancould hardly maneuver it up the concrete stairs to my porch. Immediately, Iknew that any concerns about the stability of this cat tree were probably nulland void. That said, though, because of its weight, assembly will go much morequickly and smoothly if you have a little help from a friend when it comes timeto tip the tower over to secure all of the platforms in their correct positionson the base.
The Cat Power Towercomes with everything you will need to put it together, except for a Phillipshead screwdriver. It also comes in several parts, which at first glance mayseem a bit overwhelming. That said, though, the design is actually verystraight-forward. There are 3 platforms, 3 pedestals, interlocking crossbarsthat form the base of the climbing tree and each platform, a scratching board,a cylindrical scratching post, and a toy carousel. Once you’ve laid out all ofyour pieces, it’s easy to get a vision of what you’re creating, and thestep-by-step instructions are simple to follow to turn that vision into areality.
If you’re someone who struggles to assemble even the simplest store-boughtfurniture from IKEA, though, you will want to enlist some help. This isprimarily because of the weight of the finished product and the need to makesure everything is secured properly to keep the cat tree sturdy for your cat. Youwill also need to follow directions very closely to make sure that all of yourscrew holes and mounts for the platforms and attachments end up in the rightplace, so if you need some visual help beyond the included instructions, Andy,the creator of Cat Power Tower, has a video on YouTube.
Whether you can do it yourself or even need to hire someone to help, afteran hour or so of my assistant putting it together single-handedly, we canattest to the fact that this amazing cat climbing tree was clearly worth theeffort!
A Powerful Design
The Cat Power Toweris a three-platform cat tree designed to create hours of enjoyment for yourcat. The first is a Hunting Platform, with multiple holes for you to hide cattoys and treats for your cat to hunt out. The carpeted half is adjustable andcustomizable, assembled as two separate carpeted wood pieces that can be placedover any set of 4 of the hunting holes. That means, if you wanted your carpetto be in front instead of on the side, wanted it to be diagonal across theplatform, or wanted it to only have one section, the choice is entirely yours.
Behind this Hunting Platform is a 27-inch tall sisalscratching post, with scratching material on the front and the back, for yourcat to scratch from the floor behind the cat tower or while standing on hishunting perch. I have yet to meet a cat who didn’t love sisal cat scratching posts,and the positioning of this scratching post is perfect for multiple cats toenjoy at the same time.
The top platform is the lounging platform, designed with aremovable carpeted “lid” for easy cleaning and to even store toys inside thetree. Even better, though, from a customizable standpoint, if your cat enjoys having a bed with edges,simply removing the top platform’s lid will give your cat tree a lounging box,which you can place a towel or cat bed inside for added comfort.
The middle platform, the Play Platform, is perhaps the mostexciting of all, though, with an amazing feature that turns this funhunt-and-lounge cat tree into a complete kitty gym! Hidden inside this middleplatform, to which you mount a 32-inch high scratching post and motorized cat toy carousel, is aspring-activated switch. The Cat Power Towerhas a motor inside, with a three-setting switch mounted beneath thespring-loaded platform: on, off, and automatic. Automatic is where the truemagic begins.
By setting your Cat Power Towerto automatic, every time your cat lands on this spring-loaded platform, thecarousel on top of the cylinder-shaped sisal scratching post turns on, sendingthe carousel toys of your choice into an enticing, spinning frenzy. We have thefeather carousel, but furry mice and scrunch balls are options as well.
One of our newest favorite cat toys is available as a carousel attachment, as well, which is the Furry Teaser Carousel by Tiger Teasers! Our cats absolutely love this new carousel option, sold separately in the Cat Power Tower store.
In multi-cat households especially, this is a neat featurefor so many reasons. First, our cats seem to tag-team on the tree. One willactivate the spring board and attack the feathers from below, while anotherwill attack from the top lounging platform or the five-foot high window ledgeour Cat Power Toweris positioned to help the cats access.
You can, of course, turn it to “on” and have set play times,as well, if your cats seem to enjoy attacking the carousel toys from above thespring-loaded Play Platform. By setting the switch to the “on” position, yourcat won’t have to be standing on the spring board to activate the spinning toysabove. It’s all about determining the personal preference of your particularcat or cats! For the most part, our cats enjoy attacking the toys from above,so we make sure the carousel is turned “on” for play sessions every day andleave it in the “automatic” setting most other times.
An Amazing Cat Tree Surprise
Perhaps the most welcome and surprising feature of the Cat Power Tower, though, is one wenever even expected. We knew we would love the automatic carousel feature, butthe size and sturdiness of the tree was our most welcome delight. Each platformmeasures 19-inches square, which is plenty of space for even the largest,heaviest, and oldest cats to feel they can climb it comfortably. And all thatweight that might force you to enlist help in assembling the tree contributesto how sturdy it is when it is complete.
I have mentioned that 2 of my 4 cats would probably never gonear the Cat Power Tower, due to their own little quirks and limitations, butboth Milo and Peggy have proven me wrong, which is the best surprise a catparent could ask for when it comes to things you’re trying to make themhappier!
While Milo, my resident senior citizen, who is easily one ofthe longest and tallest mixed domestic breed cats I have ever met, seemedcontent to sleep on a bed or a sofa or in his little wicker basket on thefloor, I’ve always been saddened that he doesn’t get to experience the windowsin the basement, which are a full 5 feet above the floor. The window ledges areso large, I have always known he would love to sit in them, but his age andsize have long prevented him from even trying. Since the CatPower Towerhas been introduced to his space, though, Milohas been caught sitting on the spring board watching the feathers spin abovehis head on a few occasions now.
Our previous cat trees have all had platforms that wereabout 11-inches wide and 13-inches long, with steep, narrow paths to navigatefrom platform to platform. For an elderly or large cat, these trees areessentially useless. With the Cat Power Tower,though, the design has made it possible for Milo’sworld to reach new heights. It makes my heart sing to see him poking around onthe Hunting Platform or sitting on the Play Platform watching the “birds” flyabove his head when he had previously never explored anything above sofa-heightdue to his age, arthritis, and overwhelming size.
Overjoyed by seeing Miloexperience a cat tree for the first time in his life, I became hopeful thatPegasus, the young cat who feared all cat trees, might just give this a try.Never before in my life have I met a cat, especially one so young, who didn’tlike to climb or didn’t seem to even understand the concept of a cat tree. Forover 2 years, Pegasus would access the basement window by jumping from the edgeof a bed 4 feet high and 3 feet across to his window ledge, literally jumpingright over our other cat tree. It was amazing to watch, but I cringed everytime he did it, expecting that inevitable day when he seriously injuredhimself.
Over the past two years, we’ve tried chairs, dressers,moving the bed closer and further away, building ramps, and even blocking allpossible accesses to the window beside the old cat trees we have tried. When wedid the latter, Pegasus would sit on the floor, looking at the window, crying…for hours. The old cat climbing tree bought specifically to help Pegasus (and Milo) would wobble significantly when any cat landed onit. While the other, younger cats seemed to ignore this shortcoming, it was sosignificant for Pegasus, he would rather be miserable on the floor in front ofthe window than use the tree to access it.
Then the Cat Power Towercame into my home, and Peggy’s fear melted away. He no longer jumps over thenew cat tree or attempts to scale walls to access his favorite window. He won’tsit and cry for hours if he feels he can’t make the jump. Most importantly,though, he doesn’t make my heart stop every time he makes a daredevil attemptto explore his vertical space. The sturdy, wide platforms allow him tocomfortably climb the tree to his destination, or even lounge on the tree ifthat’s his heart’s desire for the day.
At least we think it’s the sturdy design that makes Pegasus, the cat with a climbing treephobia, suddenly willing to use a cat tree. And we think it’s the size of the wide platforms and easeof vertical navigation that makes elderly Milofeel confident enough to explore his vertical world.
But maybe it’s somethingwe can’t see… Maybe it’s the hidden power of the Cat Power Tower! Only Peggy and Milo know theanswer for sure, and for the time being, they aren't talking!
