Cat Tree Height vs Savannah Weight

[John Campbell]

I need to get a Cat Tree for Elsa... She is getting to the point she wants to go much higher than she should (and that is probably not surprising).. However, when I look at them and then look at the potential weight of a Savannah I do not want to make it too top heavy to where it will fall or be knocked over when she is on the top shelf...

My basic question is, what ratio for the base vs height to where it shouldn't be knocked over.... The last thing I want is for her to get hurt by a falling cat tree with her on it.

Here are 2 that I am looking at:

Thanks in advance.

 

[Carykd7kau]

John, my big male dsh was 14 lbs. Went to the top shelf on one with a single center post. and a base about 2 feet square. Never knocked it over, but scratched the tree to death. LOL
That 1st pic is way more stable than the one I had or the one I now have.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Both look pretty good... I usually recommend the cat trees with four posts at the bottom as they tend to be the most stable...

 

[Patti]

I always prefer a wider base and my rule of thumb is that the base should be as wide as the widest part of the tree. Having said that, if you have any doubt that the tree might possibly be unstable you can always secure it to the wall with a cable around the top post to assure it wont topple over. I know of a cat that was killed when a cat tree fell on top of him, so I firmly believe in making sure the structure is stable.

 

[John Popp]

The broad base will do it on the lighter units or look for one that uses real timber for the uprights.

 

[John Popp]

BTW, I've always thought that the standard trees available don't necessarily suit our SVs very well. Chongo, Monte and now Dino never seem to use any of the shelves, beds or cradles that are less than 2 feet off the ground, and if the 2 footer platform wasn't there they would be content with 3' and above.

A couple of the trees we lost in the fire had a 24" x 24" base that was 3" thick. The uprights were 4" diameter cedar (good for keeping any bugs at bay) and the tallest upright platform was at 6'. Chongo was never even close to knocking one over and knocking large things over was something he had a mad set of skills for.

They aren't necessarily the prettiest trees out there, kind of old school in design but certainly as solid as anything out there.

and the one similar to the ones we had.

 

[Bekki]

I hate spending Money on something that just gets torn up. I am more the DIY type. Why don't you try making one that way you can customize it? And I'm sure it'll be better made do it so you can easily replace carpet etc? That way you can do something personal that could possibly match the rest of the house? My Loki bear seems to love that " outhouse" "birdhouse" on my mantle. And when I start my cat tree project in the next month or two I think I'm going to use the same type of wood. So the rough edges are exposed since he loves the texture and I'll take rope and cover planks of wood for resting spots and for scratching, I want to do a literal tree design since I have seen some rather gorgeous trees. I'll cut down a small tree out back or large branch peel bark and coat with clear polyurethane. Build a birdhouse type area up top as well since they love hideaways. And I'm going to include some lower areas for the bunnies to enjoy since they love areas they can hide and ovserve


"Those who wander aren't always lost"

 

[Bekki]

When I did the math I came In at 50$ if I buy everything new or if I salvage old wood I could probably get myself down closer to $15


"Those who wander aren't always lost"

 

[Bekki]

I'm thinking something cross between the two of these. Just an idea if you made your own you could make as tall as you want =]


"Those who wander aren't always lost"

 

[John Campbell]

That is an idea... To do something like that it would difficult to move, so I am going to have to wait to find out what my Job Situation is going to look like.