Does your feline buddy have a kitty tower? Kitties are great at making themselves at home. Fluffy isn’t shy about making herself comfortable on your bed, chair, sofa, table, laptop, lap, floor, or whatever else she can fit on. This is one of the reasons cats are so easy to care for: they are perfectly happy to nap on anything and everything. However, these adorable balls of fur both enjoy and benefit from having a few things that they do not have to share with their people. Continue reading as a Rancho Santa Fe, CA veterinarian explains how to choose furniture for your kitty companion.
Other Types of Cat Furniture
Cat towers and beds are perhaps Fluffy’s favorite pieces of furniture, but they aren’t the only ones. In fact, you can get a selection of cute and engaging purrniture pieces for your feline.
Window Seats: Does Fluffy have a favorite window spot? Most likely, she does. While your pet won’t mind a fancy window seat, she’ll be equally content with a spot on an ottoman or recliner with a good view. Your pet will enjoy having a vista from which to relax, sunbathe, and observe local wildlife.
Cat Wheels: You’ve probably seen the wheels that are popular with small animals like hamsters and gerbils. There are actually cat-sized versions of these. This is a fantastic choice for a playful, energetic pet.
Kitty Shelves: If you really want to spoil your animal friend, get her some shelves. Our feline friends often adore scampering around at high elevations!
Litterbox Concealment: This one is about hiding functionality behind a form. You can buy accessories specifically designed to hide Fluffy’s purrsonal powder room. You can also be creative by upcycling items. To disguise the litterbox, you may upcycle an old dresser or desk. This would also work with a trunk. The most important thing is to make sure your feline pal can enter and exit easily. You’d also need access to it for cleaning purposes. There are plenty of excellent examples and recommendations for this online.
Why Should I Buy Cat Furniture?
You don’t need to clutter your home with kitty products. However, we propose that your feline buddy be able to have a few items of her own.
Simple privacy is one reason. Everyone needs a spot of their own to retreat to. That also applies to kittens! Fluffy may need a break from your children, the dog, the vacuum cleaner, or just the hustle and bustle of people going back and forth.
Elevation is another plus. You may have observed that many of our feline friends prefer heights. In the wild, cats hunt and are hunted. They must be constantly on the lookout for predators and other possible dangers. Keeping that lookout is of course, much easier to do from a higher vantage point. Your pet is not going to have a good viewpoint from ground level. Kitties have a natural tendency to climb. In fact, Fluffy’s sharp little claws are angled in a way that allows her to readily scale things. (Going down is a little tougher and requires practice, but that’s another story.)
Kitties also feel secure in towers, as they do in trees in the wild. Trees provide Fluffy with a secure place to escape predators, a good observation point, and spots for napping and manicures. Cat towers also serve as a reminder of these safe areas, which naturally makes kittens feel more secure.
Towers also provide sleeping areas. We probably won’t have to explain this one too much. Kitties are always on the search for new napping spots! (Fluffy also frequently views her humans as napping areas, but that is beside the point.)
Last but not least, we have kitty nail care stations: One of the few drawbacks of owning a cat is that Fluffy may decide to do her nails on your furniture. Your pet is not seeking to be destructive; she is merely fulfilling her innate urge to keep her claws sharp. This is a classic example of ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. You won’t have much luck convincing your furry little diva to stop doing her nails on your belongings, and you should never scold her for it. That will just confuse your pet and potentially make her fearful of you. It’s far better to simply give her a decent kitty manicure station. This protects your furniture while gratifying your pet’s natural scratching needs.
Tips for Selecting Fluffy’s Tower
When it comes to cat furniture, the cat tower is unquestionably the gold standard. Choosing a scratching post or tower isn’t particularly difficult, but there are a few factors to consider.
Sturdiness: You’ll need something sturdy. Fluffy’s tower should be able to withstand a range of high-octane kitten antics, such as your pet jumping onto the tower or launching herself up it at fast speeds.
Accessibility: Consider your pet’s age. While kittens may easily climb to the top of a tower, an older cat will prefer something easier to get on and off.
Safety: Safety is, of course, the key concern here, but there is another factor to consider. If your pet’s tower wobbles as she attempts to use it, she may become concerned. This is presumably also instinctual. (It’s simple to see why our feline companions would have realized that using an unsteady tree as a nail-care station wouldn’t work well.) The tower should also be able to accommodate your pet’s weight easily.
Height: As previously said, our furry friends adore climbing to high places. In general, the higher the better!
Space: If you have more than one cat, make sure you get something that will accommodate all of them at once.
How Many Towers Do Kitties Need?
There is no actual upper limit here. If you want to get your furry little diva a dozen or more cat towers or trees, go for it! As a minimum, well, we recommend at least one tree or tower per kitty or household.
Does Fluffy Really Need Her Own Bed?
Given Fluffy’s ability to sleep up to 20 hours each day, it’s hardly surprising that mattresses are among her favorite things. (Fluffy will sleep in a pizza box, a lasagna pan, or a plant pot, but that’s another discussion.) Store-bought beds are great, but you might also create your own. Or, just arrange folded blankets on a chest or ottoman, or even in a wicker basket.
Why Are Our Feline Companions So Obsessed With Boxes?
We cannot discuss kitten furniture without mentioning boxes. The official hypothesis is that Fluffy feels safer in small, enclosed spaces. This makes sense because nothing can sneak up on them. However, that reasoning crumbles when you see photos of our feline friends shoving themselves into boxes that are either too big, too small, or nothing more than a square limit of tape.
Schedule An Appointment At Our Rancho Bernardo Pet Clinic
Is it time for your pet’s checkup? Have you lately adopted a new pet? Please contact us, your local Rancho Santa Fe, CA pet hospital, for all of your pet’s veterinary care requirements. We are always happy to help!
