Can anyone recommend a cat tree/tower

[Lubyloo]

and do they work?! I'm hoping it will help preserve our carpet, curtains and sofas! There seems to be such a huge range and difference in prices. I have seen this which is lovely and has great reviews but is expensive. If the kittens will actually use it instead of the furniture then it will be a worthwhile investment however I'm worried it may not get used!

This is great, 180cm tall but wall mounted so takes up less room than the one you showed. Better looking too, imvho.

Thanks for the link Honesty. I would never have thought of looking in Ikea! It does look good but I would prefer something freestanding that we can move rather than fixed to the wall.

I've tried several of those sort of things, and I have to say they've never worked. But the cats know damn well what they're not meant to scratch - a firm "No", and scoop them away, and they get the message.

Will they be outdoors cats when they're older? Because that sorts the problem out really - they find bits of fence etc to scratch.

As per a recommendation on here, I got one of the cheapest on the market, from Argos at about £6. Our kitten has used it since he arrived, although he did have one at the rescue centre so was used to them. We've had him 6 weeks now and he's yet to scratch the furniture.

He has however as I've typed this, jumped up against the fridge about 20 times and knocked all the magnets off one by one.

Only one of ours will even look at the scratching post. But they spend most of their time scratching fences/trees, so are pretty good inside. Our cats have always ignored anything bought for them on principle I think

I think hassled is right, once they get outside they prefer that - it's scent marking their territory too isn't it?

I have a huge one in the lounge and they seem to treat it more as a climbing frame/place to have a playfight when it's raining and they're bored. They never actually scratch it but thankfully don't scratch the furniture either.

I think a fairly small one until they're old enough to go out, because they're not the most decorative items

The higher the better for cat trees. Ebay is good for them.

Try this, this or this.

Thanks for all your suggestions! They will go out when they're older. Our old cat never used to scratch furniture until we moved house and then he destroyed the stair carpet! We bought him a small scratching post and he never used it.

I'm hoping that if the kittens have one from the start they may use it.

If buying from Ebay please beware of some of the more prolfic sellers of cat trees. Check feedback VERY carefully, we've just had huge hassles with a seller who has several names and mainly deals in cat trees and rabbit hutches.