Readers of this space will perhaps recall that the cats ordered in a cat tree a couple weeks ago. They bought it on eBay, from a company based in New Jersey, and it arrived very quickly, whereupon it sat in the living room looking like this:
Coon cat provided for scale
. . .waiting for someone to open the box and assemble the contents. Clearly, Mozart wasn’t going to do this, and neither was Scrabble. We intended to, but had things in queue ahead.
Right after the box landed, I did some prep work — moving the couch. . .
Oil on the left is
The Wizard and His Companion (Lynn Barnes)
. . ., and taking the paintings down. . .
The big oil is the cover art for Pilots Choice (Michael Herring).
The giclee print is the cover art for Necessity’s Child (David Mattingly)
Today, having early (early!) this morning sent Jethri on his way to Madame the Editor to be Disciplined (*ahem* Sorry. Wrong story.), was the cat tree’s day.
Steve is a Hero of the Revolution. He did all the heavy lifting and building and stuff.
So, here’s the cat tree, unboxed. . .
…and here is the base, going together with, may I say, majestic deliberation:
Scrabble was extremely into this whole building thing. She performed multiple inspections of the pieces, and climbed on the incomplete tree to encourage Steve in his efforts. She also performed a little half-time cheer, to keep his spirits up. I don’t know that we’ve talked about Scrabble’s considerable skill as a choreographer here. Below, you see her in a classic move:
Cheered, Steve returned to the task with renewed energy, and very shortly, we had. . .
As of this writing, Mozart remains of the opinion that the cat tree worked better when it was inside the box. We expect him to shortly publish a revision.
Here ends this photoessay.
UPDATED TO ADD:
Our cat, Sully, upon seeing this photo essay, began clamoring for a larger cat tree than the one she currently possesses. Hers *lacks* the little caves and big base. There will be months of negotiation ahead!
This here is the exact model of ArmarKat Cat tree we previously had when we had a house big enough for it.
I think the Cats will be very happy in it!
After visiting his brother’s cat who has a massive cat tree, my husband insisted we get one for our cats. The cats we had the time regarded it as the spawn of Satan and wouldn’t go near it, even after it been sprinkled heavily with high quality catnip. Years later, when we got kittens, I locked them in a bathroom with the cat tree and refused to let them out until they accepted it as a good and wonderful place.
Huzzah! Great timing, wonderful execution, excellent finish!
Nice tree! Perfect cats! Thanks for sharing
My cats are jealous. When we got our current cat tree, about 6 months ago, they also had as much fun with the box as with the tree. Since our living room has lots of space, I’ve just left it for them to play in/around/on.
What was the name of the company from whom the cat tree was purchased, please? We are in the market for one.
I bought it off of ebay and it’s been so long ago, I don’t remember. I do know that ARMARKAT is a pretty well-known manufacturer of cat furniture.