Fauna Shantal Cat Tree - Beige & Brown - 49x49x145cm

The Fauna Shantal Cat Tree is a 145 cm tower with an unusual amount of variety in it — an enclosed condo, a curved cradle, a slung hammock, a paw-shaped platform and a sloped ramp up from the floor.

Key Features

• 49 x 49 cm footprint and 145 cm tall
• An enclosed condo with a round doorway, a curved cradle above it and a top perch over that
• A fabric hammock slung between posts, which most cats end up preferring to the flat platforms
• A paw-shaped platform and a sloped ramp from floor level, so a cat can walk up rather than jump
• Posts are wrapped in hardwearing sisal rope — the surface a cat's claws are meant to strip on, instead of the arm of your sofa
• Delivered flat-packed with fixings and instructions. Assembly is a screwdriver job, not a workshop one

Setting It Up

• Put it where your cat already spends time — by a window, or next to whatever it has been scratching. A tree in the spare room gets ignored
• Stand a tall tree against a wall rather than out in the middle of a room. A cat launching off the top perch puts real sideways force through the base
• Retighten the bolts after the first fortnight and every few months after that. Almost every wobbly cat tree is a loose bolt rather than a design fault
• The ramp is worth keeping clear of furniture — it is what makes this tree usable for a cat with stiff joints

Good To Know

• Scratching is how a cat sheds the worn outer sheath of its claws and leaves its scent. It is not a habit you can train out, so the only real question is what it scratches
• A new tree often gets ignored for the first week. A pinch of catnip rubbed into the posts, or a familiar blanket on the top perch, usually settles it
• Vacuum the plush with an upholstery head and spot-clean with a damp cloth. Do not soak it — the boards underneath are chipboard and swell once wet
• Supervise kittens on the higher levels until they are climbing down confidently. Going up is instinct; coming down is learned
• Check the hammock fabric and its fixings every so often. A hammock that gives way under a sleeping cat is how they learn not to trust it