Cat Tree for Your Climber Cat

Last summer we got ourselves what we now know as a "climber" cat. We find our much beloved feline in almost every high area around our home--often looking at us eye to eye! When the holidays came around we could guess what this little guy would do if we put up a classic tree... thus the inspiration for this PVC drain pipe cat tree for our (or your) climber cat! The added gem to this project (besides lack of household-item-destruction) is that you can add whatever cat toy you have and watch your kitty happily climb up and smack them down--again and again and again! Enjoy! Oh and you can keep this cat tree up year round--just change out the cat toys as needed.

• PVC 4" Perforated Drain Pipe-found at most major hardware stores. They come in 10 foot lengths. Trim to suit your preferences. Ours is around 6 feet long.
• Large Christmas tree stand with a wide base - able to fit the 4" pipe. You want something as stable as possible.
• Sisal rope or colored rope of your choice. Ours was purchased at a major hardware store.
• Drill
• Drill bit for the extra holes 1/4" or larger.
• Glue gun
• Glue sticks. The 5' glue roll really came in handy for this one! and/or you'll need a lot of glue sticks!
• Filler to stabilize the base. We used marble chips. The dense weight helps. (Don't be tempted to use kitty litter unless you want your cat to leave you some special surprises!)
• One climbing cat
• Optional: Stool to place the project on when you are starting to glue on the rope.

This seriously may be the hardest part of this project:

I went to an indoor holiday sale/bazaar where I was able to get a really good deal on a tree stand. I liked this one because it had 4 double brackets that you could adjust. I also liked that the outside of the base was smooth-- making it less likely for the cat to get caught on things sticking out.

Other option besides buying a new tree stand:

• Weather permitting you could try to get one at a garage sale.
• You could also try one of those online neighborhood sales. Put out an ISO (in search of) for a large, stable tree stand.

We had this PVC perforated PVC pipe in our basement from the prior owners.

If you don't happen to have a pipe (ha!), you can go to a large hardware store and buy a perforated drain pipe. Not sure if they still do it but you may be able to get your one cut to the height you want at the store (ask an employee if you need that option). Ours is about 6 feet tall. If not, these pipes cut fairly easily by hand saw or by power saw.

Get all your other materials together. We only had to use one package of the rope but you may need to have two depending on the length of the rope.

Make sure you have a LOT of glue sticks or the long 5 foot one really comes in handy.

• Insert your pipe into the tree base.
• Tighten all sides very well.
• Make sure everything is balanced.

Carefully drill a series of holes up and down the tree pipe. The pre-existing drainage holes won't be enough if you want to insert some fishing pole type toys into the finished tree.

All these holes will be used to insert dangling toys for your cat to play with.

Set up your work area so you can safely glue on the rope onto the pipe. I used a stool to place the base and tree pipe on to make it easier to reach.

This is the longest process of this project. You may need some feline company!

Warm up your glue gun.

Starting at the base with the pipe in, apply a section of glue followed by adhering a section of rope.

You are going to follow and repeat this process all the way around and up the whole pipe.

Make sure that you glue the rope AROUND the holes. This really helps you add the cat toys to the tree later on. Note: It may not look as polished as you had hoped but your cat won't notice.

You'll need to add some type of weight to help steady the tree when your cat climbs it.

We added some marble chips inside the pipe up to where the pipe and tree stand meet. (If you go too far up and add too many marble chips you'll get some coming out of the holes.)

Add some more marble chips to fill in the area between the pipe and the stand (what is visible) so that you have some weight inside and outside of the pipe.

You can add whatever weighted item you want. We liked the marble chips because they are denser per size than other options. Small stones could work well too. Try to refrain from using kitty litter- your cat might think of using that as their "box" instead of their "tree".

• Place your tree in its desired location.
• Add extra toys that you have around the house. The "fishing pole" toys that have the ends of their handles broken off work really well. Line up the stick end of the toys through a hole ion one side and have it come out a hole on the other side.
• Bend a right angle at the end of a pipe cleaner and twist a lightweight toys at the other end. Insert the end of the bent pipe cleaner into one of the holes in the pipe.
• Your cat will actually enjoy being able to knock some of those toy accessories onto the floor. It appeals to some part of their hunting instinct. Every now and then put all the toys back onto the tree.

Stand back and watch your cat enjoy climbing their cat tree!

If you make this, please add a photo of your build and cat enjoying it in the comments. I'd love to see how this project turns out for others!!