Classic Cat Tree A8001

This is my third Armarkat cat tree that I have purchased. The other two get 5 stars from me, but this one only gets a 3. I love the height and all of the features, but there were a few drawbacks to this model (in design and construction) that make this one less than idea. Don't get me wrong, the cats love it, it's just not up to the quality that I expect from Armarkat. My issues: 1) The ladder is just all around flawed. The angle at which it needs to be installed makes it taller than the other posts, so it doesn't fit well. Additionally, the brackets attached to the ladder are secured poorly (only 1/2' screws into soft compressed wood). My ladder arrived with one screw ripped out and another bracket loose with a stripped screw. In installation, two other screws stripped out of the wood because the brackets do not align well with the holes - they're far down the ladder so the ladder is flush with the boards and the bracket is over a quarter inch away. If you tighten the screws in the brackets with any tension, other screws strip out. Very frustrating. 2) The tree indicates multiple loops to hang the cat toys from, but my tree only came with one loop. I have had to make additional (not hard) with twine and a staple gun. 3) The tree base scratches the floor when it moves, which happens with a narrow tall tree and psychotic cats. They run up and down the tree and leap off, and the tree wobbles, and you can hear it making hard contact with the floor. I added felt feed to the bottom which has helped, but aren't perfect. One would think Armarkat would design for this. Overall the tree is functional, but the poor design elements have knocked off some points for me, and I would have probably preferred to get a different model in hindsight. This will not keep me from buying Armarkat again, but hopefully they improve their quality in the future.

Within minutes of putting this tree together I noticed a tail coming out the side of the second floor cubby. There sat my largest cat (Maine Coon size.) Usually the cubby holes are smaller and he's never taken to them (I have 6 Armarkat trees.) Nice, sturdy tree built for taking a cat beating! Easy to put together - only error I made: I didn't check that the second floor holes faced the right way when I attached it. Only figured it out at the end when I tried to attach the ladder. Don't miss that step if you want the ladder. I'm not going to bother to fix it. I don't think my cat will use it anyway but some do so look for the ladder holes before attaching!

Excellent construction and easy to assemble. *Armarkat: Thank you for your excellent review.

This is the best thing I could have gotten for my kitten!!! He just loves it, and I love to watch him playing on it! We had another one from you before when I had 2 kittens and they loved it too. It was getting pretty beat up after 14 years, so I thought this little guy deserved a new one!! He is thoroughly enjoying it. Thanks for such a well made product!! Not hard to put together either!

I had bought a cat tree from you about 14 years ago and my cats just loved it! It was the classic tree (B7701). They have literally wore it out, even broke one of the perches off of it with their carrying on!! I lost one of those cats last year, and the other one at almost 18, is really showing her age. I am getting a kitten from a rescue and so I thought it was time for a new tree!! I am also very happy with this new tree. Your trees are of a great quality and are vey sturdy. They are also very easy to put together. I can't hardly wait to get this kitten and watch him play on it. These trees are the best!!

It was easy to put together, I did it without my husbands help! Once together it took a couple of days, but now my cats love it! I would recommend it to anyone who asked. Love it!

I just purchased this cat tree and already my cats are all over it!!! they love it so much. The covering on it is so soft and the perfect color. The materials used for this cat tree are a great quality, none of that stupid particle board that falls apart. It is made of real wood that smells great!! It was really easy to assemble too.

This model uses Virginia Ceder, or the like, plywood and is clean & strong. Reasonable to put together -- I added rubber bolt covers inside the house, in which my 16 llbs. large-boned Tabbey is able to fit comfortably (in a little fluff bed set inside for her. She exceedingly enjoys laying inside her Tree House for hours, peering out her Little Window. She uses all of the equipment except the topmoset of the 3 platforms, which is too small for her to lounge on. This Tree's house looks about 50% larger than some of the others, and I very much recommend this quality Plywood. Designed in Germany.. Now I want to get a second identical one and connect them with a board ! Price is reasonable because much lower than MSRP and this model's perfectly well-made and sturdy, with evident high-quality control. Excellent! Veneta, Oregon

We have 2 of this model. We bought the first about 6 years ago and the 2nd a couple of years ago. The first one had noticeably thicker posts but cost more then the 2nd. I raise Maine Coon cats and they love these trees. They often chaise each other up and down the treas. This model is very stable."