Catit Vesper High Base

This tree is high quality and looks more like a piece of furniture than your usual carpet on plywood box store fare. Of course my cats wanted nothing to do with it for a few weeks and now they love it. The included catnip was the trick. The building procedure is a bit tricky. I recommend laying out the parts and taking a really good look at the instructions before even beginning. I'm pretty good at these things and I even got myself confused. It does assemble very nicely as well as securely.

Was intrigued with this lovely cat perch, read every review, added it to my wishlist, 2 days later price dropped to 87 and I had to go for it. Arrived today and I just finished putting it together. IT LOOKS GREAT! And I'm 64, female and partially disabled - this isn't hard to put together! Took me approx 30 mins.The hardest part is unpacking it all, comes very well packaged. Just relax, go slow and enjoy it. Some tips:1) Put aside the directions and just watch the video on YouTube.2) Keep in mind that on the 1st step, you're putting the box together upside down!3) Get your multi-head screwdriver out - it's much easier than the included tool for a lot of it.4) Go slow, hand-tighten until you're sure things are properly aligned, then tighten with the tool.My unit doesn't wobble at all, it's very snug and secure. Regarding the so-called horrible smell, there's no horrible smell. There is a slight odor of the natural sisal rope (plant fiber) used to wrap the legs. That's it. I'm sensitive to everything under the sun and this doesn't bother me or my kitty at all, and it will prob dissipate in the next few days anyhow. You could put it on your porch or in your garage a few days if the smell of natural sisal gets to you.Overall, this furniture is even better quality than expected. Love that it can be wiped down and the cushions washed or even replaced. (btw, cushions aren't pieces of carpet, but super plush & cushy) Love the modern look. Much easier to put together than expected. Taller and sturdier than expected. My Maine Coon mix has circled it a few times and rubbed on it, must try kitty treats ;) Sandy Claws came early for him today =D (He's 13.5 lbs and fits great in the box)FOLLOW UP 12/9/16Some things that helped get my cat loving this even more:1. He liked it much better on carpeting than in the primo place by window that had no carpet. It's more stable and I think he likes being in the living room overseeing us, rather than further away. He is now the master of all he surveys.2. Like another commenter suggested, I removed the metal bracket and dangly rope toy. He now has more clearance to jump up and down from the top level now, and no worries to me about him getting hurt on that metal piece. He was pretty blah about the balls anyhow, he'd rather be eviscerating a stuffed rat toy.3. I removed the little round sisal mat from the 2nd level on top of the box and replaced it with a 2nd mat just like the one on the first level. This gives him a much more secure surface for bouncing up and down from the top level, more area for his claws to grip, Vesper V-Plush, Replacement Part for V-High Base (52045) Scratching Pad, 11.2" x 15.2", Walnutand he now has one more place for snuggles there, too. I got it for 15.99 & free shipping last week, I added the link so you can see which size it is. Added photo of mods below.Still love this cat furniture, VERY happy we got it, big success with kitty.

I have a large three and half yard but unfortunately I also live on a relatively busy highway currently, so my cat doesn't get to go outside (with supervision) much. So I figured he'd enjoy the V-High base with vertical space and height and all.First of all the tree is really nice and the rope wrapped around the poles smell really nice. I read reviews saying they had to air out their house, but in my case I didn't have to. The only part with a vaguely bad smell was the circular mat on top of the box (I sniffed it to see what material it was lol), but that's only if you get your nose right up on it. It does wobble a bit if my cat jumps on it rather vigorously but is steady overall. He'd really have to try to knock it over and he's a pretty big cat (not fat, just really big, around 11 pounds). He also fits just right curled up in the box and fits fine on the top platform, so if you have a smaller cat you'll be fine in that area.The picture is a little misleading however, because it's mirrored and the first platform is not long enough for cats to jump on it and into the box. Your cat(s) will have to jump directly in from the floor. My cat does not seem to care, but it's kind of an unfortunate design choice that was not accurately reflected in the provided image. Also, the rope color is a little more green tinted than it is in the photo and when you twist them in, they can scrape off the finish of the wood (you can't see it because it's covered up by the bottom of the pole so I'm not that beat up about it lol). I took off a star for those inaccuracies. Honestly makes me not want to buy from this company again unless I see the product IRL, because who knows what other discrepancies there are with the picture and product online?Assembly: Instructions were a little confusing but doable. There's videos on Youtube that show someone putting together the regular V-base and assembly is pretty much the same for both in the beginning. You might want to have someone help you as you do it especially if you're like me and could barely lift the box lol! It's also easier to put in the screws when you have another set of hands to hold the bronze screws from moving (you'll see). All you need is the allen wrench that's included and you're good to go. It's nothing to be intimidated about, took me about 40 minutes (mostly pondering the instructions). All of the parts needed were present, so no problems with that.Overall, me and my cat really do enjoy it and it was worth the purchase but the picture inaccuracies kinda pissed me off (really need to get that together), thus the four stars. It's a pretty piece of furniture and not ugly like most cat trees are (that gray, dingy, stained off-white color...or brown or zebra, almost equally as bad lol). My 9yro sister also enjoys it, she's currently using it as a Littlest Pet Shop house with cardboard ovens, couches, and everything while my cat bats them off hahaha. Not sure I'd recommend to a friend, but it definitely works me and my cat! This review sounds a bit too negative, so I wanted to include that it is a good product and better than what you'll find most places. My cat enjoys looking out the window, sleeping, and playing on this tree (actually uses the rope toy). We have a lot of fun with it overall and I'm still not over how pretty it is, thanks for saving me from super expensive gross carpet by making this product available!