Esteem

When our old cat tower started to get a bit ratty, I began researching replacements and unintentionally fell down a rabbit hole of cat trees/towers. Spoiler alert: most of them are made poorly, fall apart quickly, and can even be dangerous! They are built cheaply and not made to last.

We have two cats, one older boy and a younger girl. I wanted something that they could both play on and sleep on, and something that would be safe for his joints and help him avoid jumping from super high surfaces or slipping. After literal months of research, I found Bon Cat and its wonderful owner Phil. When I reached out to Phil with questions via email, he promptly responded with answers to my questions and eagerness to help. It was clear that I'd be purchasing from a genuine small business, and from a real cat owner - someone who understood how cats run, play, and spend their time.

These are obviously an investment at the price point, and we purchased two - one for the sun room and one for my office. The one pictured, the Esteem, is a great height, stable, and provides lots of places to sleep and interact. Since these pictures were taken, we've also added a little bed in the nook on the bottom/floor level which is a great hideaway for napping. The open holes on the sides are great for playing and batting. The removable carpet is wonderful - cats are fairly clean, but can also be gross lol, and it's nice to be able to remove the pads and clean them off when needed.

My cats LOVE their Esteem tower and spend time on it everyday lounging and watching birds. The assembly was incredibly easy, done within ~30 minutes following the clear instruction packet. If you are looking to make an investment in a cat tower that will last you a lifetime, please consider supporting Bon Cat. I promise it is worth it!

The furniture is well-made and easy to assemble. Customer service I received from Bon was also excellent. The piece is pricy, but I was fine w/ it because I wanted furniture that looked nice in my living room but was also functional for the cats. Unfortunately, my cats were picky and didn't like the tree. I think using jute fiber or having that as an option would have been preferable to the carpet.. my cats have never scratched carpet so perhaps that's what contributed to them not using the tree. In any case, it was an expensive experiment. After upgrades and shipping, I spent over $900 for a piece of furniture that my cats didn't use. Ultimately, I resold the piece for $100 so lost the difference. I likely won't be purchasing again given the finicky nature of my cats, or cats in general, unless the seller implements some type of guarantee or exchange.