I have raised 10 kitties and have gone through a lot of these types of cat houses. This one is way too expensive for the number of design and material flaws.
1. The mesh should not be on the top of the unit. The first thing my cats did was jump on the top of the unit. And the mesh is not strong enough to hold their weight (10 lbs) Their claws got stuck in the holes in the mesh because the holes in the mesh are spaced too far apart and the cat could not get himself off the unit without my help. It is not a fine mesh. If you look at the picture you will see that the mesh is almost "invisible" because the spacing in the mesh is so far apart. That is how it will look to your cat - they will think they can just jump in to the unit.
2. Cats like to hide. My cats didn't want to use the upper level because the mesh is "see through". They started using the upper level after I covered the top with a light weight throw.
3. The sides are attached to the bottom of the unit with Velcro. However, the Velcro is not strong enough to hold the sides in place. When my cats played in the house, the Velcro broke free and the cats fell out. I have the unit on carpeted floor so they can't get hurt but seriously who wants to re-Velcro the sides every time the cats decide to play.
4. The top shelf ripped after one day. The unit is made from a lightweight poly material and I expected some "holes" where their claws dig in when playing but I did not expect a 1" rip in the material. I trim my cats claws regularly and they still ripped through the top shelve when they jumped in and out of the unit.
5. The unit base is wide enough so the unit won't fall over but it is very light weight and if your cats jump into the unit like mine do, the unit will slide everywhere and eventually fall over. I thought about using 20 lb flat weights in the bottom of the unit but I don't want my cats getting hurt if they play on top of the metal weights.
6. To make this a better toy, the top of the unit should be solid. The cats will then have a hiding place and if they jump on the top of the unit, it would not collapse.
7. The front panels (where the solid poly material is currently placed) should be make of a finer mesh making it less transparent and the mesh should wrap around to the under side of the unit and attach to the Velcro. This would help secure the sides when cats are playing.
8. There really isn't any metal in the unit so I don't know where that comes into play - all the main pieces are plastic. I had a similar unit and all of the plastic corner piece that connect the unit together broke within 6 months and that unit was used by a 6 lb kitten. I know the description says it will hold 120 lbs of weight on the top shelve but will like the plastic corner pieces actually hold.
BOTTOM LINE: It's way too expensive and the engineering of the materials is backwards. I would not recommend this to any one, Yes it is lightweight but that is not always a good thing. Yes, it folds down into a small box and will save room. Yes, the mesh allows it to be more breathable but it's made of lightweight poly and would not be very warm to begin with.
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