Check out these great instructions for a beefy cat scratching post/cat tree. It’s a no-frills, utilitarian design, but it looks easy to build and that it will last forever. You can make it fancier by painting the shelf supports and by the color carpet you use to cover the shelves. And if you don’t cover the center post in sisal, you could paint it too.
You will need a drill, a saw, and a good staple gun (I recommend an electric one to make sure you get the staples sunk deep.) And be sure to stagger the shelves and make them large enough that your cat can actually climb the tree.
Don’t miss these previous posts on a DIY cat tree and a DIY scratching post.
Sarah:
Hi – I built the monster cat post in the picture, a couple of comments:
1) Regarding not covering the center post: I recommend covering it with sisal or wrapping it with rope, since kitty likes to stand on the high leaves & scratch the trunk.
2) In retrospect, the sisal rug is more work and $$ than wrapping with sisal rope.
3) You could probably stain either covering with a nontoxic dye if you wanted it a different color. Maybe: boil a length of sisal rope in a big pot of clothing dye and wrap that around the post?
I wish I had a photo of the post in my soho loft (16 foot ceilings) before I truncated it to fit in my brooklyn apt – it was 6 feet taller & had 3 more leaves.
Thanks for publicizing the project. My cat loved this & every kitty owner should build one!