Good Fun For Scaredy Cats (Malaga Cat Activity Centre)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	Malaga Cat Activity Centre
Date:	21/05/09 (214 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Provides cats with the chance to climb and exercise, cosy sleeping places, not too big

Disadvantages: Not very sturdy, Meg won't use the ladders.

*What is the Malaga Cat Activity Centre?*
This cat climbing and scratching equipment is produced by the Cat Trees Company, who make and produce a large variety of cat activity equipment, with something to suit every home and budget, and something to fulfil the needs of every cat from kittens through to senior animals.

*The product itself*
A cat climbing and scratching post is something I've never, until recently, felt the need to buy, whilst I could appreciate how useful they must be to people with house cats, for the majority of cat owners, I thought they would be a waste of money. Jet, my adult cat, is extremely independent, he is always out and about doing the normal cat things- hunting, climbing and generally just lazing around. Before he adopted me, I presume he had been living as a stray so was use to catching all his own food and climbing things for safety, so he is a very streetwise cat who only really comes inside to be fed and to sleep at night.

My younger cat, Meg, on the other hand, is very different. She was abandoned at the vet surgery I work at when she was extremely young and I hand raised her and her littermates from when they were less than a week old, her brothers and sisters went off to new homes when they were old enough but Meg was the little girl who stayed with me. Whilst I did the best I could do in hand rearing her, of course I wasn't able to teach her all the feline life skills that a kitten would normally learn from their mother and this has left Meg somewhat shy and is very dependent on me to do everything for her, and she much prefers to stay inside the house and only potter around in the garden occasionally, instead of going off roaming the neighbouring fields like Jet does.

Now it isn't really a problem, she can do whatever she is happiest with, but I was a little bit concerned that she wouldn't be getting enough exercise and stimulation so decided a cat climbing post would be ideal for her- it'd give her somewhere to climb about and get some exercise, hopefully prevent her from getting bored and also, provide both her and Jet with another cosy place to sleep. I'd never had one before so wasn't really sure of what was available on the market, but I had in my mind that I wanted one which wasn't too high as my cottage ceilings are very low, nor did I want one too wide as space is very limited, and lastly, I wanted something a bit more than a basic scratching post, as I wanted Meg to be able to have the opportunity to climb.

Browsing the internet I came across this Malaga Cat Activity Centre and it looked ideal. It claims to have everything a good cat post should have to offer- chances to scratch, climb, hide, stretch and sleep and is suitable for both kittens and adult cats alike. It consists of one carpet covered base plate measuring 76 x 51 cm, five 40 cm tall sisal rope covered scratching posts, two 'caves' in which your cat can hide and sleep and a 'high point' look out board, which can be accessed by one of two climbing ladders. Lastly, there is a suspended hammock in between the two 'caves' for your cat to sleep in and a second ladder, to provide extra climbing opportunities.

All the scratching posts are covered in sisal rope, which helps keep claws trim when your cat uses them, the look out board, base plate and ladders are coated in a hard wearing, easy to clean carpet and lastly, all sleeping areas- the two 'caves' and the hammock- are lined with soft plush and fleece material which provides a lovely warm and cosy place for your cat to sleep.

The whole unit has a total height of just 109 cm which makes it ideal for kittens and older cats especially and also nervous animals who are not keen on being too high up!

*Packaging*
The Malaga Cat Activity Centre comes packaged in a large cardboard box which gives full information about the product as well as basic instructions on how to assemble and of course, contact details for the manufacturers should you have any questions or comments. The packaging may be recycled once no longer needed.

*Price & Availability*
I have not seen this unit stocked in any offline pet shops although it is readily available across the internet and you have a choice of two colours to choose from- blue or beige, so there should be something to suit most tastes!

I purchased mine online from www.cattrees.co.uk for £84.99, delivery costs were pretty costly however, so if you are interested in purchasing one, I'd advise you to shop around!

*My opinion*
I've always been a dog person and had never owned a cat until Jet literally turned up at our door just over five years ago and never left- my fiancé adores felines though so it was decided Jet would stay and I formed a very close bond with Meg when I raised her, so it was decided she'd stay too! But the world of cats is still pretty new to me and I wasn't really sure what to look for when deciding which climbing post to buy for Meg.

As I mentioned early, I didn't want anything which was too high or wide, but I did want something a little bit exciting and that would provide Meg with something decent to play with. Lastly, it had to be relatively cheap, I didn't really want to spend over £100 incase Meg wouldn't use it so when I came across this Malaga Cat Activity Centre, all the boxes were ticked and I ordered straight away.

Once it had arrived, I was initially a little disappointed with it, it had looked very nice in the pictures online but was a bit of a let down on first impressions in real life. The soft material on the sleeping areas weren't as cosy or soft as I had expected them to be and the whole unit felt a little flimsy after I had assembled it and it looked like it was cheaply made. Assembly was incredibly easy though and minimal effort and tools were required. I chose to give it the benefit of the doubt however and took it over to the corner where I wanted it.

Meg was instantly were intrigued by it, if not a little wary. She kept going up and sniffing it, but as soon as she put her paw on the base board, the whole unit would wobble which then scared her off and it'd take her hours to pluck up enough courage to go back over to it, only to have the same thing happen again. So we decided the only way we'd ever get her to use it was to attach it do the wall, and that we did- a couple of small fixing brackets screwed on the base board and the top look out board sorted it nicely and the whole thing felt along sturdier and I began to feel a little bit happier with my purchase.

This little alteration also improved Meg's view of it. I tempted her onto the base board with a couple of treats and when she realised the thing no longer wobbled, she was much more content to sit there for a little while, she had a little stretch on one of the four scratching post at the bottom, and even had a little go at climbing the first ladder until she chickened out and went back to just sitting on the base board. She seemed quite happy however and over the course of the day, she did jump up onto the hammock for a little snooze.

That was as far as she would go for quite some time though, it took her about a month or so to gain enough confidence to venture into the sleeping caves or to get up onto the top board and even now, a good few months after I purchased the unit, she still won't climb up the ladders, she much prefers to jump to wherever she wants to go. But at least she is getting some exercise and enrichment, and that, of course, was the whole purpose of me buying it. She loves the hammock, if I want to find her about the house, that is the first place I'll look. She's shunned her other lovely bed and even the radiator bed in favour of the hammock and she will quite happily doze for hours there, also, if she gets a bit scared, she'll get into one of the sleeping caves for comfort and seems quite reassured and safe whenever she is in those, which I like.

Jet won't go near it- I think I have seen him sleeping on the hammock once and he's used the scratching posts a couple of times at the most but I'm not too bothered about that- he is outside enough to get plenty of exercise and has more than enough opportunities out there to climb trees and jump fences. Meg is getting a lot of use from it though and it has done the job I wanted it- it has given her the chance to climb and jump around a bit so she is getting some exercise even though she isn't too keen on going outside and it's preventing her from getting bored and using my furniture as scratching posts instead.

Cleaning is relatively easy aswell. I tend to give it a going over with the hoover once every couple of days to get most of the loose cat hair off and then wipe it down with a damp clothe occasionally to keep it nice and fresh. The insides of the caves are quite tricky though so I've recently started putting a separate blanket in them, so I can just whip that out for a wash once a week and that seems to have solved the problem.

To conclude, a decent activity centre- it has a couple of minor flaws and will probably lack in entertainment value for the more energetic and confident cat but if you are looking for a good, middle of the range cat climbing post with various bits to do and have limited space and are on a limited budget, then this Malaga Cat Activity Centre is one to consider.

Summary: A good starter activity centre for the less adventurous cat!