Hi there,
My two cat friends are getting older (now 14.5 years old), and one of them (Christopher Robin, AKA Nub) has developed arthritis in his lower back, making it harder for him to jump on things. I'm looking for a few items to make his life easier:
1. A cat tree with small jumps in between the levels.
We currently have a big 72" tree similar to this one and the cats love how tall it is, but the height difference between tiers is around 14" and Nub is starting to have a hard time making that jump (I've never seen either cat use the ladders so I don't think that works for them). I got him a ramp to get up to the 2nd tier but he has a hard time getting up further than that. I'm hoping for a tree that has around 6-7" intervals between tiers so he can get up higher. He could maybe do up to 9-10" but not more than that. This one is the best I've found so far but it's only 32" high so it won't give the cats much overall height. I know that I could install shelves, but we're renting so I don't think that's an option for us.
Has anyone had good experiences with a taller tree that's easy for an arthritic cat to climb?
2. Cat stairs
I've also been looking for cat stairs with short stairs for easy use. We have one of these sets and one of these ramps, but the stairs are around 7" apart and on an incline, and the ramp is also at a pretty steep grade, and it's starting to seem a little difficult for Nub to use them as frequently as he needs to (to get up to the bed or sofa). I've constructed him some makeshift stairs out of stacks of books (where there are more stairs and each stair is around 2-3" tall) and those seem much easier for him, but it's a pretty ugly and clunky solution (I have to adjust them often to make sure they don't move around).
Has anyone seen good pet stairs with shorter stairs?
Thanks so much for any and all advice!
My two cat friends are getting older (now 14.5 years old), and one of them (Christopher Robin, AKA Nub) has developed arthritis in his lower back, making it harder for him to jump on things. I'm looking for a few items to make his life easier:
1. A cat tree with small jumps in between the levels.
We currently have a big 72" tree similar to this one and the cats love how tall it is, but the height difference between tiers is around 14" and Nub is starting to have a hard time making that jump (I've never seen either cat use the ladders so I don't think that works for them). I got him a ramp to get up to the 2nd tier but he has a hard time getting up further than that. I'm hoping for a tree that has around 6-7" intervals between tiers so he can get up higher. He could maybe do up to 9-10" but not more than that. This one is the best I've found so far but it's only 32" high so it won't give the cats much overall height. I know that I could install shelves, but we're renting so I don't think that's an option for us.
Has anyone had good experiences with a taller tree that's easy for an arthritic cat to climb?
2. Cat stairs
I've also been looking for cat stairs with short stairs for easy use. We have one of these sets and one of these ramps, but the stairs are around 7" apart and on an incline, and the ramp is also at a pretty steep grade, and it's starting to seem a little difficult for Nub to use them as frequently as he needs to (to get up to the bed or sofa). I've constructed him some makeshift stairs out of stacks of books (where there are more stairs and each stair is around 2-3" tall) and those seem much easier for him, but it's a pretty ugly and clunky solution (I have to adjust them often to make sure they don't move around).
Has anyone seen good pet stairs with shorter stairs?
Thanks so much for any and all advice!