UPDATE after 1.5 years: This cat tree is still holding tight, and is a family favorite! We have to tighten the screws every few months--especially the one between the top pole and the box that it rests on, both because of the cats scattering up it, and because of my daughter spinning it to get the cats to face her (no, she is not supposed to do that)--it tends to loosen over time. It has lived through our beautiful stripey cat becoming full-grown and quite gloriously tough and pudgy, AND through the adoption of a new lil black kitten--which means LOTS of fierce up and down and aroundness and swats and jumps and knocks. They use the top spots the most--the top plate is the favorite napping spot in the house; the brown "cat scoop" is the second favorite--but they do use all parts of it, disincluding the ladder (which I love for its adorableness). We do still keep toys in the hammock for the most part--they get in that the least. Oh, and our stripey cat eats every string that she can find anywhere, so we had to trim the fray from the hanging rope so that she would stop ingesting it--it is bone-straight now and looks sad, but your cat is probably less ridiculous than ours. The screws not screwing flush to the surface has never seemed like an issue. The cats never sleep in the box (that has the protruding screw), but maybe they wouldn't anyways--they like being up high. Amarkat never sent me a replacement box for the one that was burned (just a sightly problem; no functional issues) during manufacture/shipping! :-( It does sway when they play vigorously--we thought about bolting it to the wall, but they seemed to like it just fine like this, and it's never come close to falling--I figure it's like that Ani song about buildings and bridges being made to bend in the wind because what doesn't bend breaks. <3. It took the two of us about an hour to put together, with her being super driven and delegatey. :-) You do have to push the screws through the fabric, like others said, but the holes in the fabric are started for you, and the implement that you're screwing in (a pole or whatever) covers the spot and will thus prevent any fraying. It was a fun family project. After assembly, it still seems solid and pretty. The kitten likes it! So far her main activity is to stand on top of the box and bat at the rope. She has also explored the rest and chewed on the rope ladder a little. She hasn't ventured into the brown "cat scoop" (daughter's term) or hammock, or slept in any part of it yet--she still prefers sleeping on top of our mouse's cage (super fun for the mouse) or curling into our potted plants SIGH--but my fingers are crossed. It was easy enough for me (alone) to push across our (carpeted) floor after assembly--it doesn't require you to get a moving crew if you want to rearrange your living room. THE CONS: It's a little wobbly--the structure itself is sound, but just tall, and with maybe a narrower and lighter base than would be completely ideal. When our energetic baby frolics around, it jiggles a bit. We wonder whether she'd feel more secure, and more likely to sleep on it, if it were more stable? We're going to look into bolting it to the wall and will get back to you. :-) There was visible glue (like hot glue) at many junctures--mostly at the places that the thick rope attached to the red-orange rubber stoppers. I was able to pull the worst of it off--you know hot glue--but a fair amount remains, which seems not entirely safe, especially since the kitten chews on the ropes. The box part (third level down from top) came with a brown streak across its outside, maybe half an inch wide and 4 inches long, that my daughter said "looks like feces," lol. Upon further inspection, it did not appear to be feces, but rather a place that the fur was burnt / melted during the manufacturing process. I trimmed it off with haircutting scissors, which worked--the pile of the fur is shallower there now, and that is visible, but because the fur is velvety / changes color when wiped from side to side, the mark looks normal/natural, and isn't noticable unless you get up close. Still, it happens to be on the side that faces the dining room and hallway, and if Armarkat wants to send me a replacement box, I won't fight them. :-) A few of the screws don't screw in flush to the surfaces--notably the two at the top of the ladder, which protrude above at about the height and size of a pencil eraser (slightly wider) and worry me a little--what if the kitten happens to hit her head on them or something? Can I cover them with something? Putty and fabric? Taking recommendations. Most of the other screws that show have wide flat tops like little dinner plates, so there isn't this problem, BUT the one in the far corner of the box (a dinner plate type) wouldn't go flush no matter how many times we tried. Maybe we weren't getting it into the hole straight--it's a very tough spot to reach and to manipulate within--but we tried SO many times. In the end, it remains about 4mm above the surface, and the little dinnerplate of it is about an inch across, so I worry that it will be uncomfortable if our kitten tries to curl up in the box. But maybe I'm being too precious. So far, a solid purchase! We'll update after some time has passed. :-)
