5/5 - Height; Quality; and Build. I currently have 3 standard carpeted cat trees, and all except the shorter height one are wobbly when my 11 lb adult cat climbs on them. This Cat Tree King (CTK) tree does not wobble at all, even though it's taller than all my other cat trees. It is also very heavy (in a good way, unless you had plans to move the cat tree around). Also, the CTK tree carpet is a more plush, velvet-like look material, as opposed to traditional carpet. I think the CTK carpet choice looks much more polished and modern. I also think it will be much easier to clean / remove cat hair from this type of carpet, than my other cat trees which have more coarse carpet with high pile loops.
5/5 - Value. Although I purchased the CTK Cat Empire at full price of US $549 (would have loved for it to be on sale, but I'd been waiting for a re-stock for quite some time) I still think it's a great value. The way the cat tree is configured, it's bigger than two of my regular cat trees put side by side and several inches taller. I find that a 'problem' with traditional cat trees is that they're configured such that my cat has no use for the bottom 2 or 3 rungs, which are often directly below the other rungs. The CTK tree is more of a jungle gym + cat tree, which is significantly better. As I expected, my cat does not care for the bottom or middle platforms of the CTK Empire (other than to climb up and down) but she is loving lounging on the 3 separate top rungs consisting of the 2 hammocks and 1 rectangular bed. I also think it would work wonderfully for 2+ cats. I've fostered two adult cats now and even though all my other cat trees also have multiple rungs, my resident cat would freak out anytime the new cat would try and get on the cat tree she was on, because not only would it wobble but she would have to jump from the 69" rung to avoid the foster cat because the traditional cat trees were not 'wide' enough to allow her to come down while avoiding the foster cat. I don't think that will be a problem at all with the CTK Cat Empire, because of how sturdy it is and all of the offset platforms.
5/5 - Aesthetics. My home is decorated in a modern aesthetic and was sad to learn my cat did not like the more modern non-carpeted cat trees. Wish I had learned about CTK sooner, because I do think it's a great compromise on carpeted comfort for my cat and a more modern aesthetic for me. Regardless of what decor style you prefer, I do think the CTK trees looks higher quality than a standard carpeted cat tree, which makes a big difference in your home looking 'nicer'.
3/5 - Chemical Fumes. I am not someone who is sensitive to scents and have purchased my fair share of new furniture and cat trees; however, I've never purchased something that has had such strong VOCs off-gassing fumes. I received 2 out of 3 of the boxes on Friday afternoon and left the items in my office, with the window open and fan running though Sunday evening and I could still smell the fumes in the hallway (even my husband who rarely notices things, complained). We had to move everything to our tiny sunroom area. Even with a tower fan place in front of the materials and the door to the backyard open and the windows open, the fumes did not go away overnight. What ended up helping was that once the 3rd box arrived, I closed off the small sunroom and ran a space heater on the highest setting all morning and most of the afternoon (unfortunately it wasn't sunny or hot outside), then I held my breath and aired out the space towards the backyard with a tower fan. There is still some off-gassing smell, but it's now very minimal so I brought it back into my office and assembled it. My guess is that because I ordered it as soon as there was a restock that the cat tree was very recently made by the factory and the VOCs fumes had not had a chance to fully off-gas. I still think the CTK cat tree is worth it, but maybe next time I'll try and avoid purchasing immediately when there is a restock. I do want to eventually replace my other cat trees with CTK trees.
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