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How I Built a Cat-Friendly Home Without Spending a Fortune
I once spent sixty-five pounds on a cat bed.
It was architecturally designed, apparently. Ethically sourced. The description used the word 'bespoke.'
All three cats have slept in the cardboard box it arrived in. The bed has been used twice, briefly, as a stepping stone to somewhere more interesting.
This experience shaped everything I now believe about buying things for cats.
What cats actually want in a home
High places. Hiding spots. Somewhere warm. Something to scratch. A window they can see out of.
These do not need to be expensive. They need to be present. A cat with a cardboard box in a sunny spot is a content cat. A cat in an immaculate flat with no vertical space, no hiding spots, and no window access is a bored and frustrated cat regardless of how much you spent on their bed.
Vertical space is the biggest thing most homes are missing
Cats feel more secure at height. It is a predator instinct — being able to survey a space from above gives them confidence and a sense of control over their environment.
Shelves at cat height, a sturdy bookcase they are allowed to use, a tall cat tree — any of these work. The cat tree does not need to be expensive. It needs to be stable, tall enough for a proper stretch, and in a location the cats actually use.
Ours is near the window. They use it constantly. A previous one, identical in design but in the wrong corner, was ignored for months.
Plan furniture for adult size, not kitten size
I bought Mango a small cat tree at eight weeks old. By five months it was already too small for him. By a year it was decorative.
Knowing roughly how big a cat will be as an adult is useful before you invest in anything size-dependent — cat trees, carriers, cat flaps, litter trays. Buying for the eventual adult cat rather than the current kitten saves money in the medium term.
The cat growth calculator estimates your kitten's adult weight based on current age and weight — useful context before you buy anything size-dependent.
The things worth spending on versus the things that are not
Worth spending on: a genuinely tall and stable scratching post (cheap ones wobble and get ignored), a carrier that fits your cat comfortably as an adult, food that meets their nutritional needs.
Not worth spending on: decorative beds, novelty toys that hold their interest for four minutes, anything described as 'luxury' or 'artisan' in a cat context.
My three cats have a pile of toys. The things they play with most are: a crumpled ball of paper, a length of ribbon, and a feather wand I bought for three pounds. The forty-pound electronic toy with multiple settings has been investigated once.