So, after picking up two 5-month-old kittens for Christmas (& Countless Hours of web-searching cool *affordable* cat trees) this was CLEARLY the way to go. It's the One that's got it all: - Two high perches (with elevated lip around upper surface to keep their floppy selves from a shocking awakening due to gravity's sinister tug). - Upper basket (be it hit-or-miss depending on the cat's personal comfort level... it's pretty small, so not a lotta room in there - weakest link, but kinda cool, if they use it). - Upper Totally Enclosed condo area (roomier than I'd expected - they both love it). - HUGE lower condo with two Awesome access points and a great little window for head-popping ridiculousness (it actually serves as a much-loved Third access point for these two 6-pounders). - Very large platform for stretching out on (it actually sticks out the back a few inches, if you couldn't tell from the pictures... highly favored spot due to furry white mouse on stretchy cord in close swatting & chomping proximity). - Ramp (adds support to structure & provides easy access to upper levels... these guys prefer more challenging access & generally climb the ramp upside down hanging on for dear life with maniacal expressions on their faces). - Ladder (also adds support to structure & is comprised of two furry angled flat side boards mounted perpendicularly to two small sisal tubes... I had no idea from the picture... and they LOVE everything about that entryway - climbing into lower HUGE condo for shenanigans after swinging around upside down clamped onto those small sisal tubes - WAY better than just another furry flat ramp like a number of Other cat trees in this price point). - HUGE furry base plate to collect all their dropped toys (cause who the heck's gonna hang out on Ground Level anyway???). - TEN vertical sisal posts/tubes... (plus two little horizontal ladder rung sisal post/tubes) for SOOOOO many places to clamp all those claws into, slap on the ridiculous Cosmic Cat Nip facial expressions and defy gravity in every way imaginable (and many that are truly UNimaginable to My puny human brain). - Long-haired white mouse on a stretchy white string (Very popular with my furballs as others have mentioned... it's not gonna last very long, but what they heck do you expect???... one should ALWAYS have a plethora of Quality catnip mice on hand at all times anyway, so replacing/repairing comes with the territory). - THE CLINCHER - for me/us was that horizontal tube hanging from the second highest perch. Use your imagination. Pretend you're a cat. The tube is a must for insane multi-cat chase scenarios. The tube allows the furry lunatics to run through it Right Side Up, Upside Down, and ANYWHERE in between. Providing an absurd (and quite hilarious) number of entryways/exitways/otherwise-impossible-alternate-routes to our insane little feline friends. ***It DOES, however, leave a bit to be desired in regard to structural integrity of that particular perch. You might (or might not) notice that the perch the horizontal large tube hangs off of has a Great Deal of Stress applied to the lower end bolt joint of that particular sisal post. Quite honestly that is the weakest link of this entire structure... that single two-ended bolt goes from the top of the 2nd level sisal post bolt joint - through the L-shaped platform - into the bottom of the sisal post I mentioned (part "B" of the schematics)... then that (part "B") attached upper bolt screws into the inner edge of the platform... which Greatly Reduces the solidity of that sisal/platform combo BEFORE you bolt on the extra weight of the horizontal tube. (FORGET about the added cat-weight later!) It could Really use some sort of brace/support for that whole platform to firm it up a bit... not a difficult thing to do, but an oversight on someone's part. Not a big deal to jerry rig something, which I *intend* to do... but the point is I kept twisting & twisting That Particular sisal (part "B") post due to its inherent wobbliness - until the anchor nut inside popped right through the millimeter-thick plastic casing at the bottom. -DOH!- In the end, if I didn't wanna dismantle the entire unit, box it up, ship it back to Amazon, wait for my refund, then order the same tree from ANOTHER supplier (Amazon was sold out), wait for it to ship, start from scratch with assembly...ugh... so I called Majestic Pet in California & nicely explained what had happened. I just asked if they could send me the "B" tube (even being willing to pay for it and/or shipping for it)... to which the wonderful Customer Service at Majestic Pet kindly asked for my address & said she'd have it sent out that day in the mail. No prob. No asking me for cash. And when I called back excitedly (eagerly, not angrily) yesterday to check the status of the part "B" in question, the same nice woman remembered my situation but was unable to verify a tracking number/proof that it had Actually been shipped 4 days prior, so *Without Hesitation* she said she'd send another one out that day just in case & e-mail me a tracking number. Bottom line is that FedEx showed up here a couple hours later with the part... took ten seconds to bolt it on... called & made sure she didn't send the extra part and gave a Sincere: THANK YOU :) Because this Really Is a Great piece of *inexpensive* cat furniture. Solid. Attractive. All the features I wanted on a tree in one neat package. Sure, it wobbles a LITTLE bit fully assembled... but a VERY little bit. It's over Six-foot-One. (73" Bungalow Sherpa) (Trust me. I'M six-foot-one.) It would be great though, if the sisal posts weren't made out of a cardboard-type material... and if their plastic end-caps were more sturdy... but it would Also Be Great if Everything in Life Were Free. And without flaws. Right??? Right??? As far as the instructions? Open up the box, lay Everything out & Verify that it's accounted for. Then look at the (admittedly ambiguous) directions and Figure It Out (what goes where) *BEFORE* you start slapping stuff together. It's not that complicated. The directions show you where the double-ended bolts go... it shows you where the correct tubes go, as well as MOST of the other parts. Not sure why someone hasn't printed better directions yet (maybe they have, I dunno). It was not a problem for me to assemble it by myself, but it took me a few minutes to figure out what went where. Once you do... start at the top, then the bottom, then bring it all together leaving the ramp & whacky ladder for last. & don't bolt on the "N" tube til you have the "M"-"B"-"H"-"C" thing locked down nice & solid. Whatever. If this makes sense to you... ENJOY! If you're looking for a $600-quality cat tree for less than $150... go get yer head examined. :) The little crazy ones are thrilled with the setup. So am I. If you're careful to tighten everything down nice & snug you should be Very Pleased with the end result. {Also, the 73" 'Bungalow Sherpa' is off white/very light beige. Not bright white like some of the confusing pictures, and not that yellowy-dark-tan color of the 73" 'honey' "Casita" if that helps.} Great Product, Great Price, Great Customer Service, Massive Attractive piece of cat *fur*niture for under $150. Yer cats will thank you.
