Where to put a cat tree so your cat actually uses it

Where to put a cat tree? In the room where you spend your time, near a window, close to where people come and go. That's it — and yet getting it wrong is the number one reason cat trees end up abandoned. A cat doesn't use a piece of furniture because it's beautiful or expensive: they use it because it lets them keep watch over their territory from somewhere safe. Moving an ignored tree three metres is often enough to make it indispensable.

The rule in one sentence

Your cat wants to see without being seen, and to join in without being disturbed. So the ideal spot ticks two boxes at once: a view — outside or over the room — and life going on around them, but at a distance. A tree placed right in the walkway will be snubbed; so will one banished to a closed room.

Near a window, but not right up against the glass

It's the best spot for an indoor cat: birds, passers-by, cars. That show keeps a cat busy far better than any dangling toy, and it makes up for some of the boredom of life in a flat.

Two details that make all the difference:

• Leave 30 to 50 cm between the tree and the glass. Pushed right up against it, there's no room for them to sit facing the window and they end up with their nose against the pane.
• Avoid draughty windows or poorly insulated ones, especially in winter. And be wary of a window that faces the sun all day: in summer, the top platform can turn into a radiator.

In the room you live in, not a separate one

The living room, the study, wherever the household gathers. A cat is a social animal in their own way: they want to be near you, but up high and at a distance of their choosing. That's exactly what the tree offers — a way to take part without being in the middle of things.

The classic mistake is putting the tree in a spare room or a hallway “so it's not in the way”. The piece of furniture then disappears from the cat's life. If space is the issue, the real answer is a more compact model, not moving the big one into another room.

Compact enough to stay in the living room
One metre tall on a 60 × 40 cm footprint: it slips in beside a sofa or under a window, rather than being banished to a hallway. See the wooden cat tree →

Right next to what they already scratch

If your cat goes for the arm of the sofa or a door frame, it's not random: that's where they want to leave their mark. Scratching is territorial marking, and territory gets marked in visible places that see a lot of traffic.

Putting the scratcher at the other end of the room amounts to asking them to change their mind about their territory. Putting it right next to the furniture they target, on the other hand, simply offers them a better surface in the same place. Once the habit has formed, you can shift it gradually, a few tens of centimetres a week, if the final spot matters to you.

The four spots that doom a cat tree

1. The hallway — plenty of traffic, but nothing to watch and nowhere to settle in peace.
2. The closed spare room — the tree becomes invisible to your cat as well as to you.
3. The blind spot behind the sofa — no view, no light, no interest.
4. Next to the litter tray or food bowls — a cat doesn't eat, toilet and sleep in the same place. Putting the tree right by the litter tray is the surest way to make sure they never climb it.

Special cases

More than one cat

Don't put everything in one place. Two high points in two different areas beat a single big tree, however luxurious: feline hierarchy is settled by levels, and a cat lower in the pecking order with only one perch available will never climb it.

Small flat

Go vertical rather than wide: a tall, narrow model takes up less floor space than a wide, low one, for the same sleeping area. And think about room corners, which often go to waste.

Nervous cat

Start with a more out-of-the-way spot, within sight of the room but set back, then gradually bring it closer to the living area once they've taken to it. An anxious cat needs a lookout post before they need a social one.

How long before they take to it?

Anything from a few days to several weeks, depending on temperament. Three things speed it up noticeably: putting a cloth that already carries their scent on the beds, placing treats on the upper levels rather than lower down, and never putting them up there by force. A cat lifted onto a platform links height with being forced, and that takes a long time to undo.

If nothing changes after several weeks despite a good spot, the problem lies elsewhere: we've detailed the seven real reasons a cat ignores their cat tree.

What if the tree itself is the wrong one?

Placement solves most cases, but not all. A tree too low for an active cat, or too high for an older cat, will go unused wherever you put it. To check this, our guide to choosing a cat tree goes through the criteria in order, and our three designer cat trees are made to stay in a living space — including a one-metre wood and rattan model designed specifically to sit next to a sofa.