SmartCat Perch for The Ultimate Scratching Post, Color-RED

I received this today less than an hour ago, so take this for what it’s worth...a first impression only. I’ll provide an updated review later. I’ve been on the fence about buying the perch for many years, mainly because of the reviews. I’ve cycled through three of the posts in about 14 years (for the same two cats, now one). My boy has taken to sitting on the top, new place new vantage point I guess, so I decided it was time to roll the dice to help make him more comfortable. Very glad I did! It slides right on, feels extremely sturdy and is bigger than I expected. Never bothered with measurements but it looks vastly wider after seeing him balance on the post top daily. He’s only 10lbs and will be 18 this year, still agile but fragile. Now about that cushion...everything you read is true, unfortunately. Super slippery and definitely not acceptable as designed. As an immediate fix, I slipped a pot holder with rubber backing under there just to let him test it. Works surprisingly well!! I put him right on it and he took to it instantly. Yay! Then I noticed the base started wobbling as he moved. It doesn’t normally do that. But it’s been a long time since I tightened anything on it, so I’m really hoping that will be easily resolved. Like I said, first impressions only. One more thing of note....mainly cosmetic. The underside of the brace or perch base that slides on, is now visible to me from a low angle (on the sofa) and it’s a bit of visual noise I wasn’t counting on seeing. It bothers me after having such attractive, clean lines from the post all these years. Or it’s because I’m a total fuss-pot in general! I also don’t love the tacky red oven-mitt looking red cushion either. I plan on yanking some tips from other reviewers here by using a flor carpet tile (on order) and maybe using a smartly placed piece of ribbon to hide the brace underneath. This is for him though, so if it doesn’t work out, that’s okay. He loves laying on anything red anyway, so weirdly that might be better. I’ll let you know my final thoughts and send pictures. But no matter what, I’m not sorry that I finally tried it! Update: I really should have waited to make my review. I haven’t made the cosmetic adjustments I mentioned yet. But I did buy a new post and after setting it up I realized the perch does not fit as well on the new one. It readily slides out of place but it fitted snuggly on the old post. It’s only been about a week, so it should not have needed tightening that soon. Now the whole thing seems like more trouble than it’s worth. Lots of fiddling around to make it work. I took it off and my cat is back up there on the tiny post top, very happy with his old balancing act! He didn’t really trust the perch as is, and neither do I. Also, the Flor tiles I chose were absolutely hideous (which is my own fault) so I’m officially out of more money than I was willing to spend on this. I LOVE what others here have done but I think this might end up being a waste for me. It’s not a waste altogether, so I’m not dropping stars. You will definitely need to take their advice though, and it’s probably a very simple DYI fix. I’m still not sorry I bought it, because I would have regretted not trying it at least. If I get it to work and actually feel confident using it enough to properly recommend, I will report back!

The perch is a clever addition to the scratching post. It provides a wide enough base for the cats to easy jump onto and allows them to access the window by the post. It is very easy to put onto the post. As for the negatives: - The small sticky dots used to affix the perch to the post are constantly separating from the post (velcro would have worked so much better). - When the cats quickly jump onto or are playing on the perch, it slides forward and has come off on a couple of occasions. **Update Feb 18 2015*** I'm really pleased to see that they have made some product updates since the last time I purchased the perch. I just purchased another one as I have a few ultimate scratching posts. The perch is now attached by Velcro and there are now plastic tabs that rotate and lock the perch in place. Excellent updates making this now a five star purchase!

I was nervous given the uneven reviews, but took a chance and am glad I did. Our 10 year old cat, who is very picky, took to this right away. She's not a big cat, about 8 or 9 pounds, and she fits perfectly on it. We've now had it for several months and it is still her go to spot. It's next to the couch, in front of the TV, so a high traffic area. Recently, I moved it to a quieter spot in the same room, and to my surprise, she started to ignore it. I returned it to the couch area, and she was happy again and returned to perching and sleeping on it. So, clearly, location is key. She used to sleep on the couch all the time, and now she sleeps on this instead, which is perfect. (It took her a while to actually scratch the post, but once she did, she mostly stopped using our furniture as scratching posts.) Yes, the Velcro attachment can be weak, but I supplemented the sticky attachment with a few drops of super glue, and have since had no issues. And yes, I had to replace the little plastic brackets that tore off when one of my kids was playing with it, but I just used little brackets that I had around the house. The original plastic brackets would have been fine; they just weren't kid proof. Will your cat like this? Who knows. All I know is my somewhat older, very picky cat truly adores this. It's also really appreciated that this thing is not an eyesore, compared to a lot of other cat furniture out there. We can have it out in the open without shame.

1 month edit: Very happy with this purchase, regret not buying it from the start. I have yet to see the cushion or the perch itself slide, and my cats aren’t gentle about getting up there. They really like napping on the perch now! :) Original review: I caved and bought this because my cats have started sitting on top of the post. The fact that they are willing to sit on this thing and aren’t more interested in the box it came in is enough to justify the cost to me. It’s sturdy and slides on easily. I did put some blutack on the end as a precaution, but I don’t think it’s really necessary.

I've been looking for this perch addition for months! For some reason it was sold out everywhere but then I got notified it was available on Amazon so I jumped at it! My cat kept standing on top of the scratching post but she just barely fits on there with all paws smooshed together tightly (she's big - she's a Maine Coon) and I was like Aww I need to get the perch for her, it'd be perfect! It took her some time to warm up to it but now that she realizes she can stand comfortably and relaxed, she loves it! And it's just big enough for her to do a breadloaf on it too! It came already assembled ready to just slide it on the top of the post - there are little tabs that swivel on the back of the perch to secure it onto the scratching post, check the video). It's great and cat approved! 👌😻✅ 10/10!!!

Finally bit the bullet and purchased this perch for my kittens scratch mat She loves it although I'm not sure how much longer she will be able to lie on it for as its rather small, my kitten is inly 14 weeks old and is already hanging off it. Sadly the perch also moves when she climbs up the post and on several times as almost fallen off as she reaches the top, secure it is not It doesn't seem very comfortable however my kitten is spoilt for sleeping areas and prefers this one over the rest so for that it's a thumbs up. Price wise it's a bit expensive for what it is It's easy to attach it just slids on, and as I said it easily slides off

Si tienes el SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Post esta base le queda perfecto es comodo y mi gato lo ama, le gusta mucho subirse encima y ver las cosas desde las alturas.

Excellent quality scratching area but the pad on top is flimsily attached with Velcro tabs which are secured with tiny sticky pads and after the cat has jumped up a few times the Velcro tabs become unattached and the cat falls as she tries to gain grip. The tabs need attaching with a screw!