Monday, February 23, 2004

Best of Breed: CatMan cat trees

Editor's Note, Jan. 29, 2005: They're back!

The new owner of Catman writes

As the new owner of Catman Furniture (as of November 2003), I'd like to assure you that all Catman products are still available at many locations in and around Seattle, including Railey's, Bark (Ballard), Bridges Pets (Lake Stevens), Cats Exclusive Vet. Center (Shoreline), Eastside Dog (Redmond), Chirp & Co. (Tacoma), and Green Cottage (Fircrest and Gig Harbor). I can also be contacted directly through my
website, www.catmanfurniture.com, for retail orders and custom designs. All Catman products are made to the same exacting quality standards as they ever were, and highly in demand because of this. I hope that when you do need to replace your cat trees, you will contact me.
More bad news. Not only has Innotek discontinued the Puppy Trainer (previously known as the Cat Locator), but CatMan Cat Trees are being discontinued.

Editor's Note, Jan. 29, 2005: They're back!

The new owner of Catman writes

As the new owner of Catman Furniture (as of November 2003), I'd like to assure you that all Catman products are still available at many locations in and around Seattle, including Railey's, Bark (Ballard), Bridges Pets (Lake Stevens), Cats Exclusive Vet. Center (Shoreline), Eastside Dog (Redmond), Chirp & Co. (Tacoma), and Green Cottage (Fircrest and Gig Harbor). I can also be contacted directly through my
website, www.catmanfurniture.com, for retail orders and custom designs. All Catman products are made to the same exacting quality standards as they ever were, and highly in demand because of this. I hope that when you do need to replace your cat trees, you will contact me.


The original CatMan is a character from a small town near Tacoma, Washington, who made the toughest cat trees known to beast. A 10-year-old CatMan tree used by four aggressive felines looks better than most pet store cat trees after six months of use by one kitty.

The CatMan secret? Tough-as-nails sisal fabric wrapped around the posts (no wound rope, thank you), top-quality carpet in neutral colors, and superb workmanship. You got the impression that his product testing was conducted by a mountain lion. Expect to pay $150 for a waist-high CatMan cat tree and $250 for one of the six-foot deluxe models with multiple platforms. The CatMan wholesale catalog must have had 30 or more models, all of them obviously designed with cats, rather than people, in mind.

We have four CatMan cat trees in our house and they look great, even in a fancy livingroom or diningroom. The highlight of my CatMan experience was the custom cat tree he made for me some 10 years ago that has a plain wood, rather than carpeted, base. I needed it to outwit a cat, now deceased, that had been trained by a previous owner to use carpet scraps as litter boxes.

There are still some original CatMan cat trees for sale at the better pet supply stores in the Puget Sound area. Crown Hill Pet Supply on Holman Road in North Seattle has a few of the smaller slanted scratching posts and the waist-high cat trees (ask them to show you what's in their storage area, too). I plan to go out this weekend looking for one of the really huge cat trees, since these are apparently the last of this extraordinary line.

Thanks, ÇatMan, and enjoy your well-earned retirement.