Cats and High Places

As many cat owners can attest, cats prefer high places whether they are looking to take a nap, play or just hang out. While we may never know the real reason(s) why, here are a few theories:

The warmer air is found in the ceiling area of a room. Cats prefer warm and cozy areas for napping and hanging out, the higher up the cat is, the warmer that area is. It is common to find them on top of washers, refrigerators, televisions, and other electric appliances. I constantly find one of my cats on top of our coffeemaker during the winter months.

A cat may want to get away from another animal that it finds aggressive or threatening which often is the result of improper introduction of the pet to a newer cat (or other pet).

The need for high places may be instinctive. In the wild, height gives cats an advantage of a hidden place from which to hunt. High places are observation points so they can survey their "kingdom" and be more aware of what is going on with people and other pets.

In almost all species, height and social status are signs of dominance. In multi-cat households, the cat that "controls" the highest perch is usually dominant.

We recently came across a German company, Goldtatze, specializing in custom-designed cat furniture. The entire website is in German (English translation soon to come). Goldtatze, translates into "Golden Paw or Gold Paw" is the vision of owner/designer, Stefan Hofmann. Various finishes and wood type are offered making prices vary widely. Goldtatze produces several different pieces of "furniture" that a cat owner can buy independently from one another or order several pieces to create a cat "Wonderland".

Goldtatze offers natural scratching trees made from the top portion of a tree. The scratching tree has 4-strand sisal rope to provide a stimulating surface for a cat to scratch. Each tree comes with at least one Sun Bowl (bed). They make posts (free-standing or ones that lean and are anchored to a near-by wall providing access to the wall mounted bridges/walkways). Wall mounted and ceiling mounted cat walks (bridges), resting perches, hammocks and more. Godtatze's first design is the Depot Cabinet containing a deep drawer to store food, treats and other supplies. Underneath the drawer is a place for a litter box keeping it hidden from view by a cabinet door. Ingenious!

This well-made, durable furniture will have your height-loving furball in heaven as Goldtatze's designs cater to a cat's natural instinct to be above the crowd surveying its entire "domain" while keeping toasty in the warmer air currents at ceiling level.

In any event, as most cat owners know, cats do rule from on high!