Oct 31st 2026
How to Give Cat Furniture as a Gift (Without Guessing Wrong)
The right size, a steady build, on time, and still a surprise. That is the whole job.
A cat tree is one of the few presents the whole household uses every day. It is also the one that comes with the most worries: is it the right size, will it wobble, will it arrive in time, and how do you hide a box that big? Here is how to give cat furniture as a gift without guessing wrong.
Sizing Cat Furniture as a Gift: Start With the Cat and the Room
You do not need to measure the cat. You need two answers: roughly how big is the cat, and where will this live? A ten-pound cat in an apartment and a twenty-pound Maine Coon in a house with high ceilings need very different gifts, and the room decides the height and footprint before anything else does.
Taller is not automatically better. Most cats want a perch at about window height and a spot to hide, and our guide to how tall a cat tree needs to be covers the details. For a big cat, look for wide perches and an enclosed space they actually fit inside: a cat condo for large cats should let them turn around, not just squeeze in.
"A cat tree that wobbles is not a gift. It is a cat tree the cat climbs once and then avoids for good. Before you buy, check three things: the base, the material and the weight rating for each platform, not just the whole tree. A wide, heavy base and solid wood posts are what keep a tree still when a cat lands on the top perch at full speed. If you are buying for a big cat, a solid wood cat tree for large cats is worth every bit of the difference."
Giving a Cat Tree as a Gift: Timing, Delivery and the Big Box
Order earlier than you think you need to. Our quick-ship pieces leave the warehouse in 1 to 3 business days, but our handcrafted Signature Line pieces are built to order, so they need more lead time. Shipping is free either way, and if a gift is for someone else, you can send it straight to their door by entering their address at checkout.
Then there is the box, which is large and not subtle. Have it delivered to a friend, a neighbor or the office, and stash it in a closet or the garage until the big day. Most cat trees need some assembly, so plan to build it the night before, or skip the wrapping and put a photo of it in a card instead.
Every cat furniture gift comes with a free bonus gift. It is the box.
What If the Cat Ignores the Gift?
Some cats move in within minutes. Others sit in the shipping box for two days and pretend the tree is not there. Both are normal, and the second group usually comes around once the new thing stops smelling new.
Placement does most of the work. Put the tree where the cat already wants to be, near a window and in a room where people spend time, not in a spare corner. If it is tall, our guide to what makes a cat tree actually sturdy explains how to anchor it so the first climb goes well.
"Cats do not dislike new furniture. They distrust anything that smells like a warehouse. Rub a soft cloth on your cat's cheeks and wipe it on the perches, or drape a blanket they already sleep on across the top. Then leave them alone with it. Coaxing a cat onto a new tree is the fastest way to make sure they never use it, and most cats claim it on their own within a few days."
