We reviewed the Columbus Grand Climber cat tower from Pets at Home. Find out what we thought.
Pets at Home Columbus Grand Climber Pet Activity Centre
From: Pets at Home, online or in store
Price £126, but occasionally on sale at around £80-100
Rating: 5/5
Cat tower review
When we first purchased one of these we were dubious that it would represent value for money when compared to the many cat towers out there that come in at a much lower price point...how wrong we were! We now have one of these for each of our cats! All of our cats and kittens love this tower - the nest at the top is their favourite sleeping space, and if more than one cat is in the room they tussle over the top spot, and usually end up sharing it, snuggled up together! The sisal rope around the posts is an excellent scratching post, and all of our cats use the bottom sections as a cat scratcher, but even if they didn't, the process of climbing up and down the tower, which they do regularly, would keep their claws busy enough to round off their sharpness nicely.
Even our biggest stud boy loves this tower, and it has stood up to his testosterone-filled antics very well! Where other cat towers we had previously given him were quite literally destroyed within two to three months, this one is still going strong two years later.
When we have very small kittens, they are not allowed on this cat tower as it is very tall, and therefore too dangerous for them until they are confident climbers. We usually let them have supervised access to it from around 5-6 weeks, and then full access from around 8 weeks, depending on how well they progress. Here, you can see them on the middle level - that is as high as we let them get at this age! As you can see, they are sheltered by their favourite silk curtains, which they often use as their preferable route of descent!
The cat tower copes very well with a whole litter of kittens, and provides more than enough space for them to all curl up on it quite comfortably. In terms of adult cats, one of these towers would be sufficient for at least two, and possibly three adult cats depending on how much space they like. We have never had more than two cats using one of them, as we never have more than two adult cats in a room to reduce the risk of stress and health risks. Read more about this here.
The first one we had took us a while to put together - but as long as you read the instructions first and lay out all the bits, it is fairly simple. The pieces have pre-drilled holes and there are metal screw-bolts that go into each hole and you simply twist the pieces together. Attaching the cylindrical part was the trickiest and I had to take over as I have smaller hands and it was a little bit fiddly. That said, we have now put several of these up and it takes us about 20 minutes these days.
The pom-pom attached to the top level has not survived with some of our more vibrant cats! On the few that have not survived, we simply removed them once they got damaged to make sure that none of the stuffing got ingested!
The neutral grey colour sits well with our decor and the cat tower does not feel as though it has taken over the room as it has quite a small foot print - 50cm x 50cm, and with each level that it goes up, the surface area of that level decreases, so the more visible levels are much smaller.
This is, without a doubt our favourite cat tower we have come across so far. For kittens under about 8 weeks old, we use a different tower that is much less tall. This reduces the risk of injuries if the kittens lose their footing, but for adult cats this is the best cat tower we have found. Whilst the price point is higher than many others out there, the quality and longevity of this tower make it much better value for money than the cheaper options out there. If you are lucky enough to find these on sale, get two - they are that good!
View more information about this cat tower on the pets at home product page.
2019 update: we have a new favourite cat tower! Check it out here.
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