My son has a cat that is only interested in the bottom floor of the cat condo (he climbs, but not the condo). No other pets in the apt. Suggestions to help the cat make full use of the condo, please. Thanks.
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Try playing with the cat by reaching into the condo from the upper level of it, dangling something that he/she cannot resist playing with like a string of yarn, or catnip, to get him/her to jump up to it. This may interest him/her into exploring the upper levels.
However, we have a cat in our family that never plays with any cat toys bought for her, but she likes to play with rubber bands and aluminum foil of all things, she doesn't sleep in her cat bed, she wants to sleep in a real bed w/one of us, lol.
Whenever one of my kitties loses interest in a particular item (which rarely happens!), I sprinkle some catnip, and let its magic do the work.
In your case, I would add catnip only to the condo, maybe in an area (corner) that would coax your kitty to get his/her full body in there and not just sniff and go.
Try cat nip on the various levels.
Place a [very] little bit of a dry treat on the level above where he will go. If taken , do it again, and then raise the level.
Maybe put a very very soft cushions or bunched up fabric scraps on and in the condo. They like things that have Paw Appeal, something tactile. Make the cat condo IN TERESTING. Tape 4-5" pieces of twine all around the top level. My six cats are not interested in the cat condo, as well. They like to S T R E T C H out and can't really do this on a cat condo.
Maybe he just doesn't like the upper level of the condo. :-)
Seriously, as long as he's not doing damage while climbing in other places, it's best just to let Kitty do what he wants. As long as he's using the bottom part of it, at least you didn't waste your money on the condo. Trying to make a cat like something he doesn't is pretty much impossible.
Sometimes they don't like the top levels because the condo isn't sturdy enough for your cat to feel secure.
I built this (I call it the Cat Tower) myself. I used 1x2's and plywood. I padded the bottom 2 shelves then covered them with an old sheet. The 4 corner legs I covered with hemp rope to create scratching posts. The 2 bracing legs I covered with carpet squares, which I also used on top. Every cat I've ever had has loved this.
I have found that if you use catnip spray on anything you would like them to use they will. We have 12 cats, our 13th passed a few weeks ago. The cat nip spray seems to have a smell that attracts them better than regular cat nip. Anytime they seem to lose interest I give it another spray and within minutes they are back on it climbing to the top which is only a couple of feet from the ceiling.
Mine has a factory chemical smell in the condo part which I think is part of the problem. I don't know how to get it out. I tried baking soda, which did nothing.
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