Cat perches are designed to raise your cat off the ground and make him or her feel safer. In a world of giants, cats feel more secure when they are up high. Perhaps it makes them feel like they are on the same level as us, or they don’t have to worry about getting their tails stepped on by clumsy people! Whatever it is, cats simply love heights, which makes a cat perch an ideal gift.
There are a number of cat perches you can buy; single cat perches, cat window perches, multiple story cat perches, etc. What you decide to buy for your cat pretty much depends on your budget and the amount of room in your house or apartment. In my many years of experience with cats, I’ve learned that no matter what you buy, your cat will either like it or ignore it. Some cats take to perches, others want nothing to do with them.
Here is the problem though – it isn’t always easy to know if your cat will take to a perch or not. Just because your cat likes to sit on the window or on top of that really big cabinet in your office, doesn’t mean he will use a cat perch. I’ve had several cats in my life and it is basically hit or miss here.
In my experience, a cat usually takes to it right away, or he doesn’t. Cats are nosy and curious by nature, and they always know when something new is brought into the house. However, if your cat isn’t using the perch, the best thing you can do is to try and encourage him to use it by scratching on it or to even place him atop the perch and play with him. I have even used treats to bribe some of my cats into using their cat perches.
In general though, bribing never works. I’ve bought a few different cat trees for the same disinterested cat and he never used any of them. That is why I suggest giving it a few weeks, then returning the item, unless you like having useless cat furniture laying around!