Cat Rig™ Design Study...
Our Cat Rig™ design got lots of attention on our Instagram feed so we wanted to elaborate on why we undertook what looks like a bit of Hicat® odd ball compared to our normal creations - it was started as a project to use a pile of Tatami Polecat offcuts that were too short to offer out as Up For Grab pieces & then developed into a study to create what could be dubbed a traditional cat tree concept but scaled up, built & finished to the same high standard of our other products with a Hicat® design makeover applied.
The Cat Rig™ is 1880mm tall, 700mm square & made up of Polecat sized uprights that suspend three platforms 800mm, 1200mm & 1600mm from the floor & this layout encourages climbing between platforms, as opposed to jumping, like other cat tree designs - the platforms have interchangeable 400mm circular inserts that can be swapped between three sets of Peep Hole, Worm Hole or Soft Seat features to create different playing & resting options along with a way down through the platforms.
The four post structure gives the unit its stability but the 800mm leg sections can also be filled with sand if the unit was being set up as a shorter rig - the top 300mm sections are finished with a Recessed Top just like our Wall Mounted Polecat & are jolly good fun for hiding treats & toys.
Cat Rig™
Peep Hole Insert
Worm Hole Insert
Soft Seat Insert
The Tatami Coir covered uprights mean that the unit can be climbed easily like our other products with a cut away platform shape to maximise the climbable surface of the uprights - two of the uprights are covered in 12mm rope sections giving some built in scratching options & we did think about having a couple of uprights in a contrasting Bleached Coir but changed our minds mid development in favour of just two finishes.
We also had a change of heart in terms of the platform finish as these were going to be painted black but the moisture resistant MDF complimented the Tatami Coir so nicely we decided to keep it in the raw - selling the unit unpainted also seemed to be sensible given the customer would have the option to paint or leave it unfinished.
Upright Spacers
Recessed Top Upright
Upright With Ballast Chamber & Stainless Steel Connector
Platform Cut Away Detail & Stainless Steel Connector
The 18mm spacers between the uprights & platforms are purely aesthetic & give the unit a more engineered look - we have already thought about refining this detail if we make another Cat Rig™ & reduce the spacer thickness to help with managing wear around this detail & with this in mind the unit will be supplied with an additional set of shorter connecting rods for the uprights so that the spacers can be removed & platforms connected against the uprights without gaps.
In hindsight we would also do away with the 8 stainless steel fixings around the cutouts in the platforms that hold the inserts in favour of a rebated detail - the fixings were going to hold a felt bed suspended in the cutout but as we developed the design we decided that a twist pile insert was preferred so a simpler rebated detail would have sufficed.
Uprights With Spacers Removed
Insert Fixings On Underside Of Platforms
We described the Cat Rig as an inside out Freestanding Fatcat 3 on Instagram & they are comparable in terms of height, climbable surface, platforms & features but not in footprint size or sleeping arrangements & definitely not in cost & complexity as far as fabrication is concerned as the difference in components below show.
Cat Rig™ made up of 225+ parts & fixings
Fatcat 3 made up of 25 parts & fixings
As a guide the Cat Rig™ will be priced at around twice that of a Fatcat 3 because of the fabrication & development time - we’ve really enjoyed dreaming up & making up the Cat Rig™ & although the comparisons above illustrate why the design principles behind our Polecat, Tomcat & Fatcat units stand tall, if we did start making what could be viewed as a more traditional cat tree this Cat Rig™ is how we would go about it.