Cat Window Hammock Perch

Why cats want height

Elevation matters to cats for two reasons. A raised position gives a wide view of approaches, so nothing can arrive unseen, and it removes the cat from the floor where people and other animals move. That combination lowers stress in a way that a comfortable bed at ground level does not.

A window adds two more things: warmth from sunlight, and something to watch. For an indoor cat, watching birds, weather and the street is genuine environmental enrichment, and a cat with nothing to look at is a cat with a large amount of empty day to fill.

Suction cups need honesty

Suction works by air pressure against a perfectly smooth, clean, nonporous surface. Ordinary flat glass is ideal. Textured, frosted, patterned or leaded glass is not, because the surface cannot form a seal, and a cup that appears to hold on textured glass will let go without warning.

Even on good glass, suction weakens over time as air migrates in, and it weakens faster with temperature swings, which a sunny window has every day. Press each cup firmly back down weekly. Clean the glass and the cups with warm water occasionally, since dust and grease under a cup are the usual reason one fails.

Getting a cat to use it

Cats are cautious about new furniture that moves, and a hammock does move slightly. Put something that already smells of the cat on it, a favourite blanket or your own worn jumper, and leave it alone rather than lifting the cat onto it. Placing a cat somewhere it has not chosen tends to produce the opposite result.

Choose the window carefully. A sunny one with something happening outside will be used far more than a shaded one facing a wall, and a quiet room beats a busy hallway. If the perch is ignored after a fortnight, moving it to a different window is usually more effective than any amount of encouragement.