My wonderful son-in-law put this together for me in about an hour and the cats were on it in a heartbeat!  I have very large cats and they have no problem climbing all over it because it is very sturdy.  I am with a rescue group so I have fosters along with my own.  If someone wants to act grumpy-they have plenty of space to retreat. (actually they get along beautifully)!  I have 2 other trees but this one is there chosen favorite.  Should it ever wear out-I will replace it with the same but I don't anticipate that for a long time.  Thank you again for a great product.