“The Lion’s Den”
“Catrub ONE”: Is the award-winning design furniture for cats worth it?
© Bernd Michael Maurer / RTL
This time, “The Lion’s Den” is all about the cat: The award-winning piece of furniture “Catrub ONE” is intended to combine sleeping and playing facilities for the animals. But how do our editor’s velvet paws rate the product?
Cat owners know it: you regularly buy your beloved velvet paw new toys or a cozy bed – and instead of using the products extensively, the house tiger prefers to play with string and sleep in a cardboard box. But that should be the end of it now: The designer piece of furniture “Catrub ONE” from “The Lion’s Den” combines two sleeping caves with scratching and playing facilities – and should offer almost everything that cats need. In fact, the product has even won an award and can adorn itself with both the “German Design Award” and the “IF Design Award”.
“Catrub ONE” from “The Lion’s Den” in the test
The only question is: are cats impressed by such awards? I, BRIGITTE editor Steffi and owner of the two extremely critical velvet paws Ivy and Kite, let the two do the test!
© Private
The “Catrub ONE” arrived well packaged and in a large box – and of course that alone aroused my cats’ curiosity. As soon as they unpacked, the two sniffed the individual parts. The piece of furniture was easy to assemble and makes a high-quality impression. However, I didn’t even install the supplied wooden feet – unfortunately the floor in my old building is completely crooked and the “Catrub ONE” would definitely have tipped over with these feet as soon as my kite, which weighs at least seven kilos, swings a little into the upper sleeping cave would have jumped.
Sleep and play at the same time
Said upper sleeping cave offers a soft mat, which you can also remove for cleaning and you can also attach a toy, such as a few feathers, to the ceiling from the inside. In the lower cave there is a small scratching box in the middle and around it a kind of track where the cats can push a small plastic ball around. Unfortunately, this ball is reminiscent of those annoying toy musical instruments you might give little kids: It flashes red when pushed and also makes quite a noise when he drives down the train. My cats were happy, my ears not so much.
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There is an additional scratching mat around the upper cavity, and a plastic brush supplied can also be attached to the lower cavity or to the back of the “Catrub ONE”. This puzzles me personally: If the piece of furniture is in a corner, as in my case, the brush on the back is not accessible to the cats. If you hang them inside, they bothered my two kitties at least. I would have preferred a side attachment here.
Sustainable items
I find it practical that you can buy all wearing parts separately. And also Cleaning the “Catrub ONE” is really easy as the pieces of furniture can be easily detached. But that is also necessary: I got the white version (there is also one in anthracite) and it magically attracts Kite’s black hair.
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Overall, my cats’ interest in the “Catrub ONE” quickly waned. They jumped into the upper sleeping cave as a test, but left it again a few minutes later. They did some work on the scratch mat in the lower cave, but ignored the one on the outside. The plastic ball occupied her the longest – of all things, of course, who was chased through his path a number of times, especially by Ivy.
In the meantime, the “Catrub ONE” is unfortunately largely unnoticed in the room, my cats clearly prefer their old classic scratching post. I suspect that the height of the design furniture is a problem: Kite in particular prefers to lie on the highest platform of the scratching post, which is a good 1.80 meters high and from which he can see the whole room. The “Catrub ONE” is only 90 centimeters high and of course does not offer such a good view.
Conclusion of the “Catrub ONE”
If you are looking for a space-saving piece of cat furniture that combines practically everything that the velvet paw needs and also has a modern look, then the “Catrub ONE” is a good choice. This product is definitely an eye-catcher. In the end, no one can probably say in advance whether their own cats will accept it – with a proud price of 249 euros, there is a certain risk here.
Are you interested in other exciting products for cats? In 2021, sustainable catnip products were presented in “The Lion’s Den”. You can read here whether “Catlabs” was able to convince my cats in the test.
Did you miss an episode or want an overview? All further information about “The Lion’s Den” can be found here. The current show is always on Mondays at 8:15 p.m. on Vox and anytime TVNow.