My family is into dogs. We grew up with Labradors, a cocker spaniel and bulldogs. Recently, I was invited to a house in the countryside, some four hours away from the city. There in their spacious rustic style living room was a wooden contraption that looked like an oversized and complicated birdhouse. She told me that it was actually called a cat condo. The lady who lived in the house had three cats and she treated them like they were her children. I never thought I’d see the day a cat would have her own condo before I did.

Cat condos, I learned are often compact yet multi-level wooden stands. They sort of resemble bare Christmas trees with mini shelves. There are surfaces for climbing, scratching, curling and napping. A cat condo is practical for people who love to keep their cats indoors but don’t want them scratching all their furniture. It is much more attractive than a dog house because it can also double as furniture.