Cat tree for polydactyl cats — best grip options

A polydactyl cat with grip challenges — that's a really specific requirement and it matters a lot when choosing a cat tree. Standard plush-covered platforms can be genuinely slippery for cats whose extra toes don't distribute weight in the usual way, so texture is a real factor here, not just a nice-to-have. Before I point you somewhere: how big is your cat, roughly? And how active is she — does she still jump and climb enthusiastically, or has she learned to be a bit cautious about it?

That's helpful — bold but with reason to be wary. The slipping will have dented her confidence and you want to rebuild that, not reinforce the anxiety. The two things you need are rough-textured landing surfaces, ideally sisal rather than plush, and a very stable base so nothing shifts when she lands. What you want to avoid are the cheaper trees where the platforms are entirely covered in carpet-style fleece — looks soft, but it's genuinely slick for a cat with unusual toe spread. Has she had any other slips or injuries, or is it just the grip issue on smooth surfaces?

Good — healthy, active, just needs the right surface. My recommendation is the Feandrea 173cm cat tree, the tall multi-platform version. The platforms have a significant sisal wrapping rather than pure plush, which gives real purchase when a cat lands. It's one of the more genuinely stable trees at this price point — the base is wide and weighted properly, so a 4.5kg cat launching off the top won't rock it. At 173cm she can get properly high, which cats find reassuring, and there are multiple levels so she can choose her approach rather than committing to one big leap. It's widely available on Amazon UK and holds up well over time, which matters — a wobbly tree after six months defeats the whole point.

It's a mix — the posts and platform edges are sisal-wrapped, and the flat resting surfaces have a short, dense plush. The plush sections are firmer and shorter pile than the fluffy stuff you see on cheaper trees, so they're noticeably less slippery. That said, if you want to be thorough, you can buy adhesive sisal sheets cheaply and stick them over any platform surface she uses most — it takes ten minutes and gives you complete peace of mind. Given what you've described, I'd do that for the top platform at minimum. But out of the box it's already meaningfully better than most alternatives for grip.