I would buy this again! it’s a cute design and well designed.I’m not sure what all the reviews are about smell…Regarding the smell, it’s fi r Wood, which is a good thing. For is naturally resistant and repels small insects.I put all the pieces out to Air and within three days the smell is gone. Also, my new cat has had a chance to hang out, actually sit on some of the pieces and get acustomed to it prior to me assembling it.I have the insulated version which I would recommend for summer and winter.. we had such a very cold winter here in North Florida when my new cat arrived… She selected me. With one of the small thermostatically controlled cat blankets, and a baby blanket on top of that she was super cozy.This has been stained. It’s not really a heavy coat of paint but all surfaces have been stained and it’s really quite easy to put together. if you’re OCD, go ahead and buy a set of stainless steel fasteners and replace the lighter weight ones that come with the cat house. I used the Fasteners that came with it due to the fact that this will be on a covered porch, protected from the elements, up high where my cat wants to sleep. She’s an outdoor cat that’s protected in a screen porch with a cat door… She’s got a cat house now that I think is cuter than mine…I’ve assembled it she’s hanging out around it and I haven’t yet figured out exactly where I’m putting it in the porch but I will and I’ll get her a custom to being in it again.I’m probably going to since I’m in the south go ahead and color match it to my house with good exterior house paint on the outside and then maybe caulk above the little porch roof over the door the main door.The main thing to watch is how you position the little roof over the door so that you don’t have a big gap there you can position it pretty much wherever you want.The wood is very light. It is not pressure treated or treated with any chemicals. I think this would have to be painted and caulked if you put it outside in the elements year around. On the insulated model, there’s the exterior lap siding and then insulation and then a thin, interior, paneling, tight wood that’s a very thin Louan type sheeting and it’s all painted inside. It looks very neat and tidy..The instructions are good they’re not complicated. Everything is labeled the screws and each panel.The roofing material is real roofing material and beware is scratchy on the corners while you’re working on it.One thing to note is there are actually holes marked when you put the lid hinge on. You have to install it in the marked holes so that it functions properly if the lid doesn’t close all the way and hits on itself you just have to barely tweak it in the arm I little bit so it clears the pivot part of the arm it closes just fine.The other point of interest is the flap door. It’s like one of those refrigerator walk indoors with the strips of plastic it’s well-made… You have the option to position it higher or lower so just remember that and also that was the only mistake I made was I installed it on the outside of the panel when you first look at it you have to get your self oriented so that you install the strip on the inside.No worries if you mess up something like this, it doesn’t matter just take the screws out and reinstall it and later you could touch up the little holes with Paint but I don’t even know if I will bother.It’s truly a great design. It has a good escape door which most cats want.

Got this for my mom and her outdoor neighborhood anti social cats. Pretty easy to put together and the open top is perfect!

Bought this for a stray cat family that comes and goes but is too skiddish to let people catch them other than feeding. I insulated it with a roll of adhesive marine foam, which worked great. Easy to assemble; only the roof hinges actually take two people to put together as they are misaligned and it is too hard to screw the hinges and hold the roof at the same time. An electric drill was best. Walls and paint layer are a bit thin. Chemical smell that dissipated with a few hours out of the box. Had to open a few windows as it was strong at first. Overall well made, shipping is a little costly(but most of these houses have high hidden shipping costs). I put a heating pad that engages when cats lay on it under a self-heating mat and some old blankets the cats were already using. They still used the house before that mat was in there so it seems like it works. I had to show them with treats to go through the flap at first, but once they know it's a door, they use it. We have -30°F plus winters and I can't take in 6 more cats (I have 2 already) so I'm hoping this will help as it does fit multiple kitties.

Where to begin? The quality of the parts are amazing. The instructions were clear and easy to follow. Took 2 of us under 1 hour to complete the build. Screws clearly marked in individual packages. The asphalt roof is so nice. I covered Thoth with plastic because I have a magpie problem and didn’t want poop on the nice roof. Roof opens u for cleaning and changing straw bed. Amazing value for the money!

Not the greatest quality but cute looking and serves its purpose.

This looks more elegant than expected, fitting in well with our furniture on the back patio. I found it easy to assemble (note I'm pretty handy). The quality is not top end - BUT I would say very good for the price, hence my 5 stars. Real wood is used, as well as real shingles on the roof - and the design is sound. One cat took to it right away, the other cat pretends it doesn't exist...but we'll see!

This outdoor cat cabana is well designed, a perfect size, affordable, and easy to assemble from flatpack. There was nothing wrong with the cat hut; the yellow wrapping paper didn't stain anything. I was amused by the directions that allow for the option of locating and deploying "a powerful man" with a screwdriver to assemble the "cathouse" (lol), but we elected to use a power screwdriver instead. Goofy Mandarin-to-English translations are one of the most delightful aspects of living in this age.I don't use the hut for a stray. I adopted an adult cat 15 years ago, and he likes the cush of sprawling across human furniture (eg. our bed) indoors, but he also likes his freedom; this lifestyle keeps the little, old dude shockingly healthy. I added the self-warming fuzzy mat to this hut, but will have to add insulation. It's not insulated for northern climes. Better as-is for Oregon or warmer climates. Parents: It occurred to me that assembling this "cathouse" is a better project for little girls than dollhouses. I also thought: What if people just made these and dispersed them around parks, and waited to see what would move in?

I bought this house for one of the community cats that have chosen our family. We have a number of indoor-only cats, but feed 3 strays that have adopted us. This product came with each panel separately wrapped with sturdy paper so each one arrived pristine. All hardware, plus at least one extra screw of the 3 sizes, was present and labeled. The house is indeed made of wood and has a light scent of pine, and is painted with nontoxic, unscented paint. All screw holes are predrilled, with the exception of the frame for the small roof over the front door, which are too small to be a good idea to predrill and were no problem to simply apply the screws slowly so as not to splinter the wood (we didn't do pilot holes). One side of the hinges (to open the roof hatch) are already attached to the roof, which makes them really easy to finish, although the predrilled holes for one of the hinges wound up not being in the right place, but that was not a problem and we were able to apply the screws without any issue (we started with the side that did align). Each panel is put together entirely, including the main roof and the floor, so the assembly we needed to do was well designed and not at all time consuming. We left the main assembly screws slightly loose until after we dry-fitted the roof, just to make sure everything was squared up, then tightened everything down (being careful not to go too deep with the screws, a common user error). For sure, less than 30 minutes to build with electric screwdriver, probably less, I didn't time it. Best with 2 people as stated in the instructions, but the 2 side pieces have wooden dowels preinstalled to make it simple to dry-fit before adding the screws to the predrills. The written directions were in good English, not overly complicated, and the accompanying drawings are consistent and correspond correctly to the step at hand. The holes for the hardware piece that holds the roof open are predrilled, which helped instruct me which way the hardware was to be installed. It was enjoyable.The bottom is slatted (and drops in to a prebuilt ledge), which will be great in summer for ventilation in our hot climate. For this winter, I took a 4-ft by 4-ft piece of reflectix (the shiny bubble wrap that is used to reflect back body heat) and lined the whole inside (folding it over at the corners and securing them (to itself) with medium-size metal office clips so it's a 1-piece liner), then cut out holes for the two doors. Placed a piece on top, closed the roof, and voila! An insulated liner that cuts all wind, that I can easily remove during the warm months. I wound up not using the clear vinyl door flap (and cut the hole in the reflectix smaller than the opening). We are in the Deep South USA, so our winters are usually moderate, lows usually cycling between 30-32F up to the low 40s, but it can sometimes go lower than 20F for a few days at a time. For harsher winters, it might be best to buy a fully insulated type of outdoor house for cats, or even one that has a plug-in heater. For bedding, I added a self-warming bed (~22x18), and a self-warming blanket that are both made for cats (these self-warmers have a layer of reflectix inside). I showed it to the cat, who went inside and purred. She came back out, as the sun was still shining, but when I went back out later she was inside the house. So, an immediate success and I'm just thrilled. This is a nicely made flat-pack product at a very decent price.