Merry Pet MPS002 Wood Room with a View Pet House

We took a chance on the Merry Pet after looking at several versions of this particular pet house. We were purchasing it for an outdoor kitty that has adopted us and becoming less feral every day. And we are very glad we chose this model.- Choose the stained unit versus the raw wood version. The other manufacturer makes one that is thinner wood and not stained- This shipped very well, tightly packed. Styrofoam blocks protect each piece, and there is a life's supply of bubble wrap around each piece- No splits, frays, corner damage or dent marks- Other than an extra hand to hold up one piece while attaching to another, one person can assemble the house- All assembly parts are included, except for tools- When assembled, the only odor was strong cedar and residual wood stain (expected)- Even though measurements are provided, I had a sense that it would be big - very pleased that it was just right for ONE cat to use- The top (without stairs) allows a single bath towel doubled over to cover all four corners (puts it in perspective)It will be used outdoors on our deck that has about a 3-4 foot overhang (farther out than most roof overhangs). It's cedar and looks like it will do just fine outdoors, weather and all. For the price, a few years will pay for itself. Drilling a hole in the bag for an electrical cord to heat the kitty warming blanket during cold weather (we are in Florida; hot humid summers, winters average 30-40 degrees on coldest days). It can be re-stained if desired, which will add years to the life of the house. The stairs will remain, mostly because "mama" thinks they are too cute. No cat will ever use them! My cat can reach the top level standing on the ground. My indoor cat, around 14 pounds, immediately jumped up and laid on the towel the first night, and stayed the rest of the evening.It comes down to which make and model you purchase, I believe. We looked at the unfinished version that was a few dollars less and the wood looks thinner and vulnerable to damage just during the construction process. This model looks like it was constructed better. We'll see how long the kitty uses it, but during the windy cold days, this offers shelter from the biting cold that we want to shelter him from. I don't know about dogs, but in general, even small dogs are bigger than the average cat. There's only room for resting with no space for dishes or extra kitty enticements or even a second kitty. Just use household materials for bedding to get them acclimated first. Add store bought pads or pillows later. We love this and may get another one for the one that took to it right away. A great purchase for a great price.

I have owned 2 of these for over 10 years. I bought 2 because I had 2 dogs. both my dogs loved it. I have a havanese dog who is about 17lbs. she loves looking out the window, and sometimes sleeps all night in it.

Other reviews have covered many aspects of the product, I'll cover things I noticed after putting it together earlier today.Nice cedar smell. Wood is a very low grade with plenty of marks, filled in bits and so forth. Its hardly fine wood but its priced accordingly. I bought this to replace the styrofoam/plastic bin sleeping spot for a feral cat that hangs around my house. I'm not sure its nice enough to be an 'inside' piece of furniture but its certainly nicer looking than the plastic bin and its sitting in my covered entry way.First off, the wood is extremely thin so don't count on much insulation from that. The slats of wood are also not evenly pushed together before being stapled to the edges. There are 20 or so gaps that you could stick a butter knife into. So on its own it'll allow quite a bit of air infiltration and its not something you could fix with a tube of silicone caulking. The bottom part also fits irregularly inside and leaves a gap all of the way around.I also found several predrilled screw holes not predrilled, and one part of the 'fence' hadn't been drilled out for a wood peg to fit in. I've seen other reviews that showed not all four corners of the bottom cut out to fit. Bottom line is this is a low quality control item and chances are you're going to have to do a little minor drilling or cutting.Its easy to put together, just look over the instructions for a few minutes. Even having to do a little drilling it only took me about 15 minutes to put together.To fix the excessive gaps, I tore apart the box it came in, lined the whole thing with cardboard, then a layer of the bubble wrap the parts were wrapped in, then I cut a square of the bubble wrap, cut it up the middle and taped it to the inside of the door to hold out the cold. I also put a 2" foam board in the bottom. Good enough for northern california winters.This is big enough for a very large cat or small dog, or two small cats. I only put in a couple of screws to hold the top slab on, so I can remove it to clean and rearrange the inside. The ladder also requires one screw on the bottom right to hold that steady.All in all a decent looking little outdoor 'shelter' for mild winters, if you have a covered area to put it in. I don't think this would take much rain or direct sun all day long.

Loki loves it and loves feeling taller. The only thing is stairs but I’m going to add some they sell here on Amazon. Fast delivery and very happy. Thank you!!