It was a spur of the moment purchase for our 2 kittens to keep them from boredom whilst we are at work. They were not keen on it, if the metal poles were not there which are for structure stability I think and then the balls could go all the way around then it would be better. They both give it a scratch every now and them but we have taken the balls out for them to free play with. Catnip that comes with it is pretty potent though so that was a bonus for the older cats.