Over the years, many of you have commented on Allegra’s window perch. It’s definitely one of her favorite places to hang out, as it was for all the cats that came before her. In fact, I bought this perch in the mid 1980’s for Feebee, and it’s held up well all these years.
Until a couple of weeks ago, when one of the supports cracked. I’m guessing 30+ years in the sun weakened the plastic. Allegra was on the perch when I noticed it, and it didn’t bother her at all, but of course, I immediately took it off the ledge. Luckily, I had a second perch in my office, which Allegra hasn’t used in years, so I simply moved that to the bedroom. Since I had it apart anyway, I thought, why not wash the cover. Usually, I just use a lint brush and spot clean as needed, but this just seemed like a great opportunity to toss it into the washing machine. Big mistake! But why don’t I let Allegra tell you the rest of the story.
Hi everyone, it’s Allegra! So, Mom already told you about the broken frame on my window perch. No big deal, but, she’s only human, so of course, she turned it into a big deal. I saw her take the perch apart and mutter under her breath. Then she brought the perch from the office and put it up in the bedroom. I thought that would be the end of it, but no! The next time I went near the perch, it didn’t smell like anything I remembered! My purrfect perch was no longer purrfect. I absolutely refused to go up on it!
Mom did her best to convince me that nothing had changed. She picked me up and put me on the perch, but I wanted nothing to do with it and jumped off immediately. She put treats on it. Now that was more interesting, but I still didn’t want to get up on it. Instead, I braced myself on the frame with one front paw and fished the treats off with the other paw. I’m resourceful! (And it made Mom laugh that I circumvented her trick that way.)
Mom, being the smart human that she is, even if she can be a little slow at times, finally realized what she had done. After I had spent years and years to get that perch just right, she ruined it for me by throwing it in the washer and getting rid of all the scents I’d worked so hard to put on it. All things considered, she caught on pretty quickly, and I could tell she felt really awful, but this wasn’t something that could easily be undone.
But gradually, over a few days, the perch started to smell a little bit more like something I might want to make friends with again. At first, I wasn’t sure why that was, because I sure hadn’t gone near it. Then I realized that every time after Mom brushed me, she took the hair out of the brush and distributed it over the perch. After a few days of this, I deigned to give it a try.
My perch was back! It smelled like me again! So even though I was really mad at Mom for ruining it at first, I love her for not giving up and finding a way to fix it.
A note from Ingrid: I still can’t believe I didn’t think before washing the cover. I have never washed a cat bed for as long as I have had cats, for that very reason. I have only ever spot cleaned beds or perches before, unless something got so soiled that it was absolutely necessary to throw it in the washer. Ditto for replacing worn scratching posts. They may look ugly to us, but from your cat’s point of view, they’ve worked really hard to get them just right. And let me tell you, it felt really weird to be putting cat hair BACK on something instead of taking it OFF something! In addition to using Allegra’s fur to restore her scent to the perch, I also rubbed a clean cloth against her cheeks several times to collect pheromones and then rubbed that cloth all over the perch.
Sadly, they no longer make this particular perch, so I sure hope that it will continue to hold up well. The closest I have found is the K&H Pet Products Kitty Sill*. You can find other window perches in our product guide.
*The Conscious Cat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This means that if you decide to purchase through any of our links, we get a small commission. We only spread the word about products and services we’ve either used or would use ourselves.
Who made the cat perch you have in the pictures? I had the exact same one that I bought 20 years ago and it recently broke and my cats hate all the other perches I have bought. I know it is not made anymore but I’m looking to see if I can find it on ebay.
Unfortunately, I can’t remember the manufacturer, Naomi. I really wish somebody would make one like it again!
I used to have that exact same perch on my bedroom window in Northern Virginia for circa 20 years and our two tortie kitties always curled up on it together throughout the ’90s and early ’00s. It always makes me both sad and happy to see Allegra on that perch, since she looks so much like my special little tortie I grew up with (they were both special, of course, but one of them in particular was my little kitty soulmate).
Fortunately, my two torties never minded when I washed the cover once every couple years! That said, I wish I had washed it less since it would have lasted longer.
I have lamented many times over the years that they no longer make this perch, since it was the best perch ever. The K&H one just doesn’t have the same appeal without the hammock feature. My current kitties don’t know what they are missing!
Ha!! this is a great lesson for all of us!!!! Allegra showed YOU!!!!! That WAS brilliant that you thought of putting her fur on it, great idea!
My sweetie pie Allegra, I’m so glad you didn’t get hurt, but you were probably shook up a bit. I’m sure mom held you and placed kisses on your head. Your mom is so clever; she had an extra one
already to be installed, just so you didn’t missed 1/4 of a sun puddle. I love you both, take care and I hope life starts moving in the right direction. Bye for now!
I’m glad that you found out what needed to be done with the perch and that the cat is still using it. I’ve been curious on if I should get a perch like that for about 2 years now. Thanks to this, I will know what to do when I clean something that is my cats’ property.
Maybe there were still a few traces of Ruby there that she missed too.
Dear Allegra
That was very resourceful of you to get those treats without getting on that smelly perch!. Now everything is back to normal!
Each of our beautiful cats are individuals. I have seen one of mine do a cat double-take when I changed the layout of a room in a small way.
Thank you for this lovely story! and cuddles and pats to you XXX
We are glad that you got your perch back in the end Allegra. We had one of those but a big white whale who will remain nameless did pull ups on it once too often
have the same perch, they never minded me washing it. I only did a couple times because we had us screwed to the window sill fir extra security. They put holes in the cover and with my long haired cats, it’s pretty much destroyed now. We took it down when we got new windows 10 days ago and I haven’t put it back up because it looks awful. I wish I could find a replacement cover. I can’t even find the material, any ideas on that? I feel bad for taking it down, all my cats have enjoyed it for the past 30 years!!
I have the same perch, they never minded me washing it. I only did a couple times because we had us screwed to the window sill fir extra security. They put holes in the cover and with my long haired cats, it’s pretty much destroyed now. We took it down when we got new windows 10 days ago and I haven’t put it back up because it looks awful. I wish I could find a replacement cover. I can’t even find the material, any ideas on that? I feel bad for taking it down, all my cats have enjoyed it for the past 30 years!!
What a great story. Resourceful Mommy. When we had the interior of our home painted (after years of dread & delays) it occurred to us every single corner Squirt had rubbed with her face was GONE! No more dark spots, but No Scent either!
We took one of her favorite blankets & rubbed them all over those MANY corners . She accepted our efforts & is working to restore them to their original condition.
What we do for the love of our cats!!
Thanks for sharing, Ingrid. Kisses to Allegra ❤
I never thought of that when it comes to painting walls! I would have done the same thing once I realized it!
Glad you had another and she likes it now.
Ginny is fussy about her bed. It was a clam shell but she insists on lying on top of it not in it. It is quite worn and I was going to replace it but am having second thoughts because she likes it as is where is. I will run with Allegra’s perspective and leave it as is:)
Thank you for that funny story, I would have done the same thing , learned something
I never thought about washing things changing the scents or replacing scratching posts. I have reroped scratching posts only to have a cat never use it again. Now I know why. I appreciate the tip about using hair to attract them again.
I had never thought about the smell would be so different for them but it makes perfect sense when you stop and really think about it. Glad you were able to resolve Allegra’s problem.
MOL! I’m surprised you made that mistake in the first place – you are usually the one who’s telling people NOT to do stuff like that! I’m glad you found a remedy.
P.S. My human actually washes the cat beds sometimes, and I never minded, nor did Boodie (Binga wasn’t usually a cat bed fan). Probably because their getting washed was part of the routine.