Trixie Baza Cat Hammock Review

We purchased the Trixie Baza Cat Hammock so our expert reviewer and her three cats could put it to the test. Keep reading for our full product review.

While this review is being written, there’s a 16-pound cat draped luxuriously across a Baza Cat Hammock in our periphery. His head rests on his paws and he’s blinking contentedly. This is infinitely preferable to where he usually tries to drape his bulk—which is across our laptop during writing time. If you have a stage-five feline clinger on your hands, you may as well just quit reading now and buy yourself the cat hammock. 

If you are still reading, please keep in mind that cats are basically toddlers—notorious for not performing on cue and good at intuiting what you want them to do, and then doing the exact opposite. For our test, we left the cat hammock out in our three-cat household for three weeks, and crossed our fingers that they would actually interact with it. There was some resistance at first, but they eventually gave us good feedback. Read on to find out what they thought.

Setup Process: “Instructions” unclear

The hammock ships unassembled. The box presents just four pieces—the fabric hammock on a metal frame, two sisal-wrapped scratching posts, and the base—but we still instinctively found a way to do it wrong the first time. The included assembly “instructions” are nothing more than an illustration with the pieces numbered in an order that seems arbitrary. Alas, it’s not. You have to screw the scratching posts into the hammock first, and then use the included Allen wrench and screws to attach those to the base. 

We initially screwed the posts into the base and therefore had to disassemble and restart. While it was an annoying hiccup caused by unclear directions, please take our complaints with a grain of salt. Start to finish (including the false start), assembly took five minutes. 

Design: Surprisingly cute

Once assembly was out of the way, the first thing we thought was, “Huh. This is actually kind of cute.” There’s a lot of sleek, modern cat furniture on the market these days (some of it is downright sculptural), but the classic cat tree mold is still the most common. These pieces come with multiple levels, fuzzy carpet, some rope or corrugated cardboard for scratching, and, if you really invest in your model, a springy toy or two. The Baza doesn’t stray far from that recipe, but something about the final form is actually…charming? Maybe it’s the scaled down size. Maybe it’s the lustrous, somewhat Muppet-like faux fur. Or maybe it’s just the simple thought of a cat chilling in a hammock. (For the record, we love that last part.)

The hammock is a 15 x 21-inch oval of fuzzy fabric, sewn onto a decently strong metal wire, and suspended between two scratching posts. The posts are anchored to a 16-square-inch, fur-covered particle board base. The fabric of the hammock and the base are the same plush faux fur in soft ivory, which happened to coordinate fantastically with our soft ivory cat. Our three cats are particularly famous for knocking over beverages, and light-colored furnishings don’t have a long life expectancy in our home. We would appreciate being able to remove the fabric—maybe a strong Velcro seam could have worked—but like most cat trees, this isn’t an option, so we’re stuck with spot cleaning. 

The sisal-wrapped posts measure 3.5 inches in diameter. Sisal is a rough, agave-derived fiber frequently used to create inexpensive mats and rope, and is often used to wrap scratching posts. We’re not exactly into the prickly texture, but cats sure are. There are, of course, some cats that prefer scratching posts covered in carpet, but such posts can encourage them to scratch your actual carpet. At 20 inches in height, the scratching posts are a little short for our larger cats, but they still used them occasionally.

A word of warning: When one of the cats was playing very aggressively with the pom-pom toy, he managed to tip the entire thing over. Don’t worry, he’s totally fine, he just got a little spooked. If you have big cats or just aggressive players, definitely consider something with a larger footprint or a heavier base for stability.

Entertainment Value: More like lounge value

If you’re a cat owner, you already know that no cat tree—no matter how elaborate or expensive—can outshine the box it shipped in. That aside, the fuzzy pom-pom toy attached to the top of one of the scratching posts provided some playtime opportunities for the elder cat of the house: Pinky, a 6-year-old, 16-pound former bodega cat. It was soundly ignored by the other two, Oliver and Rose, who are both around one and a half years old, but they’re extremely resistant to coercion. 

Whereas most cat trees are designed for interaction, the Baza Hammock is designed for clawing and lounging. Pinky spent entire days nestled in there, cupped perfectly in the little sling. The other cats did lay around the base a little, but they never climbed into the hammock on their own (not that we saw, anyway), and they certainly never stayed in there when they were picked up and placed there, even with treat bribes.    

Size: Great for small spaces

The hammock was a cozy fit for our 16-pounder, but he loved it. Trixie manufactures an XXL version of the hammock, which may be preferable for larger cats, but the recommended maximum weight limit for that model is still 16 pounds. If you have particularly large cats, you might want to look for something more stable.

We found that the Baza was perfectly sized for small spaces—including apartments. Its low profile is also ideal for those who love their cat but don’t love the look of cat furniture. The other major highlight of its size is portability. Pinky is a lover of all laps and keyboards, which is not an ideal recipe for work-from-home productivity. Placing this next to our workspace, or whichever couch we happened to be on, satisfied his need for close proximity and coziness, and satisfied our need for free typing hands. 

Price: Totally reasonable

Trixie’s cat hammock retails for just over $30, putting it on par with similarly sized products. In the grand scheme of cat furniture, it’s rather inexpensive. Of course, no matter how much you spend on a cat tree, its value will depend on whether or not your cat decides to interact with it.  

Trixie Baza Cat Hammock vs. AmazonBasics Cat Scratching Post with Hammock

AmazonBasics’ version of a cat hammock is suspiciously identical Trixie’s (who was first?), with one little improvement: the dangling toy is detachable, and you can buy replacements with either a rope or metal spring attachment. The hammock is still supported by two sisal-wrapped poles and the base is carpeted. The hammock is available in beige and grey and costs $25—a few less than the Baza Hammock.