Review on PHYEX Heavy-Duty Steel-Framed Portable 🐾 Elevated Pet Bed for Enhanced Cooling Comfort by Kristina Perez

As an experiment I bought this cat furniture (small, brown) for my 3 cats. Arrived yesterday and thoroughly inspected by the gang. Everyone concluded that (1) it was awesome and (2) it was their personal toy not to be shared. So today I ordered another of these loungers (small, grey) because it is well made, looks good and my cats really like it (especially for sleeping at night). My cats are a normal size and two can easily share this bed, but Chica came to hers to sleep first last night and the others weren't allowed (this may change with cold weather). And YES, the assembly was a real challenge! The instructions seemed either a little sparse or a little ambiguous, so naturally I threw them aside and moved on. The sides of the canvas rectangle are hemmed so that they form a tubular passage for poles on each side. It's ok if they fit snugly (the canvas won't sag as much), but the holes are tight. Each of the long sides of the triangle is supported by two rods that must be connected in the usual way (one rod has a narrower end, which then enters the end of the other rod). However, the two rods cannot be joined prior to insertion into the hem tunnel, as each rod is sharply bent at its end, forming the legs on which the furniture will stand. As a hint, I suggest that you somehow hold the stretched canvas straight and tight somehow to make it easier to insert the rod end into the tunnel. You will need hands #1 and #2 to do this. Then, with your #3 and #4 hands, firmly grasp the bar, keep it level with the tunnel, push forward hard, and good luck. After the success, open a can of cold beer and calm down. Then the most interesting thing: insert the rod into another rod with a narrow end. Because this is done inside the rim (which is opaque and rigid), you can't see and only vaguely feel what you're doing. Just think of the 'bottle' as the winners walk into the closet which is completely dark so you can't see those lips and so must be approached with great caution. For me the only other tricky part was attaching the short side bars to the long side bars. This is done with threaded bolts (so-called screws) with spring washers and special plastic seals (my term). Imagine: With one hand holding the side bar, gently pressed against the end bar (perpendicular), with the other hand. There is a threaded hole in the end of the end post that will accept a threaded bolt after it has been passed through the pre-drilled holes in the side post. So (a) put the spring washer on the bolt (the very first step) and (b) then feed the bolt through the pre-drilled holes in the side post and (c) now with the bolt protruding from the hole of the side post, seat the special washer onto the stud so that the curved surface of the spacer is flush with the curve of the side post and the stud now passes through the spacer where it is now free to connect to the end post. (d) Hold the end post against the screw (which is now protruding from the spacer), gently slide the bars together while turning (tightening) the screw with the supplied hex wrench. With any luck, the threaded bolt will go into the threaded hole in the end rod and all parts will be tightened securely. WARNING: With threaded parts, I have the impression that they don't take very well to even small angles of displacement when screwing, and the threads are not made of hardened steel. When shifting, you will feel some resistance when turning the hex key, but not that much. If you insist, you can easily break the threads. So be careful. Move slowly and expect problems, especially in step (d) above where 5 to 10 reboots is normal. By the way, it would be very useful to have 3 or 4 hands in step (d). Maybe you can find a helper. After reading some reviews of this cat furniture, it is clear that the assembly is a big problem. My advice to the manufacturer is to create a 10-12 minute video that shows all the tricky spots and gives step-by-step instructions with lots of tips and precautions. An experienced mechanic may scoff at this, but the vast majority of customers will be immensely grateful. And finally, you might feel better if I tell you that I went through the entire assembly process only to realize that I had the tarp upside down and I had to remove the hardest part (bolting the poles together) to get those side poles to turn to look in the right direction and then redo everything else that follows.