Taz thinks she is a big dog and isn't scared of anything. She has no idea she would be a chew toy to most other dogs. The cats don't mess with her. They know she will bite. At some point all the cats have made a mistake of getting in between Taz and her food dish. They actually all get along pretty good together otherwise. The tower was new and is about 6 months old now. Still in very good shape. The wife clips the cats claws with a finger nail clipper every 3 weeks or so. Saves on the furniture and us bleeding. We have another scratch pole that they use more for scratching and that is about destroyed. We have gone through a few of the cardboard scratch boards that you put on the floor. They really like them. They are pretty tough and last quite a while.