My basement has these pole-like support structures, lally columns I suppose. They're probably about four inches around and, naturally, the height of the basement.

Back when the kittens lived down there, they loved those columns. They would leap up to see how high they could get before sliding down, fireman-style. They would curl around them to eat their own tails. Very cute.

Since I've moved them upstairs, though, they don't have anything like that. I've looked at various cat-structure toys at the pet stores, but everything I find is either not quite right or too unstable.

So I need a narrow pole, sturdy, that can be secured top and bottom so that it doesn't topple ... but preferably not too homely, since I need it to go reasonably well in a living space.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate hearing about them ....