This weighs about 15 pounds. It's clean, and I do have a cat. It seems to have a sturdy design. I just don't use it anymore. It's heavy for a child, I would say that s/he would need to be at least 10 years old. I struggle with it in the middle of the night to move it out of the way to get up for a bathroom break. Its handy that is't twin size, that way your signficant other isn't trapped.