8 months ago we didn't have any furry kids of the feline persuasion and now we have 3! Right before Christmas we adopted a Mom cat and her juvenile son. Mom had a few liters of kittens before a friend of mine took her in and got her spayed and adopted the last liter out. Once the kittens all found homes at a proper age (I think she waited 8-10 weeks), I adopted Mom and her son and renamed them Nova and Naveen (both have meaning's of "New" in different languages). They live in our garage and I was determined to build them a safe and fun catio where they could go outside, move about, but still be completely enclosed. I'm a determined woman and I'm still amazed that I built the whole thing by myself - the frame is 4 feet wide, 8 feet long, and 7 and a half feet tall. I'm only 5'0" so moving this thing around as I built it on the driveway was quite a feat! My husband helped me move it into place outside of a window, and planning is essential because I knew the overhang of the garage was 8 feet high, so I only allowed 6" of vertical clearance to move it. I have since done a few upgrades since I installed it a few months ago - I originally wrapped it in chicken wire but decided to take the majority of it down and wrap it with a stronger wire though it has larger gaps. I also just finished installing a landing pad and a ramp up to the window. Originally they were jumping in/out through the window down to a camping chair but Nova has been very sore lately after having an altercation with a friend's dog so I wanted to make it as easy as possible for her.
When I first put the catio in place, I salvaged an old branch from the yard and put it about 12" into the ground and then drilled the very top portion of it to the frame, allowing for a more outdoorsy feel. I added 2 shelves at different heights, which they love to lay on and fall asleep while bird watching. The camping chairs have been great for giving them a 'hammock' type bed to sleep in, and they do most of their napping in the chairs. There are 2 bird feeders just a few feet away and now that we have free ranging chickens, the chickens actually enjoy sitting right next to the catio and both birds and cats take naps just a few inches away from each other. The door is about 6' tall and I put a gate latch on there if I ever wanted it locked, but I don't really see the need for that. I go in there quite often and sometimes in the evening I'll go in there and sit with them while the sun goes down :) The location is rather perfect as they never get any direct sunlight - the catio is on the west side of the garage so there's no morning sun, and it also sits below a thick oak tree which strongly filters any afternoon sun.
(Click picture to enlarge)
I also have a coffee can out there for a constant access to water - it gets changed daily so there's no chance of harboring mosquitos. I recently put up a chicken swing from one of the oak branches - chickens supposedly like to swing and I'm hoping they'll start using it soon. They really love to sit next to the catio for some reason. The cat's don't care very much, sometimes Naveen will look at them wide-eyed but he's a lover not a hunter ;) I have also started growing oat grass with bulkseed I buy online, and then plant it in my own containers. Once the grass is long enough, I bring a container into the catio for them to snack on - they love it!
If you don't have the ability to build your own, there are pre-made ones you can purchase online for hefty prices, or maybe hire someone to build one for you? There are so many benefits to catios - some people even move the litter boxes out there so there's no indoor smell! You can install a cat door in the wall, a cat door through a window or configure something else through the window. Because ours is next to the garage which we don't really use, all I did was cut a square large enough in the window screen. We haven't had any strange critters in there, and if I ever need that screen again, they're pretty easy to re-screen. Read some more benefits about catios here and I hope you consider one for your indoor kitties!
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