Chris Hawkins
Established Member
All dominos, which make the steps very strong. I guess large dowels would do the trick almost as well.
Woodworking for cats
- Thread starter sammy.se
- Start date
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Cats have a thing about squares. Leave papers, magazines on anything like on the floor and cat will sit on it. Claiming ownership, but also because it's a 2D version of a 3D box ! Go figure.
For a cat bed/perch, make sure it is high off the ground - At least 5'.
This is of course nothing to do with being safe from predators, but more to do with they prefer to look down upon their subjects.
This is of course nothing to do with being safe from predators, but more to do with they prefer to look down upon their subjects.
Terry - Somerset
Established Member
Cats are like small children - spend £100s on the sophisticated and clever - and all they want to do is play with the cardboard box!
Before we got our last rescue cat, we had had a large, unbelievably stupid, ginger tom. In his later years, he got arthritis of the spine and was completely blind, so didn't jump on to things. When we got his replacement, we had forgotten cats jump; opened the lid of our carrier and she was some feet away on top of the work surface in one leap. Certainly made me jump!
ey_tony
Established Member
Cats are fascinating creatures.
I went to the trouble of building my two indoor only cats a 'catio' the year before last and it's only really this year that one of them has made actual use of it, before that I might as well not have wasted my time and money.. The other cat may occasionally wander in there for a minute or two but for all intents and purposes, he's just not interested.
To be fair the one who uses it does spend a fair bit of time out there these days, usually for a couple of hours after his breakfast and a couple of hours in the evening and sometimes he's even reluctant to come in when we want to lock up but I'd warn other cat owners that building a catio is no guarantee that they will use it.
I have a PIR sensor which I place on the lounge windowsill through which they access the catio and it tells me when they want to go out by triggering the alarm while they're waiting on the windowsill if the window isn't open. They've learned that if they set of the alarm then we will let them out. We have another sensor placed outside so that it tells us when they want to come back in if the window is closed. All organised really.
For a bit of adventure I even put a cut down tree in for them to scratch or climb....forget that with my two! They might pop up to the top shelves occasionally but they don't climb even indoors.
The storage end of the catio is useful and can house about 3-6 packs of cat litter depending on their size which would otherwise take up space in our garage and in the colder months I use the storage area to keep a beer or two nicely chilled when the fridge is overflowing.
I designed the shed end so that it would accept a screened off covered litter tray with a locking access door for changing it without entering the actual catio but they have never used a litter tray in there so now we don't bother with one.
I spend hours each day playing with my two. Not with expensive toys as one might imagine, usually it's just a rawplug fastened to a length of 2kg breaking strain fishing line and they will chase and catch it for hours.
I did wonder about other 'cat' projects to make but then I think that they would probably be a waste of time with our two...
My two heathens .up to no good.
I went to the trouble of building my two indoor only cats a 'catio' the year before last and it's only really this year that one of them has made actual use of it, before that I might as well not have wasted my time and money.. The other cat may occasionally wander in there for a minute or two but for all intents and purposes, he's just not interested.
To be fair the one who uses it does spend a fair bit of time out there these days, usually for a couple of hours after his breakfast and a couple of hours in the evening and sometimes he's even reluctant to come in when we want to lock up but I'd warn other cat owners that building a catio is no guarantee that they will use it.
I have a PIR sensor which I place on the lounge windowsill through which they access the catio and it tells me when they want to go out by triggering the alarm while they're waiting on the windowsill if the window isn't open. They've learned that if they set of the alarm then we will let them out. We have another sensor placed outside so that it tells us when they want to come back in if the window is closed. All organised really.
For a bit of adventure I even put a cut down tree in for them to scratch or climb....forget that with my two! They might pop up to the top shelves occasionally but they don't climb even indoors.
The storage end of the catio is useful and can house about 3-6 packs of cat litter depending on their size which would otherwise take up space in our garage and in the colder months I use the storage area to keep a beer or two nicely chilled when the fridge is overflowing.
I designed the shed end so that it would accept a screened off covered litter tray with a locking access door for changing it without entering the actual catio but they have never used a litter tray in there so now we don't bother with one.
I spend hours each day playing with my two. Not with expensive toys as one might imagine, usually it's just a rawplug fastened to a length of 2kg breaking strain fishing line and they will chase and catch it for hours.
I did wonder about other 'cat' projects to make but then I think that they would probably be a waste of time with our two...
My two heathens .up to no good.
Thank you all for the amazing bits of advice, and the cool projects I must say I am starting to learn how much I don't know about owning a cat 
My main concern is that I don't want them scratching the leather furniture, so I thought a scratching post would help there, but it sounds like I can't control what they will scratch??
My main concern is that I don't want them scratching the leather furniture, so I thought a scratching post would help there, but it sounds like I can't control what they will scratch??
clogs
just can't decide
we took it to the extreme......
thats Lilly, Bengal Leopard cat....ripped apart by a dog....not my dog's....
George, has just dissapeared, found in a bin with his sister at a couple of days old.....just hope somebody stole him and not poisened...
thats Lilly, Bengal Leopard cat....ripped apart by a dog....not my dog's....
George, has just dissapeared, found in a bin with his sister at a couple of days old.....just hope somebody stole him and not poisened...
John Hall
Established Member
thikone
Established Member
My wife (and my daughter) wanted to have a cat.
But being more a dog person she wanted to have a Maine-Coon cat which is kind of big cat with some dog-like character.
In the end we've got 2 sister cats of this breed.
But Maine-Coons are also very large cats. So I decided to build a cat's tree that would withstand them but also our small children, that would inevitably claimb on it. Maybe I slightly overdid it but here is the result:
Each trunk is about 30 kg and all together it is nearly 100 kg. Cats do fit, as you can see here:
As do children:
Actually, it became like a world's wonder - guests would come just to see it:
I also made a toilet for them, as a small bench with opening lid and cats toilet inside.
And some shelfs in the entrance room, where they like to be when we are not home to wait for us.
You have to prepare some places where the cat will be. Some low place for hiding, some upper place for observation, and it has to be not far from where people usually are. And don't forget convenient scratching "stations" or cat will scratch your furniture to death.
But being more a dog person she wanted to have a Maine-Coon cat which is kind of big cat with some dog-like character.
In the end we've got 2 sister cats of this breed.
But Maine-Coons are also very large cats. So I decided to build a cat's tree that would withstand them but also our small children, that would inevitably claimb on it. Maybe I slightly overdid it but here is the result:
Each trunk is about 30 kg and all together it is nearly 100 kg. Cats do fit, as you can see here:
As do children:
Actually, it became like a world's wonder - guests would come just to see it:
I also made a toilet for them, as a small bench with opening lid and cats toilet inside.
And some shelfs in the entrance room, where they like to be when we are not home to wait for us.
You have to prepare some places where the cat will be. Some low place for hiding, some upper place for observation, and it has to be not far from where people usually are. And don't forget convenient scratching "stations" or cat will scratch your furniture to death.
Our cat can be very hairy so having two very large ones must mean a lot of hair, perhaps a second role for workshop extraction !
And even then they may decide to claw at the carpet just to show you who is the boss.
ey_tony
Established Member
We have several strategically placed scratching posts throughout the house for our two and they generally do a very good job of preventing/distracting them from scratching furniture but they're animals after all so one has to make allowances for the occasional lapse but cats soon learn what is and isn't acce0table if reared correctly.Thank you all for the amazing bits of advice, and the cool projects I must say I am starting to learn how much I don't know about owning a cat
My main concern is that I don't want them scratching the leather furniture, so I thought a scratching post would help there, but it sounds like I can't control what they will scratch??
There are protective materials that can be used in conjunction with leather or fabric sofas etc but they aren't always aesthetically pleasing even if they do work.
The best way we found was to monitor them and if they attempted to scratch where they shouldn't, a loud clap of the hands followed by a firm 'NO' usually got their attention and while they're not perfect, they're really pretty good as far as cats go.
Tris
What am I doing here?
Dogs prepare you for children, cats prepare you for teenagers
Since when do children do as they are told, eat what they are given and happily go for walkies . I would say a cat is better because they are known for relieving stress and children are fantastic at creating stress so maybe they will cancel out!
If a cat takes a liking to scratching something there's not a whole lot you can do to stop it - ask me about the nubuck sofa - just offer up sacrificial alternatives and block access to the real valuables. One of ours loves to scratch the living daylights out of a laptop carry case but anything cordura or the like is at risk.
There's a behaviour of kneading soft fabric surfaces with claws out. That can include your leg. It goes back to when they were kittens, them feeling comfortable and preparing to settle down to rest so try to put up with that rather than beating them up !
There's a behaviour of kneading soft fabric surfaces with claws out. That can include your leg. It goes back to when they were kittens, them feeling comfortable and preparing to settle down to rest so try to put up with that rather than beating them up !
clogs
just can't decide
thikone
see ur as crazy as me.....
I/we looked for months for the RIGHT tree...everyone I found wasn't good enough.....
in the she said thats the one, so off with the tractor n chainsaw.....no regrets...
I like ur's very much.....
if u look o the web partiqulary the USA and see what they do for cat's.....
Spectric
all our cats were dumped at a few days old....they never knew the mothers....
we have one cat that still does it at 12 years old....
see ur as crazy as me.....
I/we looked for months for the RIGHT tree...everyone I found wasn't good enough.....
in the she said thats the one, so off with the tractor n chainsaw.....no regrets...
I like ur's very much.....
if u look o the web partiqulary the USA and see what they do for cat's.....
Spectric
all our cats were dumped at a few days old....they never knew the mothers....
we have one cat that still does it at 12 years old....
Tris
What am I doing here?
Just to prove it doesn't have to be square, I'm growing a pot of ginger at work 
