Hello! I am planing on building a catio for my babies and I was wondering if anyone has any cute or cool ideas for the catio? Also does anyone know if wood chips are a good idea? Or if sod is better? Thank you in advance!!
) but there are others here who've gone the extra mile. Hopefully they'll see this and jump in 
Ooooh how cool, can't wait to see it when it's done!!
I would try the mesh route especially because I feel they would like to climb mesh easier than a wire but I have to use wire because they’re lots of predators like coyotes in my area. Do your cats go outside to your catio even when it’s cold? Thank you!!I have not done this (went the super inexpensive route and got a cat mesh tent and started him walking on a leash
I will definitely post a photo when it’s finished!
Ms.Lovemycats
- A quick search will turn up quite a few threads here on building outdoor enclosures. Here's the story of
Norachan
's move with her 20+ cat clowder, and the building of a thousand square meter enclosure:
Ms.Lovemycats
it's a small tent that's portable. My Big Guy likes to be out in "his" yard to make sure there aren't any other cats coming through, (we do have a few ferals around and lately it's looking like somebody's moved in who let's their cat out to roam) but I have to tell him no when it's cold. 
1CatOverTheLine
Thank you!! That’s a great thread for me!! I’m going to look at it more thoroughly but I read that someone suggested planting mint and basil which sounds nice!! There’s lots of great tips on there I’ll keep in mind since I’m moving!.
Moving House, Taking The Colony With Me.
and a thread devoted to enclosures, in which @micknsnicks2mom actually provides an index to past threads about cat enclosures at Post #3:
Cat enclosure
.
Furballsmom
That’s funny he sounds like my big boy!
My big cat is so territorial when he was younger he saw an orange cat that was much bigger than him and they were having a stare down. I got scared and politely shooed the big orange cat away but my cat tried to chase after him and I had to I catch him before he could take off! I don’t think my cats will go outside if it’s cold but I won’t let them out to the catio if I feel it’s too cold for them 
1CatOverTheLine
I've been meaning to update that thread, but I want to see how the latest version of the fence copes with heavy snow. No snow so far this year.
Ms.Lovemycats
if you have predators in your area make sure you put a roof on the catio. Coyotes will be able to climb over net or wire fences.
Thank youThanks for mentioning me
Looking back at the pictures from a few years ago made me realise how chubby the cats have all got.
How big is your catio going to be? Wood chip is good for keeping the weeds down, but some cats will probably use it like cat litter.
Mint and basil are good things to plant. You could try planting some cat nip too. I had some, but it didn't last very long. The cats tore it up pretty quickly.
Norachan
! I’m definitely going to put a strong roof over my catio to protect my babies, I was worried that the cats might use woods chips as cat litter 
maybe I’ll put sod down, the area where I’m planning to plant the catio has a dry dirt on the ground so that’s not very fun for them. I don’t have much of a green thumb but I’ve been wanting to grow catnip, I planted cat grass but heavy rain got to it and most of the seeds died I think there’s only a tiny bit of grass, I’m going to retry growing the cat grass and try to get catnip and basil and mint. Thank you! 
