We're in the middle of completing a catio for one of our cats and not sure how crazy she is about the whole idea. Hallie is 2 1/2 and we got her from a shelter about 6 months ago. She was taken out of a hoarding situation. We don't think she's ever really been outside before but she does like to sniff the breeze whenever the door is open. We have another cat who happily goes outside on a long leash and a harness - Hallie will have nothing whatsoever to do with that notion! We decided to try a catio for her instead and are wondering how others have gotten over the newness factor. We have a fairly small area in the back and we've used a couple of really large whelping pens stacked on top of each other with a half floor in the middle and a lattice on top. We're fine tuning it still and will add another couple of shelves and have some marigolds for decoration (which she seemed to enjoy sniffing) and a couple of wind spinners to throw light around. We also have a favorite box in there if she wants security. The whole thing is easily picked up and moved and tomorrow we're going to try it on the grass - right now it's on the patio. We've just tried her in it for about 10 minutes at an time and I know she feels confined because it's actually a cage, but it's the best we could do for the moment. Has anyone else had issues with getting them used to it? Sorry this is kind of long, but we really want her to enjoy being outside, but free roaming is out of the question. I have to pick her up and take her in and out because we don't have a good window she can use to access it from the back. She starts to cry after about 10 minutes so I take her in - I don't want her to associate it with being distressed, but I do want her to be able to get used to it. Any ideas? So many of you have done some fabulous catios - I just wish we had a bit more space to use. Thanks for any help!
