Screened Patio/ Catio Ideas

[Optatus Cleary]

I posted about Blossom, the little abandoned kitten that we rescued, in another forum.

I never expected or wanted a cat: we’re allergic to cats (although we’re in the middle of allergy shots that should cure that) and my wife’s whole family are also allergic. Our initial thought was that once she was big enough she would be an outdoor cat. My wife had cats growing up and they were all outdoor cats who lived long and healthy lives.

However, we’re raising her from such a young age and are very attached to her. The idea of her going off on her own worries me sick. She really can’t be an indoor cat all the time with our situation, but I can’t stand the thought of her being out in the wild.

The idea that came to my mind was to screen in our rather large patio. I’ve actually thought of doing this before: there are a lot of flies and mosquitos in the area, and a screened patio would be nice. Has anyone done something like that: a patio with screening to keep the cat in and bugs out?

We only have the one kitten, and I worry about her being solitary. However, we haven’t experienced any allergies to her, and we couldn’t be sure that a second kitten wouldn’t cause bad allergies. So if I did build something like this, it would be just for her. Does anyone have experience with giving one semi-indoor cat enough stimulation and excitement to make her happy?

 

[LTS3]

There are some ideas in this recent thread: Playhouse For Cats

More ideas:

Finally Got My Catio Out!
Cat Enclosures?
Tips For Building A Diy Catio?
Need Catio Advice

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I have a screened in patio that my cat loves! So, did my previous two cats (one cat at a time). She spends hours and hours on the patio and even has her favorite water bowl out there! We have furniture that she can jump up onto and be able to see the entire backyard, where she watches the squirrels and birds as they eat from their feeders. She also chases lizards that crawl on the screen. So, I think she has plenty of entertainment that way.

We have never done it but, you might want to consider installing a cat flap on whatever door goes out to the patio, so she can come and go without you having to leave the door open (as we do) - saving on heating and A/C costs!! There are also cat flaps that can be locked if you don't want her to go out while you are away from home or asleep at night. We just close the door in these cases and Feeby had learned that means that she must stay inside until we return or wake up.

 

[basscat]

We have a little doggie door leading out to a small 10'x10' screened in patio/porch. Buddy's litter box is out there.
Most of the time, he would rather be out there.
OR, I should say...most of the time he would rather be out there, if he's in the house....then when he's out there, he'd rather be inside....ugh....

 

[Tuffysmom]

Feebysowner sounds like she has a replica of my screened porch. Squirrels, birds, etc. My cat Tuff spends many happy hours there when he is not in the house. NEVER allowed outside to roam. I highly recommend this.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Feebysowner sounds like she has a replica of my screened porch. Squirrels, birds, etc. My cat Tuff spends many happy hours there when he is not in the house. NEVER allowed outside to roam. I highly recommend this.

That sounds perfect. Now, I think ours would need to be in the patio most of the time because of everyone’s allergies. I would bring her in, certainly, if it were cold or hot outside, but for the most part she’ll live in the large patio if I can manage to build it. With it being screened for bugs it would also be a very usable room for us, so we would eat there regularly and interact with her. I’m also planning to equip it with toys, cat trees, etc.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Any ideas for what material to make the walls out of? I’d like it to keep bugs out and cats in. I also want it to keep the other neighborhood cats out. My vision is to make it in to a screened room, essentially, that can be used for eating on nice nights without bugs and that Blossom can explore and live in most of the time.

 

[daftcat75]

Any ideas for what material to make the walls out of? I’d like it to keep bugs out and cats in. I also want it to keep the other neighborhood cats out. My vision is to make it in to a screened room, essentially, that can be used for eating on nice nights without bugs and that Blossom can explore and live in most of the time.

I would just go down to the local hardware store and browse the materials they have or ask them. It sounds like a screen door/window screen type material is what you're looking for. I hope your cats aren't climbers because I think that material would tear. Maybe you could do it double pane with a more durable, chicken wire type covering with an inch gap between so claws don't go through the wire into the screen. For instance, if you were using 2x4's for the frame, you could put the screen on one side of the frame and the wire mesh on the other.

I want to build something similar for my Krista but I rent. I'm going to talk with the property manager this week when I renew my lease and see if they'd sign off on something that doesn't alter their deck structure that I can remove when I leave. But they are kind of sticklers about appearances. So I may have to get creative with panels I can hide and erect on demand.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

What are your thoughts on her living primarily in the catio? Living on a busy street and having raised her from such a young age I can’t stand the thought of her being a free range cat in the neighborhood. However, our whole family is allergic and our house has no way of isolating her into one place. The patio that we would be screening in is right next to the house (two of the walls are the walls of our house, and there are French doors from our family room to the patio).

The patio has ceiling fans, an outdoor table, and we will equip it with cat toys and shelves, etc.

We also plan to spend time out there every day, or bring her in (especially if it’s cold or hot outside.)

I’m very worried about her. It’s really overwhelming. I was a “no pets” person, but when I look in her trusting little eyes I just want to make sure she has everything she needs.

 

[FeebysOwner]

The key word in your question is "primarily" - so, hopefully, she can spend some time inside at varying times throughout the day/night. I hope the allergy shots will help immensely with this!!

Since you were considering screening in the patio anyway - would it be worth it to have that done by a professional who could help advise you on the strongest/most durable material to use for screening? There are also web sites that you can peruse for different types of screening if you are more interested in being the DIY kind of person.

Also, I don't know the structure of what you have, but with my (professionally done) screened in patio - there is a kick plate (1 1/2 - 2 feet tall) at the bottom, with the next level up being about the same height with screening, and then the final level being all screening to the ceiling. I am considering adding insert-able/removable plexi-glass to that second level to help with preventing any cat from clawing open the screening.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

We are planning on having it professionally done. If we could find a way to fence off part of the house for her, she could be in and out without much difficulty, but I’m not sure what gates to use. She already shows a lot of interest in climbing.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I don't know how elaborate you want to get, but if you were willing to 'sacrifice' using one of the French doors, you could add a cat door to one that enters right into a cat enclosure on the inside?

If not that, a cat enclosure you could roll to the door and let her into the enclosure that way?? Something like:

 

[LTS3]

If we could find a way to fence off part of the house for her, she could be in and out without much difficulty, but I’m not sure what gates to use.

Maybe something like this would work: Solid Hardwood Indoor Pet Enclosure - CatsPlay Superstore

What are your thoughts on her living primarily in the catio?

Where you do live? In a tropical-like climate year round it might be ok for a cat to live mostly outdoors in a catio as long as the cat also has free access to the house if she / he wants to go inside. The cat would also need a monthly parasite preventative. If it's only warm a few months of the year and winters are brutally cold, it's definitely not a good idea to have any pet live outdoors year round.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Maybe something like this would work: Solid Hardwood Indoor Pet Enclosure - CatsPlay Superstore



Where you do live? In a tropical-like climate year round it might be ok for a cat to live mostly outdoors in a catio as long as the cat also has free access to the house if she / he wants to go inside. The cat would also need a monthly parasite preventative. If it's only warm a few months of the year and winters are brutally cold, it's definitely not a good idea to have any pet live outdoors year round.

Thanks for the pet gate advice! I’ll look in to those.

We live in central California, the San Joaquin Valley. It is very hot in summer, and moderately cold in the winter. My perspective on these things might be a bit off. With the exception of my sister who lives in a much colder climate, everyone I know who has a cat has entirely outdoor cats. When I first rescued her that’s all I could imagine. But I want her to be safer than that. I know outdoor cats can survive in our climate (my wife had outdoor cats growing up who lived pretty long lives) but Blossom is becoming so accustomed to us and to the more protected human world that I want her to stay safe. The patio is pretty cool on hot days. I’d let her be an indoor cat entirely if it weren’t for the allergies. My wife and I haven’t had any allergies to her yet, but other family members who visit regularly are severely allergic. If I could keep her in the uncarpeted rooms and the catio, that would probably work.

 

[basscat]

Just use a good screen wire (you can get cheap thin stuff, or good thick stuff). You'll be money ahead going with quality screen wire.
I suggest silver color rather than black. Black is almost like a tinted window and looks better. BUT, it tends to make a small patio dark and uninviting on the inside...thus making a person not really want to spend time out there.
My little screened in patio WAS a high quality silver screen. It was 20 years old and was showing it's age...had a few sags in it where chairs or people or stuff had gotten up against it.
3 Years ago, in a great big hurry for an upcoming party, I renewed it with whatever Lowes had. It was a lower quality black screen (still metal screen though). And it looked awesome.....for about a year.....I'll be re-doing again as soon as I get a chance...and it's needed it for two years. Didn't even last a year before it's ugly, dark, shredded, holes in it, sagging...just cheap screen.
I hate even going out there, and used to love sitting out there about dark with a beer, and a cat waiting for our local fox to make his rounds.

 

[basscat]

THIS is high quality, silver screen. It's 45 years old and it's still in almost perfect condition. And it's taken the abuse of this cat for two years. He calmed down and stopped flying off the walls and climbing the windows a couple years ago. Which is good...that may be good screen, but, I doubt it'll handle a 50lb anything. This room has two walls of windows like that side by side (12 windows).
That's the type of screen I suggest.