Show Us Your Catios.

Norachan

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We have threads for cats outside on walks and threads for cat in their cat trees, but we don't have a thread for pictures of catios and enclosures yet.

I thought I'd start a thread where we can show each other pictures of our cats enjoying their catios, share ideas for building enclosures and inspire anyone who might be thinking of making one for their cats.

:hyper:
(Sorry, it's going to be a very picture heavy thread.)

We have a fairly big yard with lots of trees.
Garden40_R.jpg
Garden211_R.jpg
Garden253_R.jpg

The fence has gone through a few modifications. It's made of wooden posts and deer netting with a wider steel mesh at the top
Garden127_R.jpg

It's held up pretty well apart from when trees get knocked down. It is easier to repair now that I've got my own chain saw to get the fallen trees off the fence before any of the cats escape.
Garden78_R.jpg

All of the cat furniture is home made from scraps of wood and recycled material.
Garden84_R.jpg

The cats don't care how ugly my carpentry looks.
Garden254_R.jpg

A few pictures of the residents. Carpet on her favourite perch.
Carpet64_R.jpg

Freya and Marley.
Freya74_R.jpg

An old shot from a few summers ago. This cat tree has been moved around and repaired a few times. It's about ready to be recycled altogether now, but it's still one of their favourites.
Group18_R.jpg

Marley and Jiro.
Marley48_R.jpg

Sophie
Sophie66_R.jpg

Toby.
Toby96_R.jpg

Freya.
Freya79_R.jpg


Can't wait to see some pictures of your catios.

:heartshape:
 
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CatLover49

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We have threads for cats outside on walks and threads for cat in their cat trees, but we don't have a thread for pictures of catios and enclosures yet.

I thought I'd start a thread where we can show each other pictures of our cats enjoying their catios, share ideas for building enclosures and inspire anyone who might be thinking of making one for their cats.

:hyper:
(Sorry, it's going to be a very picture heavy thread.)

We have a fairly big yard with lots of trees.
View attachment 381930View attachment 381931View attachment 381932
The fence has gone through a few modifications. It's made of wooden posts and deer netting with a wider steel mesh at the top
View attachment 381933
It's held up pretty well apart from when trees get knocked down. It is easier to repair now that I've got my own chain saw to get the fallen trees off the fence before any of the cats escape.
View attachment 381934
All of the cat furniture is home made from scraps of wood and recycled material.
View attachment 381935
The cats don't care how ugly my carpentry looks.
View attachment 381936
A few pictures of the residents. Carpet on her favourite perch.
View attachment 381937
Freya and Marley.
View attachment 381938
An old shot from a few summers ago. This cat tree has been moved around and repaired a few times. It's about ready to be recycled altogether now, but it's still one of their favourites.
View attachment 381939
Marley and Jiro.
View attachment 381940
We have threads for cats outside on walks and threads for cat in their cat trees, but we don't have a thread for pictures of catios and enclosures yet.

I thought I'd start a thread where we can show each other pictures of our cats enjoying their catios, share ideas for building enclosures and inspire anyone who might be thinking of making one for their cats.

:hyper:
(Sorry, it's going to be a very picture heavy thread.)

We have a fairly big yard with lots of trees.
View attachment 381930View attachment 381931View attachment 381932
The fence has gone through a few modifications. It's made of wooden posts and deer netting with a wider steel mesh at the top
View attachment 381933
It's held up pretty well apart from when trees get knocked down. It is easier to repair now that I've got my own chain saw to get the fallen trees off the fence before any of the cats escape.
View attachment 381934
All of the cat furniture is home made from scraps of wood and recycled material.
View attachment 381935
The cats don't care how ugly my carpentry looks.
View attachment 381936
A few pictures of the residents. Carpet on her favourite perch.
View attachment 381937
Freya and Marley.
View attachment 381938
An old shot from a few summers ago. This cat tree has been moved around and repaired a few times. It's about ready to be recycled altogether now, but it's still one of their favourites.
View attachment 381939
Marley and Jiro.
View attachment 381940
Sophie
View attachment 381941
Toby.
View attachment 381942
Freya.
View attachment 381944

Can't wait to see some pictures of your catios.

:heartshape:
Sophie
View attachment 381941
Toby.
View attachment 381942
Freya.
View attachment 381944

Can't wait to see some pictures of your catios.

:heartshape:
Such sweet precious kitties
I love your catios
They're awesome
You have some great ideas
Lucky kitties:)
 

Willowy

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Huh, thought I had more pictures, this is the only one I can find. I'll take more tomorrow if it's sunny. There have been a few updates too:
20200702_204752.jpg


Thos are 5' x 6' dog kennel panels, 3 on this end, 4 on the sides, so it's 15' x 20'. The panels were $60 each when I bought them, and the door panel was $80, so the panels cost $680, plus the netting, strapping, screws, and zip ties. It was probably just under $1000 for everything but I didn't keep strict account. There's a plastic garage shelving unit in the middle to hold the netting up, I had those in storage from my last house but they cost about $20-$30 each. Also a pile of sand and pea gravel in one corner for a litter area.
 
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Norachan

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That's a really nice spot under those big shady trees.

Is it pegged down into the ground too? One problem I had with my enclosure is wildlife trying to dig their way in under the fence.
 

Willowy

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The mesh on the bottom (but I notice the outside mesh isn't up yet in this pic, oops) is tacked into the ground on both sides, to prevent digging in or out. It's just plastic but it's pretty tough plastic, haven't had any trouble yet.
 
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Norachan

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We had what I think must have been a boar digging under one corner of our enclosure. I don't think he was interested in the cats, probably just looking for grubs and beetles. I've pegged the netting down with metal hooks, but boar are pretty serious diggers.

:lol:
 

betsygee

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Beautiful place, Norachan Norachan but tough terrain to enclose!

Nice job on yours W Willowy , I love the grassy area.

We had a long narrow area at the back of our house that we converted into a catio. There isn't a lot of room for toys but at least they can get outside into the sun. The box on the left is an enclosed litter box.

Screen Shot 2021-05-28 at 6.51.58 AM.png
Screen Shot 2021-05-28 at 6.48.47 AM.png
 

Willowy

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Ok, went out and took some pics. It's cold, damp, and gloomy today, so they aren't bright but good enough I think. That's also why no cats are outside, lol. The short platforms are made of the same cheap plastic shelving units, just a couple shelves not the whole thing.
20210528_201458.jpg


Here's the main "tentpole". It's held to the ground with tent stakes, and I drilled holes in the platforms so there's no standing water. The box has a plush throw in it in case the kitties want to sleep in a bed outside.

20210528_201512.jpg


This is how I did the mesh on the ground to prevent digging. In the middle-ish you can see a landscape tack holding it down:

20210528_201548.jpg


On the outside, the grass (and leaves and clippings) has pretty much grown over the mesh. The kitties are a bit hard on the grass inside, plus last year was very dry which didn't help.


20210528_201604.jpg


Oh, I forgot to get pictures of how I secured the door, because the openings seemed too big. I'll get more pics tomorrow.
 
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Norachan

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That's a great idea, using shelving units as cat shelving. I guess you don't get much snow in your area? I started off using netting for the overhang part of my fence, but it all collapsed the first winter we were here. :cringe: I switched to steel wire with a larger mesh the next year. That lets the snow fall through, rather than accumulate on top of the fence.

Fence3_R.jpg
 

Willowy

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I was concerned about snow but it hasn't been a problem so far. Maybe the trees sift it enough for it to fall through the mesh. After the one big snow we had last winter I went inside and poked the netting to make the snow fall through and that worked too. It may not hold up to a foot or more but that's fairly rare nowadays.
 

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I put a small catio attached to the cat room window. I had planned to build more with tunnels but we have been dealing with a put bull lately so when I built the second section, I put it on wheels and have it inside for now. Lol It’s become a great play and napping area until I figure out how to keep that dog outside my fence! It’s a five foot fence and he’s not digging under it. Unh.
I have to keep mosquitoes out because of heart worms being a risk , especially to Bj. I used mesh hardware cloth to keep snakes out. Because this is open to inside, the plastic keeps the rain out of the cat room. The cats are loving them!! The outside one is only used when I can guard from that dog though.
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BJ likes the cat cave on the top floor. There are three levels and lots of shelves and places to watch the world.
F45414CE-75D5-4F3A-B284-35CDA3289019.jpeg

Lady likes to take naps there.
BD359D39-D04A-4344-84DF-EE519C9997E8.jpeg

I hope to expand a lot later. I bought enough wooden screen doors to use as a wall all the way around my front porch so I can just open the windows and the cats will have the whole area to run around. The doors were only 32 dollars each! Like prefab panels! I just have to build the frame to support them and add the hardware cloth. Much less expensive than buying that much lumber separately. Still working on it all but so far, so good!
 
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Norachan

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Nice work Jcatbird Jcatbird That looks really good. Sorry to hear you're being bothered by a pit bull. Do you know who's dog it is?
 

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Yes. I know who owns him. I got confronted by the dog inside my fence. He barked but I just talked to him and managed to get past to open the gate. It took awhile and I kept calling out to the people I thought were his owners but they didn’t hear me. I guess. I was able to convince the dog to go and I followed him home where I talked to his humans. At first I got kind of a cold reception but I let them know I am animal friendly but just wanted the dog to stay out of my yard. I let them know county laws and that I didn’t want the dog hurt in the road. The people warmed up and eventually introduced me to the dog. He even came and licked me. At which point I explained to the dog that I wasn’t big enough to make a good meal! Lol He was sweet enough to me but his owner said he is trained to hunt. They say he won’t hurt cats but the owners Dad said he might so..... trying to keep the peace but also need the dog to stay away. Someone else already reported the dog for coming after their dog. These people just moved in a few months ago but they also lived here back when there were all those problems in the area and I was having to rescue the colony. The dog has shown up almost every day! He drinks all the water from the bird bath and I can see he is hungry. Owner said he is always hungry. I am taking pictures and video of him to document him roaming freely and barking at me here in my yard. Just in case. Poor dog....neglectful humans. If I do talk to the people again, I am going to encourage them to give the dog a dogio to wander around in outside! I’ll even help them build it! As much as I don’t want the dog here, I fear he is in a very bad situation. That dog could easily demolish any catio. I dare not let the cats into it without guarding them. Very frustrating. On the flip side though, they are enjoying the one I put inside! Lots more vertical space. I’ll probably go ahead and put a couple more together inside for now. The cats have their own wheels now! No drivers licenses though. :lol:
 

Maria Bayote

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Beautiful place, Norachan Norachan but tough terrain to enclose!

Nice job on yours W Willowy , I love the grassy area.

We had a long narrow area at the back of our house that we converted into a catio. There isn't a lot of room for toys but at least they can get outside into the sun. The box on the left is an enclosed litter box.

View attachment 382254View attachment 382255
Very nice. Your Tuxedo cat clearly loves its photos taken. LOL. So cute.
 
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Norachan

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The dog has shown up almost every day! He drinks all the water from the bird bath and I can see he is hungry. Owner said he is always hungry
Poor dog! That's so upsetting when people don't take proper care of their animals. It's against the law to have a dog off the leash anywhere in Japan except for designated doggie parks, so most of the dogs we see around here are under control. I have occasionally seen people letting their dogs off the leash when they're walking though. I guess they think it's safe in such a rural area.

I painted some little signs (In my most polite Japanese :tongue:) to put at each end of the lane I live on. My cats are enclosure only, (except for the boys who have worked out how to get out over the roof) but my neighbor's cat goes out into her front yard and there are two friendly feral boys that come to be fed every day. The sign warns people that cats are living down this lane and asks them to keep the dogs on a lead. I have a feeling some dog owners come this way just to let their dogs see the cats though. :ohwell:

I've been trying to air all the straw from the outdoor cat kennels today. Carpet had a lot of fun rolling in it.
Carpet77_R.jpg
Carpet78_R.jpg
Carpet83_R.jpg
 
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Norachan

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I was cleaning up around the sheds this week and realised I had the makings of another cat tree. An un-used winter tire rack and some spare bits of wood. It's practically a cat tree already. I just had to cut the timber to size and join it all together.
TreeHouse59_R.jpg

It was the first time I'd made a ramp rather than steps as a way up. It was much quicker than trying to line up all the steps once I'd decided what angle they needed to be at.

(Excuse the mess, we're half way though building another climbing wall.)
TreeHouse62_R.jpg

I couldn't drill directly into the metal tire stand, so I made a kind of hook like this to hold the ramp in place. That made it much easy to adjust once the whole thing was finished.
TreeHouse61_R.jpg

Looking more like it once it had been painted.
TreeHouse63_R.jpg

Freya and Twinkle were the first ones up.
TreeHouse66_R.jpg

Twinkle found the cat nip.
TreeHouse68_R.jpg

Then Hiro had a go.
TreeHouse70_R.jpg
 

Rhall

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We have a small foldable pet house that we have been using for the cats, but I think I have my husband convinced to build a little something that they could access through our patio door against the house. We will have to make an insert for the door to block the open part with a small cat opening. I'm thinking maybe something 8x6 ft or something like that.
 
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Norachan

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Is it a sliding patio door Rhall Rhall ? I have an insert that I bought for our sliding doors. Looks a bit like this.

1623933397936.png


The top and bottom panels are adjustable so it will fit into a sliding door frame of any height. They sell them in Home Depot and those kind of stores.
 

betsygee

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Is it a sliding patio door Rhall Rhall ? I have an insert that I bought for our sliding doors. Looks a bit like this.

View attachment 384707

The top and bottom panels are adjustable so it will fit into a sliding door frame of any height. They sell them in Home Depot and those kind of stores.
We had one of those, too, worked great.
 
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