Last time I worked on the cat platforms in the upstairs hallway was back in September, when I rearranged the configuration.
However, due to some unfortunate circumstances involving Bonkers infiltrating the living room alcove, which was Birdie’s only real “safe zone”, she has taken to spending more time on the upstairs hall cat platforms. The main platform is currently a bit crowded with her litter box, food and water:
The litter box USED to sit on the little platform to the left of the window, but last week we were woken up by a HUGE crash – Birdie tipped the box trying to bury her treasure [she’s capsized the laundry room box, too, so that’s my best guess as to what happened to the upstairs box] and the entire thing crashed to the floor, taking 2 huge jade plants with it… Birdie was fine – she jumped to the main platform in time. She didn’t even seem phased by it. But what a mess!!! Dirt, jade leaves, litter, and plant pot shards spread all over the floor. That was fun to clean up… I was so upset by my poor jade plants that I didn’t even take a picture… just hauled the Shop-Vac up from the basement and got to work.
So after work today I sporadically decided to build a NEW platform which will reach from the edge of the little platform over to the wall [that white mess on the left is my best attempt at drawing a shelf in MS Paint]:
This will create more space for us to put the litter box and her food & water, and give her more space to spread out. Darwin and Birdie both love to sprawl on the main platform, enjoying the summer breezes coming in through the window. But there’s no room for that right now. As a side note, I plan to secure the litter box in it’s new location with bungee cords so she can’t tip it over again!
So I took some measurements and headed down to the basement cage and cut a piece of ¾” plywood into an 8″ x 37¼” shelf:
I could have used my circular saw, but for smaller jobs I prefer to use my hand saw.
The edges were a bit rough, so I touched them up with my power sander:
After that, I washed down the new platform to remove any sawdust and dirt, and put on a couple coats of primer:
Tomorrow after work I’ll put on 2 coats of paint, and Wednesday after work it should be ready to hang!
You are so good to your cats! I was going to suggest that you build low sides to the shelf so that the litter box would sit more securely, but the bungee cords will work too and are probably easier.