Catio

In 2015 I built an outdoor cat enclosure, or “catio”, in our back yard. It’s something I’d wanted to build for a while, and finally convinced hubby the cats would [1] be safe from predators and [2] hidden from 99% of public view. We have a pretty small back yard and the 6’x6’x3′ catio takes up about 1/3 of it!:

It is connected to a cat door in the dining room window by a connector tunnel:

We shut the window [thereby closing off the catio] when we’re away from home and at night. Although sometimes we forget and Darwin spends a delirious spring, summer, or fall evening listening, smelling, and watching the world from the safety of his catio. During winter we keep the window [and therefore the catio] closed. Brrrrrr! I tried winterizing it once, but that didn’t so so well…

I started the build by clearing the corner of the yard where I wanted the catio to go:

Then building the frame, staining it, and securing it in the yard:

Next up was cutting & nailing down shelf slats on the catio’s 3 levels, leaving space for the cats to move between levels:

Then adding outdoor cushions:

Installing a clear polycarbonate roof:

And stapling chicken wire to the frame:

Then building & installing shelf ramps. I had to get into the catio to install the middle one!:

I built a door large enough so I could access any part of the catio in an emergency:

And finally built & installed the connector & set up the cat door in the dining room window:

Darwin figured out the cat door almost immediately. Here is his inaugural trip through the cat door into the connector, and then into the completed catio:

Bonkers [RIP buddy!] took a bit longer:

Darwin LOVES it, and Bonkers, when he was alive, loved it as well. They both spent many spring, summer, & fall days and evenings out there:

It’s definitely big enough for social distancing:

The total cost of the build came to $989! About double what I’d planned on… But I learned so much and the cats love it so much that it has been worth every penny. If I had to build it over again, I’d use pressure treated wood. I didn’t use it the first time around because arsenic, but the cats don’t exactly gnaw on the wood, so I don’t think it would be an issue.

Upkeep:

In May 2017 parts of the catio got a fresh coat of stain:

While the chicken wire was off for the re-staining I built and installed a sleeping box:

And instead of reinstalling the chicken wire, which can be sharp, I used 1×2″ welded wire:

In May 2018 the welded wire required a few more staples [I now know it’s easier to use screws and fender washers to attach welded wire… next time!]:

This year the catio desperately needed more stain:

I didn’t remove the wire this time, I just did my best by dabbing stain through the wire and by crawling into the catio a couple of time to get the slats. Much better:

The catio has been my favorite project since starting this blog in 2013. And has definitely been extremely popular with Darwin, and Bonkers when he was alive. Birdie, our girl cat, refuses to even acknowledge it. I have tried to put her in it a few times but she races back in through the cat door, glares at me, and stalks away.

It has been a rousing success for 5 years and is still going strong! I took these pics today: