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If your cat or cat constantly disappears in the closet, scratches the wallpaper or sofa, hides under the covers and this bothers you, try making a cat corner. A properly made house for a cat or a cat will be a favorite place to spend time. All kinds of cat corners, with and without scratching posts, are full in stores, but this is not the same at all … Made by yourself is better and more reliable … You can develop it personally for the needs of your pet.
Which option to choose?
Building a house for a cat is not so difficult, but you need to choose the right design. After all, I want something made with my own hands to be actively exploited, and not just standing there to collect dust. To make your cat or cat like the house, take a closer look at where the pet prefers to spend time, what he likes to do, where he prefers to relax – climbing higher or on the floor … In general, you need to select the design of the cat house based on the habits of your pets.
How to develop a design
The preferences of cats and cats may differ. For example, cats prefer houses with two entrances – in case of emergency evacuation of offspring. Therefore, many people like pipes or structures similar to them. At the same time, they do not like a hole that is too large, as it is necessary to feel in a shelter. Therefore, the entrance / exit to the house must be made not too large so that the pet can easily pass into it, but no more. And one more thing: not all cats like houses that stand on the floor – cats live in them with kittens. “Singles” prefer shelters at a height, although this is also not a fact, and depends on the habits of the individual.
Cats prefer to spend time at height, watching everything that happens around them. They rarely sit in the house, but on the playgrounds they can wallow for hours. If you have a cat, make more platforms, and of solid size – so that the animal can lie stretched out to its full height without the risk of falling. Railings, if needed, are only for the highest shelves and obviously not around the perimeter, but only from the back and a little from the sides. In general, males feel great even on sites without any fences: there are no fences on the trees. Railings are needed more for the peace of mind of the owners than for cats.
And by the way, there are cats who like to sit on the playgrounds no less than cats. So they also need viewpoints, just like cat houses. You never know, maybe he will be in a bad mood and he will decide to hide from you there. So yes, we have not simplified the task of choosing, but this is exactly the case – until you try, you will not understand what your pet needs.
What to add
When the owners say “cat house”, they usually mean a whole cat complex, in which, in addition to the house itself, there are playgrounds and a number of additional devices. Usually one or two sites are actively used, while the rest are only occasionally visited. But the fact is that you don’t know in advance what your pet will like.
Useful additions to the cat’s house are scratching posts and climbing frames. Scratching posts are vertical surfaces that are usually wrapped with natural fiber rope.
We recommend reading the article “How to make a scratching post for a cat with your own hands.”
Climbing boards are horizontal and inclined planks that cats can use to move from one level to another. Scratching posts, by the way, can also be used as climbing frames – the beast climbs to the upper tiers on them.
What else can be in a cat complex? Hammocks. Usually it is a piece of rectangular fabric, fixed on two crossbars. Another option is also possible – a rigid frame with a fabric sewn to it or a piece of fabric suspended at four corners from the site.
Some other cats like pipes. They are sewn from fabric, for rigidity a circle or an oval of wire is inserted into both ends. One end is fixed higher, the other is thrown down. The main thing is that a gap is visible at the end of the tunnel, otherwise you won’t lure the cat any tighter. It turns out a good place for an ambush, in which some furry hunters like to spend time.
There is another feature that cats like, but which not many people know about – clothes brushes nailed to vertical surfaces at about the level of your pet’s back. The bristles on the brush are artificial, of medium hardness. Try it, your pet will be happy!
Height selection
In general, the rule is true for cats – the higher the better. Therefore, the height of the house that you want to make with your own hands can be whatever you are ready to make it – even to the very ceiling. And no matter how many tiers it has, most often the top one will be occupied. And if there are several cats, there will be a “leader” at the top, and it is this place that will always be contested.
The minimum height of the cat corner is about a meter. Such low structures are safe even for kittens, however, they quickly grow up and then want to climb higher.
Wall options
Not even the largest house for a cat takes up about a meter of free space on the floor. It is not always possible to allocate such a space. For such cases, there are wall options for cat corners. Houses and platforms are attached to the wall in the chosen place by any available method. Where directly – with nails to the wall, somewhere with the help of brackets. Transitions are made between the fixed parts. From boards – straight and inclined, rope ladders, rungs are stuffed at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other, steps are made in the form of a ladder … In general, everything is limited only by your imagination.
Such wall corners for cats are also called shelves for cats, since the construction is very similar to traditional bookshelves. By the way, the furry ones love them very much and actively move around.
Choice of materials
The cat house, with all the additions, is usually assembled from construction debris. This is quite justified, because many (or all) surfaces of the finished structure will be sheathed with fabric, textiles, entangled with ropes, etc. So if there are leftover building materials, you can use them. There are two requirements for materials (all):
- They should not have a strong odor. In any case, one that perceives the human nose. Natural smells (wood, wool, etc.) do not count. If the material was recently purchased and there is a chemical smell, hold it outside to let it air out.
- Materials must not be electrified. Static discharges are very unpleasant for cats, so they do not like open plastic surfaces. Also, do not use silk.
All requirements, but there are still wishes. Do you want your cat to quickly and actively master the house? Soak building materials for a while in the house. They will be saturated with familiar smells, will be examined by a curious beast. The complex made “from settled” materials in the house will be accepted with greater favor.
Base materials
If you look at the photo, the cat house consists of different parts and they can be made from different materials. The list of basic materials is as follows:
- House (kennel): plywood, chipboard, thin boards, weaving from twigs, weaving from newspaper tubes;
- Vertical/Inclined Parts:
- round – a plastic sewer pipe, a paper (cardboard) pipe, on which linoleum is wound, a tree trunk, a wooden bar;
A cat house can also be made from a tree trunk - inclined – boards, chipboard, fabric;
- round – a plastic sewer pipe, a paper (cardboard) pipe, on which linoleum is wound, a tree trunk, a wooden bar;
- Hammocks – fabrics, ropes.
- Platforms – wood, chipboard, plywood. Wood can not be sheathed. It is enough to sand it (the best option from the point of view of cats), it can be coated with water-based varnish or impregnated with wood oil. Chipboard and plywood will have to be sheathed with textiles.
Explanations require only a tree trunk, as a material for a cat complex. Everything is literally: take a tree, clean it from the bark if it crumbles. Branches are used as stands for placing houses, playgrounds, baskets.
How to sheathe
A twisted rope made of natural fibers is suitable for arranging scratching posts: jute, linen, hemp, sesal, etc. Take a thicker diameter and several tens of meters at once – if the base is not wooden, you will have to wrap all the pipes with a rope.
Shelves and houses are sheathed with dense material with a short pile, usually carpet. The shorter and denser the pile, the better. Long and shaggy only look good, and while they are new – over time, dust, wool, various garbage fill up in them and the cat’s house becomes the cause of allergies (yours or cat’s).
The color of the upholstery is generally unimportant for cats – they do not react to colors. Therefore, you can choose “under the interior”, the most “practical” color, the color of the pet’s coat, contrasting with the cat’s coat … any.
Mount
In order for a do-it-yourself cat house to be safe, you should think about fasteners. It is undesirable to use self-tapping screws, since wool can cling to them, staples should not be used either – they can be dangerous for claws (both types of fasteners are suitable if they are covered with upholstery). It remains, in fact, only two types of fasteners: glue and nails, and the glue is only PVA. It is normally tolerated by cats, since after drying it does not smell. Ropes and upholstery are glued to it, and shelves, houses and everything else are nailed.
You can also make it safe to use self-tapping screws. Under the cap, drill a hole with a diameter greater than the diameter of the cap, install fasteners, cover with putty. Yes, just like in the manufacture of furniture, but what can not be done for the safety of the pet.
And one more thing: if the cat complex turned out to be too high, it is better to fix it. To the floor or to the wall, or both to the floor and to the wall. Otherwise, there may be problems – there were cases when cats brought down the structure.
Photo with dimensions
No matter how much they talk about the construction of a cat house, the best way to understand the dimensions is to allow drawings with dimensions. If you look closely at them, you will notice a solid run. This is understandable – there are large and small cats, respectively, and the size of the cat house will be larger / smaller. You can adjust them yourself depending on the size of your pets or the available area.
The height of the presented structures is rather big – 180 cm and above, but you can reduce it by removing the floors that you think are unnecessary. All these dimensions can be taken as a basis to develop your own layout, put down approximate dimensions. Having a drawing in hand, you can start purchasing materials and manufacturing.
Instructions for making a house for two cats
The family has two cats. The older one is an aggressor cat and the younger one is more mobile. Therefore, the design was designed so that the younger one could hide on the highest platform, and the older one, due to his weight, could not get there. They decided to place the house high, as both cats prefer height. They made it larger in size so that both individuals could be there at the same time.
For this design, thick furniture plywood (12 mm) 75 * 50 cm in size, poles made of timber 50 * 70 (4,2 m), jute-based carpet – 1 * 2,5 meters, 20 meters of rope were purchased. Fasteners – corners. For the house – 15 * 20 mm, for attaching platforms – 40 * 45 mm, 55 * 20 and 35 * 40 – for insurance, and a couple of large ones – for attaching to the wall.
We prepare the platforms and attach to the poles
There are three pillars in the chosen design: one is 220 cm, the second is 120 cm and the third is 80 cm. They will be attached to the plywood sheet base. On the base it is necessary to place the pillars so that the longest one is closer to the wall. In order not to confuse, when marking on a sheet, using a ruler and a pencil, they first drew a stencil on paper, on which the arrangement of the pillars relative to each other was applied. From the finished layout, the markup for installing pillars was transferred. They were fastened with long nails through the base (4 pieces each), having drilled holes of a slightly smaller diameter in the plywood. Then they were fixed outside with corners 55 * 20 for a large pillar and 35 * 40 for smaller ones.
Using the same template, on the platforms they marked the place where the pillars passed, then, according to the markings, holes were cut out for them. To do this, they took a 12 mm feather drill, drilled holes in the corners marked for the installation of squares, into which the jigsaw blade fits perfectly. From experience: it is better to make cuts under the pillars a millimeter or two more. Platforms are still held by the corners, and if you make the slot too small, you have to finish it with a file or sandpaper for a long time.
Before installing the platform, we “try on”, adjusting the slots if necessary. Having placed the platform horizontally (using the building level) at the desired level, mark with a pencil where the platform stands. According to this markup, we then set the corners, so that we make clear marks, from all four sides. When all platforms are properly installed, we upholster them with carpet.
Assembling the body of the house
Two pieces of plywood 75 * 50 cm cut into 4 rectangles. They made a roof, a floor and two side walls. During the manufacture of one of the shelves, a piece of plywood with a semicircular hole on the side was left. It was decided to make it an “entrance”, and the back wall was cut out from one of the pieces. It remains to assemble the house, which is not difficult at all. Small metal corners were used, which were fastened with short self-tapping screws.
Before covering the house with a roof, it was beaten from the inside, thus closing the fasteners and increasing comfort. Working inside the case is not so convenient, but you can handle it. The roof was beaten on both sides, after which it was fixed using the same corners, but placing them outside. Not very pretty, but not deadly. The finished house was fixed in the place allotted to it. The corners helped out again, but larger ones – 35 * 40 mm.
We wrap the poles
The last stage – we wrap the poles, making a scratching post. Fastening the rope to the pole is easiest with staples. A few staples and you’re done. Further, tightly pressing one turn to another, we wrap the pillars in a spiral. We reach the barrier, fix the rope with staples again and continue on the next section.
From experience, it must be said that no matter how hard they tried, the turns of the rope did not fit one to the other very tightly, over time, they “mellowed out” and began to “ride” up / down a little. Having done the work on the mistakes, they found a way: after laying a few turns, we knock them out with a hammer. Everything is simple, but if I knew in advance … That’s all, we made a house for a cat with our own hands. It took about 6 hours.
A similar design is seen in the video below.
House from a box and a T-shirt in two minutes
For the simplest and most budgetary option, a minimum of “ingredients” is required:
- Cardboard box of suitable size;
- Old T-shirt;
- Wide tape.
Of the tools you will need only a mounting knife and scissors.
Photos of interesting cat houses/complexes
Living for years next to us, cats become not just pets, but family members. I want to create all the conditions for them to be comfortable, so the owners are trying, inventing more and more new devices / designs. We have collected some interesting ideas in this section.
Additional video ideas
A house with a periscope and a scratching post for the cat Ryzhik.
Option using PVC pipes with a diameter of 100 mm.