# Yes, it's for cats



## Ditchmonkey (Dec 2, 2014)

When I bought our house in the country this summer, I promised the GF that I would build an enclosure for her cats since the house sits pretty close to the road. I had a week off and my dad was game to help me out so we built this completely ridiculous cat structure. We had a good time doing it and the cats use it all the time. I've attached some photos.


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## Chris (Dec 2, 2014)

That's neat. I'm guessing it let's them outside but doesn't let them roam free?


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## nealtw (Dec 2, 2014)

I like it.:beer:


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## Ditchmonkey (Dec 2, 2014)

Chris said:


> That's neat. I'm guessing it let's them outside but doesn't let them roam free?



Yup you got it! In the photo of the "tower" attached to the house, the bottom of that attached to the existing cat door. One more photo with a couple cats chilling in the catwalk.


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## slownsteady (Dec 2, 2014)

Dude, I'm lovin it. make a video.


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## Chris (Dec 2, 2014)

No worried of coyotes I guess?


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## Ditchmonkey (Dec 2, 2014)

Chris said:


> No worried of coyotes I guess?



Yes, predators are definitely a worry as well. We have owls, raccoons, cougars, bears and everything else out here so the enclosure was for all-around safety.


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## johnv713 (Dec 2, 2014)

Hey that looks really cool.  Any animal lover is a friend of mine.


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## frodo (Dec 2, 2014)

oh...man!!!!!!!!    ditchmonkey  you are a cruel human being

my wife walked by the computer.  she likes it.

you do know what that means?


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## nealtw (Dec 2, 2014)

frodo said:


> oh...man!!!!!!!!    ditchmonkey  you are a cruel human being
> 
> my wife walked by the computer.  she likes it.
> 
> you do know what that means?



We will be waiting for pictures.:beer:


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## slownsteady (Dec 2, 2014)

Habitrail for cats...you heard it here first. So how would you refine this thang?


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## Chris (Dec 2, 2014)

By putting a price tag on it and setting it on a shelf.


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## havasu (Dec 2, 2014)

The cat probably wouldn't like a price tag on its butt.


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## zannej (Dec 3, 2014)

That is awesome!! I would love to have something like that (although I'd need a larger version since I have 14 cats who are used to roaming on a 32 acre farm). I wonder what it would take to snake-proof something like that.


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## slownsteady (Dec 3, 2014)

plexiglass..........................


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## JoeD (Dec 3, 2014)

> I wonder what it would take to snake-proof something like that.


One mongoose.


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## Ditchmonkey (Dec 3, 2014)

frodo said:


> oh...man!!!!!!!!    ditchmonkey  you are a cruel human being
> 
> my wife walked by the computer.  she likes it.
> 
> you do know what that means?



Don't be too sure who's human on this anonymous Intarwebz. Maybe I'm a cat, spreading cat propaganda to impressionable wives


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## Ditchmonkey (Dec 3, 2014)

zannej said:


> That is awesome!! I would love to have something like that (although I'd need a larger version since I have 14 cats who are used to roaming on a 32 acre farm). I wonder what it would take to snake-proof something like that.



So funny story. A couple of months after finishing this I was enjoying sleeping in on a fine Saturday morning when the GF burst into the room and says "Guess what! There's NEWTS in the cat enclosure!". The enclosure is right next to our little creek, and when the rains started the newts became active and started roaming. These newts are quite poisonous if ingested in any way - even licked. So anyway we recently installed quarter inch wire mesh, two feet tall, all around the base.


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## Ditchmonkey (Dec 3, 2014)

slownsteady said:


> Habitrail for cats...you heard it here first. So how would you refine this thang?



The main cage needs more features and places for the cats to hide and stalk moving things. Just a matter of money and time for that. Otherwise, just lots of little details. This particular project came together quite nicely and I'm pretty happy with it so no major changes desired. However, immediately prior to building this we built an enclosure for our rabbit as kind of a trial run for the cat thing, and I'm not nearly as happy with that. Mistakes were made! Like for example, who knew that when the rains really got going a spring would start running right in the middle of it. That's right, its a rabbit cage with indoor plumbing. You heard it here first.


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## slownsteady (Dec 3, 2014)

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzYO0joolR0[/ame]


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## slownsteady (Dec 3, 2014)

My first thought was a roof over the catwalk (it literally is a cat-walk!)


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## johnv713 (Dec 3, 2014)

A newt? 
Well I got better LOLOLOLOLOL


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## drewdin (Dec 3, 2014)

Thats pretty awesome!


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## nealtw (Dec 3, 2014)

Now we can have a contest on who can build the best cat run. Ditchmonkey can be the expert judge.:


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## frodo (Dec 3, 2014)

I am all for the contest.  BUT,   I am in the middle of a kitchen renovation,
funds,   [yes that nasty little matter of the evil green,]   are tied up in that project.


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## frodo (Dec 3, 2014)

zannej said:


> That is awesome!! I would love to have something like that (although I'd need a larger version since I have 14 cats who are used to roaming on a 32 acre farm). I wonder what it would take to snake-proof something like that.




14 cats.   that is officially a herd of cats


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## zannej (Dec 3, 2014)

frodo said:


> 14 cats.   that is officially a herd of cats



I used to have more. I lost four to cancer and another to a vet's failure to diagnose a critical injury. Plus a few just disappeared. An enclosure would make things so much nicer so I wouldn't have to worry about the cow chasing me when I go to get Captain Fluffy. LOL.


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## nealtw (Dec 3, 2014)

frodo said:


> 14 cats.   that is officially a herd of cats



A bunch of cats are a clowder.:beer:


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## frodo (Dec 4, 2014)

I looked it up!!  it is a clowder.  never "herd"  that word before.  :beer:


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## frodo (Dec 4, 2014)

captain Fluffy???


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## zannej (Dec 5, 2014)

frodo said:


> captain Fluffy???



We couldn't tell if she was male or female because she was too fluffy, so my sister named her.

Our cats mostly have interesting names. We used to have Prince Fuzzynuts, Moncheechee, Ralphus, and Durrface, but they are gone.

Currently we have (in chronological order):
1. Captain Fluffy
2. Assclown
3. Boo (a friend actually named him Jiggaboo as a joke-- and his brother that we didn't take home was Cracker)
4. Itsy
5. Bitsy
6. Ralphina
7. Kunta Kitteh
8. El Asso Wipe-o (aka L'asso)
9. Predicate
10. Nocturne
11. Imhotep
12. Ginger
13. Rupert
14. Mewlatto

The first two were left on our doorstep by their mother. The next 3 were ones we took off the hands of some elderly friends who were feeding feral cats in the neighborhood. The next 5 were Bitsy's kittens. Imhotep we found on the street about to get run over just before a hurricane. Ginger was one of the feral kitties who had a severe eye infection (she lost her eye). Rupert is her brother who had a severe ear infection and almost died (it affected his balance), and Mewlatto was out in the middle of the road in the woods lost and frightened.

And wow, I totally hijacked this thread. LOL.

But it really is a cool cat habitat, and I would love to see more habitat ideas.

Frodo, do you have a thread for your kitchen remodel?


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## frodo (Dec 5, 2014)

not really,   i have posted it on the what did you do today  , on the plumbers forum

my cats
bug                   ​ .. the shelter
lil bit                  ​..wondered up
calco                  ​ ...the shelter
the dude             ​.. rescued
rascal                 ​... rescued
grey bae bae       ​ ..rescued
big foot               ​ ​...rescued


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## drewdin (Dec 5, 2014)

I wish I had cool names for mine..

Bevelry - Stray - City I worked
Chelsea - Stray - City I found them

haha! I guess im not to creative


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## frodo (Dec 5, 2014)

drewdin said:


> I wish I had cool names for mine..
> 
> Bevelry - Stray - City I worked
> Chelsea - Stray - City I found them
> ...



them names are cool to me  .....


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## Ditchmonkey (Dec 6, 2014)

Our animals for the most part are named after figures from Greek and Roman Mythology..... and since my GF is from Germany we also have our giant rabbit Hasselhoff


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## zannej (Dec 7, 2014)

Ditchmonkey said:


> Our animals for the most part are named after figures from Greek and Roman Mythology..... and since my GF is from Germany we also have our giant rabbit Hasselhoff



That is awesome! And that really is a giant rabbit. I rescued a wild bunny from my rottweiler one day and raised it. The vet was shocked that the rabbit survived because the wild ones are apparently hard to keep alive. It wasn't too cuddly, but it would sit on my lap sometimes, take food from my hand, hop up on my desk, come over when I called, hop circles around me, and follow me around (I kept it in the house). I set up a rabbit run for it. 

Drewdin, Beverly and Chelsea are pretty names.


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## slownsteady (Dec 7, 2014)

We had a pet rabbit for years. When we got our kitten (Brandy), she used to try to hop like the bunny.


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## nealtw (Dec 8, 2014)

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4zKhJxJO34[/ame]


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## zannej (Dec 9, 2014)

Aww, poor kitty on the slide. Rabbits can be very cute. I've had a few over the years. I remember when my lop-eared rabbit had bunnies. My dad took them to his office to find homes for them. Everyone said "no". He had them in a box on his desk. He left his office for a few minutes to do something and when he came back the box was empty. Then he looked around and saw a bunch of macho law enforcement officers cooing over bunnies hopping on their desks. Those ones really were cute and fat-- some of them looked like bunny sumo wrestlers. They ended up being adopted rather quickly.

I'm a big softy when it comes to animals. Which is why the vet actually gave me a calf to raise. LOL.

I'll have to find the link again, but there is a millionaire who built a house with special stuff just for his 20 cats. Little passageways through the walls, spiral walk-ups, an outside area that was caged in so they could go outside (like the one in this thread), and all sorts of cool stuff.


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