For people who want their cats to be outdoors, but safe.

15 years ago

About 1 1/2 years ago 3 feral kittens were born under our house, just a couple months after losing our Jaz. We had not planned on adopting any more fur babies because the pain of losing Jaz, especially for me since I had her 9 years before I met my partner, was just too great. Of course the circle of life goes on, so when the neighbor stumbled across a 4 week old black kitten she knew where to bring him. My partner fell in love with the handsome little boy, so we asked the neighbor if she found his siblings to bring one over as we wanted him to have company when we are gone. Instead she brought 2, and we could not bear the thought of breaking the siblings up. So now we have Merlin, the big and handsome mini panther he is, and his 2 sisters, Tau the tuxedo and Alexa the white with black spots. Merlin and Tau are medium hair and Alexa short hair.

So being feral born the need for them to be outside was unavoidable. For awhile I put them on a leash/harness and one of those tethers that people use for dogs. You screw the anchor into the ground and attach a long tether, about 20 feet. Tau loved to go on walks with me so she was easy to train. We get stopped quite often in our park asking how I did that.

Ok, so back to my point lol, Tau wanted to be outside ALL the time, and she knows exactly how to get under my skin, with her cute little meow and tapping of her tiny little paw. Soon all wanted out, and you try herding 3 cats and keeping them untangled. Then watch them lunge at bugs and birds only to be jerked back by the tether. It was getting old really fast. We had moved up to another lot, bigger house, bigger back yard but no money to fence it in. Our solution was an enclosure. One of our neighbors was a handy man so for $125 dollars he built and enclosure, just a 6x6x8 foot. I bought the supplies he needed. Alexa and Merlin were happy, and so was Tau once she figured out they could stay out all night. It was built with three sides attached to the house on the master bathroom window which was right out to the back yard, and the window was the size of a cat door, perfect. It also hand a roof of course. Tau still wanted out, it wasn't big enough for her, so I almost had enough supplies, had to buy some more lumber though, to add on to it. I doubled the size, and now everyone is happy. The fur kids get a lot of exercise jumping up and running around chasing the bugs. I still take Tau for walks, she is my side kick and reincarnation of Jaz (another long story for another time).

First picture is the original size, the second is the new size. I'll also include a link if you want too look at the other pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our 3 Feline furkids

Comments (10)

joepyeweed
15 years ago
Thats really awesome!

So do you open and close the window for them. Do they wait by the window for you to open it?
kendal
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi joey,

It's open all the time; they get to come and go as they please. The window is much too small for any human to get through, but before we go on any vacations we will buy a lock for the enclosure door. Besides we always have a family member come and house sit for us when we leave for more then a couple days.
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kendal
Original Author
15 years ago
Here is a picture of what it looks like from the outside, and before I built on the addition.

{{!gwi}}
joepyeweed
15 years ago
Can you grow some climbing plants or vine on one side of that enclosure? You'd have to pick a plant that wouldn't make your babies sick if they decide to chew on it...
socks
15 years ago
Lucky kitties. Very nice.
sally2_gw
15 years ago
That's a great idea. Thanks for sharing.

Sally
lilliepad
15 years ago
That is a nice enclosure.Hopefully I'll have one for my kitty soon.One thing I noticed that you may not have thought about.It looks like it is just sitting on the ground?? I would put wire on the bottom too to prevent the possibility of "something" digging under and anchor it some way into the ground.You never know what wild animal or even someone's dog might try to dig under to get to the cats.Just a thought.
melly_pwnz
15 years ago
Really nice idea. I'm sure your kitties loveee you.

Question though, is there a cat door attached to the window somehow? If not I imagine you're getting a lot of bugs...
-Melly
irishdancersgram
15 years ago
That is wonderful...What a great way to solve the problem with these "want to be outside" cats....I have 1 fur baby that thinks he's missing something and sticks his nose out the door when it's open...I usually hold him when I take him out and his little heart beats so fast...The other 2 babies run other way when the door is open...All mine were born feral, great pets....I also loved all the pictures....
lbr333
15 years ago
good for you! it makes such a difference for some kitties. i've known fellas who didn't care whether the door was open or not, but there are others who just HAVE to be out, and enclosures like yours are definitely the solution....

i used to work for a company called The Cat's Den....she created a whole business on this concept....and it sells very well....you can pick an existing design, or custom make something from the size of the preverbial breadbox to enormous castles with runs and tunnels that have more square footage then my home!! and most of the time, people do choose to put a cat door in a window and attach the enclosure to that window.....then they can come and go as they please....

the cat's den products are pretty pricey for most of us, but i still encourage people to do whatever they can if they have a cat who pines for the outdoors.....while i was working for the cat's den, i heard so many feedback stories about the behaviour changes in cats that suddenly were given outdoor access again.....even overall health can improve....

i'm sure you'll see the benefits, too!!

lisa

p.s. using cedar planks not only allows it to survive most climates, but it acts as a flea deterrent while they're outside....sorry.....can you tell i used to be her sales rep? :) i'm really not pushing the company......just the idea.....honest!!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Cat's Den