Cats and Top Bunk (or Loft Bed)

We're getting Daughter a loft bed for her tiny 12'x15' room. Her cat Sparkle comes to her bed every morning to get loved up. We don't want this tradition to stop.

Does anyone have a loft bed or top bunk and do your cats get up there? Can they climb the ladder? Should we cover the ladder with carpet (that sounds kind of icky). Does anyone have experience with this? Thanks in advance!

What if you cover one of the poles with sisal so the kitty can climb up?

I too say cover the poles...

PS ... 12*15 is the AVE for a MASTER bedroom not at all tiny

I had no clue what a loft bed was until I looked on the net.

Perhaps you can get a 2x4 and cover it with carpet and somehow attach it to the foot of the bed at an angle so it acts like a ramp and the cat can walk up the ramp to the bed?

Originally Posted by sharky

I too say cover the poles...

PS ... 12*15 is the AVE for a MASTER bedroom not at all tiny

Click to expand...

Sorry, you're right! Her bedroom is 8'x9'. I was thinking of the kitchen.

I would die for a 12x15 kitchen!

As far as the bed, most cats can climb that high when they want to, but perhaps wrapping one of the posts in sisal may help them climb, or putting a chair or something near the bed so they can have a half way point to jump to / from?

Yeah, I would think the cat would find a way up Jumping on the dresser..etc...

My sons have bunkbeads and Kiara (who loves my oldest son) gets up on his top bunk. I honestly don't know how she does it but she is the smartest cat I have ever met.

I use to have a loft bed, I had a box as a jump step for Pandi to get on the bed............

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I had no clue what a loft bed was until I looked on the net.

Perhaps you can get a 2x4 and cover it with carpet and somehow attach it to the foot of the bed at an angle so it acts like a ramp and the cat can walk up the ramp to the bed?

Click to expand...

I like this ramp idea.

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

We're getting Daughter a loft bed for her tiny 12'x15' room. Her cat Sparkle comes to her bed every morning to get loved up. We don't want this tradition to stop.

Does anyone have a loft bed or top bunk and do your cats get up there? Can they climb the ladder? Should we cover the ladder with carpet (that sounds kind of icky). Does anyone have experience with this? Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

If you have space, maybe a floor-to-ceiling scratcher like the one in Gingersmom's post ("The bender continues")? Or a tall cat tree or scratching post nearby (Angelical cat has a 50-inch Tiger post -- we have this). Our guys are pretty adept at climbing bookshelves, dressers, so maybe regular furniture nearby is okay, too.

Thanks for all the suggestions! Wrapping the ladder with sisal sounds like an excellent idea, and would look nice. I'm not sure about the furniture arrangement yet, some things look good on paper but we'll see how they work in real life, so I don't know yet if there will be something for Sparkle to jump on to get to the bed. The cat tree idea is good, too, but I'm afraid would take up precious inches of space, as would a ramp...

This house (850 sq. ft.) was built in 1930 and evidently people didn't need much room or have many clothes back then! There are three tiny bedrooms (our king bed completely fills one of them), but the eat-in kitchen is a huge farm kitchen. I like small houses, though, it keeps the clutter down!

Thanks again for all the great ideas.

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

Wrapping the ladder with sisal sounds like an excellent idea, and would look nice....

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The FelineDesign guy sells sisal rope at bulk rate & ships US/Canada & will work with you to cut shipping cost, esp. if you get other stuff. He says his sisal is not treated w/ stuff harmful to cats :

http://www.felinedesign.net/ropeoffer.htm

P.S. You'll have to post a pic when it's all set up...esp. one w/ kitty mid-ladder-climbing

Wow, your house is little! Do you at least have a basement that can double that amount of space?

My 1 bedroom apartment is 950 square feet and I even find that cramped because of how it's designed...lots of space but not many "functional" walls or wall outlets. Three of my interior walls are just made out of panneling and are hollow inbetween the panel boards, so you can't even hang anything on them.

We have one of these in the spare bedroom for when the grandchildren stay.
All the cats can jump up onto the top bed
http://www.thekidswindow.co.uk/Selling.asp?product=3879

Originally Posted by whiskerynature

The FelineDesign guy sells sisal rope at bulk rate & ships US/Canada & will work with you to cut shipping cost, esp. if you get other stuff. He says his sisal is not treated w/ stuff harmful to cats

:

http://www.felinedesign.net/ropeoffer.htm

P.S. You'll have to post a pic when it's all set up...esp. one w/ kitty mid-ladder-climbing

Click to expand...

I bought a roll of sisal at either Canadian Tire or Home Depot and didn't pay any shipping

Thanks for the info on where to buy the sisal.

We do have an unfinished basement with washer and dryer and storage so that helps with space. The kitchen is about 1/4 of the house! There's also a big deck in the back, and a huge yard and garden.

I'll post pics when it's all done, probably in 4-6 weeks. I'm switching two of the rooms around - the playroom is becoming our bedroom, and our former bedroom is becoming a study. Playroom is being dissolved, hence the need for a loft.

I'll post pics of the garden soon, too.

Thanks again, everyone!

I stayed at a friend's cottage last weekend and stayed on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed. Her cat always sleeps on the top bunk. When I was sleeping there, the cat went up and down the ladder a few times in the night.

Also, my cat Fred loves to climb my 6ft step ladder whenever i have it out.

So she might just go up the ladder? That would be too simple!

Here's a pic of the little monkey, after destroying husband's iPod case.