Outdoor Cat Enclosure (Pictures Included)

Put the finishing touches on the cat enclosure today, it's not as "homey" as I'd like - but it's safe enough for it's first occupant.

The Chairman Squishy Meow in all his 15 - 18 year old big fat glory. He promptly sprayed each post.

The enclosure is 5'7" high....one inch too short for me to stand up. It's 6'W x 12'L. The shed is approximately 12 x 12. I used a variety of treated lumber, some 2x4s, some 2x6s, and I think there's a few 2x8s in there....whatever we had on hand. I also used your "basic" chicken wire, we also had it on hand with no label on it.

Looking out into the enclosure from the shed



Their outdoor/tree scratcher - all I could get for now



Squishy's favorite bench



Looking back at the shed & the door from the enclosure to the shed - will have to do some work to get it winterized once it gets colder



The crappy part of it all (he sprayed the room sized rug I had to put in there beyond belief ) - the shed. It has bare basics for now, food, water, litterbox, toys/scratcher, & blankets/bed.



Happy cat has dirt - dirty cat = happy cat



Someone else wanted to make a step up - this is an hour's worth of handy work, bricks are secured together - this way they also can't dig under the shed



Side view from outside



The end with the doorway (note the door - will make it easier to open when it snows)



The other side




....and I only wish we had made it bigger!!!

For pictures of Squishy, click here

You can always enlarge it later, add on little rooms as you go.
That is fantastic Natalie. You did a super job. Those lucky cats.

I bet Squishy is happy to be out there, too.
He sure seems to be letting everyone know it belongs to him

Originally Posted by Pami

You can always enlarge it later, add on little rooms as you go.
That is fantastic Natalie. You did a super job. Those lucky cats.

I bet Squishy is happy to be out there, too.

He sure seems to be letting everyone know it belongs to him

Click to expand...

Oh man! Nat - you are a kitty angel!
That is truly awesome!!!! Congrats!

Nat - that is AMAZING! GREAT JOB! You must really be excited about the project being mostly finished. I threw an idea for winter warmth in the thread about FaFeena in the health forum.

I know you're worried about Winter temps out there.... we have issues insulating the RV, because it's up off the ground. The RV itself is well insulated - but that wind whipping underneath can suck it right out. What we do is purchase that thick, pink foam insulation (not the fluffy stuff, the stiff stuff that's essentially weather resisitant) and line the outside of the RV with it from the bottom of the frame down. It comes in panels - I don't know how many it would take to go 'round the shed, but I don't think it would cost too much. We just use duct tape to secure it in place and goo gone to get rid of the sticky stuff the tape leaves behind when we take it down. You should be able to reuse the panels - probably for a couple of years, at least. ?????????????? And if you tape something over that large opening in the shed to make the opening smaller - that would help keep heat in there in the winter. And perhaps start savng now for one of those little portable propane heaters. Again - just brainstorming here.

And you can build more levels in there REALLY cheaply by buying a bunch of those large plastic storage boxes, stacking them in a pyramid along one wall in the shed - and cutting holes in them so they can go all the way through - and cut some holes that go up as well. Toss in a few cat beds or old carpet or whatever here and there...

Nat - they're going to be in kitty heaven! (Once they get over being pissed about being contained! )

But that is SO COOL Nat!

Natalie, that is fantastic! Very nice!

I have one sheet of that pink insulation on hand - using it as a lid to the former temporary Squishy enclosure in the garage. Men & their solutions to things!

As for insulation - we've discussed insulating the shed a few times - but again, I must light a fire under someone's arse to get it done (need more dog houses built, too - that's the first project). We'll be splitting the shed eventually, they'll only have about 6' x 10' inside the shed....has to be done by winter, as that's where we feed the "free range/semi-feral" farm cats come winter.

Planning ahead now - making a list of things I need like heated beds, another heated water bowl, etc.

Was this made for the spraying cats? Pretty nice job, but one question - is the fenced in part have a fence on the top so no one can climb out of it?

Very nice. You can always add onto it later, as I am doing with my big cats

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Was this made for the spraying cats? Pretty nice job, but one question - is the fenced in part have a fence on the top so no one can climb out of it?

Click to expand...

The enclosure itself has a lid on it. The other fenced in part is a dog kennel (for foster puppies). While also attached to the shed, the door leading from the shed into the dog kennel has been sealed.

I WANT ONE!!!! MAKE ME ONE!!!! It's really nice- looks just like something any cat would adore! And that's incredibly clever with the door raised- makes a ton of sense to do that!

Wow! Your cats are sure lucky, Nat. That enclosure looks awesome!

Fantastic job!

I love the pics too!

That's so awesome If I ever have land of my own I would love to do something like that.

Looks great Nat You sure have some spoilt kitties

Thought I'd dig this thread back up with some updated pictures. Fafeena & Squishy *love* their enclosure. I let them out for some walk around time (I'm afraid they won't be happy kept contained 24/7) today since I was home - I found them both asleep, one in the shed attached to the enclosure, one in the enclosure - with the door wide open. Apparently they weren't so excited to come out yet!

Planning to put some shelves up in the outdoor part for starters, so they can have a better view. Also going to install a bird feeder nearby for some kitty TV. Considering putting mulch or something down for ground cover, if it rains hard it gets pretty yucky & Fafeena doesn't like to get her paws dirty.

The enclosure



The residents





And - also put this together today for the inside kitties. It's not too fancy at all, but so far *knock on wood* it's been escape proof for the outdoorsy inclined two (Molly & Margo - with access to an outdoor enclosure they don't door dart). I'm working on making something that looks less.....trashy. But in the meantime I used an old dog exercise pen & zip tied some wire on the top.

I don't suggest you put mulch down. I have pine mulch in my front flower bed and every cat in the neighborhood seems to think it's a litter box. That is unless you want them to poop in it - but, be warned that mulch isn't fun to dig poop out of.

Squishy's very big on marking territory - he sprays & poops anywhere he deems to be "his". So yeah, I clean the dirt regularly, it would need to be something easily cleaned.

Make a box at one end with mix of a softer mulch and peat moss and use a easy grow grass mixture appropriate for the lighting it in the rest of the enclosure. That should draw his attention to the nice easy to dig spot and give the grass some time to grow. Or you could sow it with oat grass (commonly used as cat grass)... the stuff seems to grow a couple inches a day. You could even plant it full of catnip, that would be interesting!

Wow Nat! You did an amazing job!