I'd like to share some examples of custom cat furniture I've built for my gang. I really don't have the skills or equipment to do serious woodworking, but my cats seem to appreciate these basic things anyway.
First, we have plenty of cats and that means plenty of litter boxes. MommyCat and I used to share litter scooping duty, but when she was recovering from hip surgery I got the idea to "go vertical". It both saves space and reduces crouching and bending when scooping/changing the upper boxes:
The two levels are 2x5' solid aspen boards mounted with 6 2x4's 28 inches tall. The wall-facing edges have 1' aspen plywood boards as splash guards. The ramp is made from scrap plywood wrapped in carpet remnant and attached with a hinge (this allows us to swing the ramp up for easier access to the box directly underneath.) Since I took this picture, I've wrapped the posts in sisal rope for scratching and lined the platforms with removeable shelf liner.
Next, we've been renovating our back room and had to close the room to the cats for a while. As a grand re-opening present for them, I built a three-level bunk bed for their favorite spot at the patio window, and a smaller version of the litter platform. Here's a few of the cats enjoying it:
The three platforms of the bunk bed are blondewood pieces cut to 3x4' with 2' 2x4 legs. The beds are standard TopPaw's from PetsMart, the blankets and pillows are little things we picked up at Target. The smaller litter box platform is made from leftover 2' x 4' blondewood and additional 2x4's and aspen plywood sheets as splash guards.
This picture is a more complete view of this whole arrangement, with a ramp added between the two:
As before, since these pictures were taken I've added sisal rope to some of the 2x4's, shelf liners and additional splash guards to the litter platform.
I'd welcome any suggestions for improvements, ideas for other pieces, and of course descriptions and/or pictures of any custom pieces others have in their collection.
First, we have plenty of cats and that means plenty of litter boxes. MommyCat and I used to share litter scooping duty, but when she was recovering from hip surgery I got the idea to "go vertical". It both saves space and reduces crouching and bending when scooping/changing the upper boxes:
The two levels are 2x5' solid aspen boards mounted with 6 2x4's 28 inches tall. The wall-facing edges have 1' aspen plywood boards as splash guards. The ramp is made from scrap plywood wrapped in carpet remnant and attached with a hinge (this allows us to swing the ramp up for easier access to the box directly underneath.) Since I took this picture, I've wrapped the posts in sisal rope for scratching and lined the platforms with removeable shelf liner.
Next, we've been renovating our back room and had to close the room to the cats for a while. As a grand re-opening present for them, I built a three-level bunk bed for their favorite spot at the patio window, and a smaller version of the litter platform. Here's a few of the cats enjoying it:
The three platforms of the bunk bed are blondewood pieces cut to 3x4' with 2' 2x4 legs. The beds are standard TopPaw's from PetsMart, the blankets and pillows are little things we picked up at Target. The smaller litter box platform is made from leftover 2' x 4' blondewood and additional 2x4's and aspen plywood sheets as splash guards.
This picture is a more complete view of this whole arrangement, with a ramp added between the two:
As before, since these pictures were taken I've added sisal rope to some of the 2x4's, shelf liners and additional splash guards to the litter platform.
I'd welcome any suggestions for improvements, ideas for other pieces, and of course descriptions and/or pictures of any custom pieces others have in their collection.
