Homemade Cat Jungle

Here's a drawing of a cat jungle I "designed." Sorry, but I'm not much of an artist.

A friend said he'd construct it for me. My questions are, what types of materials that we should use? I know the obvious such as plywood, but what about the posts? I would like to use something that's round so it would be easy to attach the carpet. Which type of rope would hold up best to claws? Sisal? Jute? Nylon? Are there certain types of materials I should stay away from? I certainly don't want to use anything potential toxic or harmful. Would appreciate your input on both material and design.

Wow, somebody's cats are going to be in heaven once that's built!

I would use sisal for the rope. As far as the other materials, I don't know what to recommend (or not).

Best of luck!

I would try to avoid anything nylon, as for the carpet I would suggest to use different kinds from "shag" to a short nap. This will give greater variety and therefore a more interesting "Tree"!

Make sure it is balanced so it won't tip over. I think you will spend a lot of time trying to get toys out from under it too! I think is is a grand design and wish I had a handy friend to make one for me!

ohhhh that looks like fun!! Sisal rope and carpet is good things to use!

Wow - your cat sure are going to be happy campers.

Definately get sisal but instead of Sisal rope try and get Sisal Carpet. I have a scratching post that is covered in Sisal carpet and my boy who is an avid user has not been able to put a dent into it in the past 3 yrs.

Here is a website that provides step by step instructions including all the building materials.
Maybe that will give you ideas.

http://feline-furniture.tripod.com/#diy

Good luck!!

omgosh that is so cool

Wow! Let us know how it turns out - pictures, too!

That looks like a very cool one!

That looks really cool, your cats will love it.

Awesome cat tree design. I wish I had a place big enough for one like that.

can't wait for the finished tree and detailed instructions on how you did it

Actually, I don't think it's going to be all that big. The base was constructed last night out of 3/4" plywood. It's about 42" long and 24" wide. There's a lot of new construction going on here, sadly enough. (They're consuming just about every inch of vacant land to be found. but that's a gripe for another post.) Anyway, my friend, Larry, talked to one of the contractors, and was told he could have all the scrap material he could take. The contractor even gave Larry a brand new piece of 8x10 scrap carpeting in lovely a taupe color! So far the only things I'm going to need to buy is the cement tube for the tunnel, and some sisal rope. I'm hoping this jungle will be finished by tomorrow. These kitten's are tearing the place apart!

We got the box house finished for the jungle. I took it into the living room and it took Penny about 5 seconds to crawl inside and claim it as her's. Duffy took the top, and Bleu even came out to give it the once over. I'm hoping this thing will be done tomorrow. So far I have only $8.00 into it. I expect to spend about $50.00 buying the sisal rope. I calculated it would take about 500 feet of rope to wrap the posts. I looked at cat jungles today at PetSmart and they were about $300 for something elaborate. Mine will cost about $58.00 total. Not a bad savings. Plus, it's been loads of fun to work on.

Here's my big guy and my little guy on their new box house. You can't see her, but Penny's inside the box.

Nice! Keep us posted...

It looks great so far...I know my furkids would love that box!

Jenn, the carpet was a piece of cake. It does take 2 people though. One to pull and hold the carpet tight while the other staples. We used contractor's grade carpeting so it is a bit more workable than retail carpeting. I hope it holds up though ... we'll see.

Looking good! Can't wait to see the finished product!

The sides are covered by one long piece of carpet. The seam is on the back side of the box and that is the only place we stapled on the outside. We made the carpet about 6 inches wider than the box sides so when it was rolled over the edges of the box, we had about 2.5 inches of carpet on the inside leaving plenty of staple room. The top of the box is removable and is covered by carpet on one side. We stapled the top carpet, but you could never tell. Because of the pile on the carpet, when the top is in place, the whole thing looks seemless.