advice and thought on collapsible cat enclosures

[kittyandkate]

I was reading a few threads on here about owners thinking their cats could be depressed for a number of different reasons.. one sort of caught my eye about a cat being depressed about not being allowed outside. Now this got me thinking, my recently adopted cat (just over a month ago ) used to be an indoor/outdoor kitty but is currently an indoor cat now. I don't think she is depressed but I go through mind sets where I think she is settling in and other times thinking she seems a bit down. We live in a rental property so a fixed cat enclosure is a nono and no structural changes can be made to the house BUT what if I got a stand alone cat enclosure? ? I would have to carry her to and from it because I wouldn't be able to install and connecting 'pathway' but do you think this could be a good idea? Will she get addicted and pine to go outside though?

Sometimes I catch her looking wistfully at the garden through the slats on our enclosed deck and feel a bit bad for her.

It's an idea I will look into but any input or experiences/brands/etc would be helpful! Keeping in mind that it does have to be a stand alone enclosure so extra sturdy and safe!





My Kittems could end up being verrrry happy if I hear good things about cat enclosures!

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• kittyandkate
• Dec 1, 2014

 

[betsygee]

We bought something similar to this:  http://www.frugah.com/pawhut-36-del...range-black/?gclid=CK6MzteTpcICFceCfgodriEAVQ

It might be a little bigger than that one.  It folds up and goes into the closet when we're not using it.  We "inherited" some kitties who were indoor-only cats, but a couple of them really wanted to go out, so we let them sit outside in the sun in the enclosure.  One of them just hated it, she paced and meowed the whole time, she just wanted out of that thing.  The other one, though, was fine in the enclosure.  He would sniff it out and then settle in--it seemed like he like being outside and hanging out near us.

I put a small disposable litter box in it when they were in there--you know, the cardboard kind of ones?  http://www.chewy.com/cat/natures-mi...le&utm_term=&gclid=CL-a5NqUpcICFQdsfgod1QcA2A

 

[kittyandkate]

@betsyg once again, thank you for your advice!! (As you can tell my cat and the things I would do for her is never out of my mind! ) i was actually thinking of something like this
http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/131263961419 !

Possible a bit smaller. Our garden is massive and fairly unused for the most part besides my veggie patch! If she wasn't to warm up to it id convert it into a green house type thing! Another thing I was thinking of doing was to bring some outdoors inside! We have 2 inclosed decks one out the front and one out the back so they are already cat safe. I was going to buy some cat grass and cat nip and put them in a low lying container - very long (long enough to lie down if she wanted) as a preliminary alternative before investing in a cat enclosure!?

 

[kittyandkate]

With an indoor garden in mind, besides cat nip and cat grass (what exactly is cat grass, is it normal grass they call cat grass so they can sell it at a higher price or is it a different type all together! ?) Are there any other cat friendly plants i can plant? I read basil, parsley and coriander are all cat safe if she was to have a nibble or two!

 

[betsygee]

Oh my gosh!  I thought you meant a portable enclosure.  The one you're looking at is fabulous, what kitty wouldn't love that!   

We ended up building a permanent catio for ours:  http://www.thecatsite.com/g/i/187933/a/161856/catio-unveiled/

I don't know about the plants--hopefully someone will come along who can give you some suggestions about that.  I had hoped to have planters in our catio but two of our cats had IBD and I read that cat grass might not be good for their digestive systems so I never put in any.  It's just as well, they probably would have turned the planter boxes into litter boxes!  

 

[kittyandkate]

Omg!! I died with envy and happiness looking at your catio!!! I would just love to be able to do that here!! It's purrfect and brilliant! And yes! I was thinking of quite a large outdoor enclosure if I was to purchase but in saying that I'd have to ask my housemates first as it would be unfair to have it without asking them! Plus Kittems is my cat and although my boyfriend and other housemate love her all expenses are down to me vet, food, litter etc (except if she needs to go to the vet on emergency, my boyfriend would chip in if it was a life or death matter! ) so a cat enclosure of that size and price would be a future investment so I can save for it!!

Haha yes! I did have that thought too about it being used as a kitty litter tray but I may put some pebbles down to help with that and also if she decides to lie in it she won't get dirty!! All this talk makes me very excited for upcoming diy projects!! but I will look further into that cat grass thing as I wouldn't want to plant anything dangerous! I will post a photo or two in the coming weeks or months on this thread to show you how things move along! If the indoor garden is a success you may like to add one into your catio too! ! ^_^