Building an enclosure

[burnphone]

I accidentally acquired a cat. He just decided I should feed him, so now I'm a certified minion. 

My problem is that at some point, I'm going to have to go home to my parents. Right now I'm at school, but I go home for breaks. I can't take the risk of giving him to a shelter because they might put him down, and there isn't anyone around here I know who'll be willing to take a cat. On the other hand, my mom hates the smell of cat pee, my brother is terribly allergic, and my dad doesn't want anything in the house that might damage it (some days, that includes us, but that's another issue).

I was thinking about building an outdoor enclosure for him to stay in while I'm at home. I'd want it to be big enough that I could go in and play with him, and very secure (home is a farm with snakes and deer). The ground is too hard to dig in, and I'd be worried about the chiggers in the grass anyway. Ideally, this would be something that wouldn't be expensive to build, that could sit on the porch, and could be taken down when not in use.

Where can I start for ideas on this sort of project? It's not ideal, I know, but it's the only thing I can think of that wouldn't involve giving him up. 

 

[Norachan]

Hi @burnphone

Thank you for taking care of this cat. Yes, I think an outdoor shelter would be the best solution. You can buy wire cat enclosures or catios that are quite easy to assemble. If your handy you can build your own.Here are a few to check out, just to give you an idea of what's possible.

 http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-enclosures.htm

Let us know how it goes, I'd love to see your enclosure when it's finished.

 

[burnphone]

I guess the biggest problem I see with this idea is that I live in Texas, and this could be for up to three months. Most of the enclosures I'm seeing are extensions of the house, which this wouldn't be, and the cat wouldn't be able to come indoors at all. There's a garage I might be able to build a pen in, but I don't know if that's safe when it gets hot even if the door is left open. 

I've never had a cat before. I don't know how much space he'll need or what the maximum parameters for well-being are. 

 

[Norachan]

You can make a free standing enclosure with a cat house inside of it. If you have some natural shade, under trees for example, this would keep the cat cool.

 I use a dog kennel as a cat house. It's for a medium sized dog and is lined with straw, natural bedding lasts longer and insulates better against heat and cold. If you had something like this inside a chicken mesh enclosure around 4x4 meters would be OK for just one cat. Don't forget to make it tall enough for you to be able to stand when you go inside of it. Put a roof on it so the cat can't get out and maybe think about some tree branches or a cat tree for him to climb on and scratch.

He'll need a litter box which should be cleaned at least once a day and plenty of water to drink. If you're going to feed him outside and ants are a problem you can put his food dish in a shallow plate of water so the ants can't get it. Don't leave the food out for too long as it will attract flies.

This company do some nice free standing ones. They're kind of expensive, but it gives you an idea of what size they need to be.

http://www.cagesbydesign.com/t-suncatchercat.aspx

If you Google Cat Enclosures you'll be able to see lots of pictures of things people have made by themselves.

 

[Willowy]

I think you (or your dad; even men who say they don't like cats will usually help their kids build things for cats! ) should be able to make a decent enclosure with 2 x 4s and chicken wire. Put a small doghouse in it and a sheltered area for the food dish, add some shelves and uprights wrapped with sisal. . .he should be fairly happy with that.