Outdoor Cat Enclosures: Your Patio is Now a Catio

Outdoor Cat Enclosures: The Patio is Now a Catio

Unless you are a cat lover still on dial up in a remote cabin in the woods you’ve heard about outdoor cat enclosures:  Catios!

No.. well.. Ok then let me fill you in. an outdoor cat enclosure, you know the kind that have been around for years but were NOT politically correct, well they have re-invented themselves as “catios”.  These are great cat containment structures that allow your indoor cat to be outdoors in a safe and protected environment. Of course you can pimp them up to be your cat haven. After all cats love the outdoors!

Yep cat lovers are a crazy bunch and we’ll do just about anything to keep our kitties happy! The recent NYT article which if you haven’t read (where did you say that cabin was?) and the press that “catios” have gotten in the last few weeks in just plain nuts.

I’m betting that anyone with a catio product for sale is one very happy camper right now.  Thing is, I don’t find most of the sites in the times article really what I was looking for but anyway it’s a good place to start.

So what exactly do you need to build a catio?

Owners looking to build a catio that will create a safe outdoor space for their cats can choose from a few options.

Do-It-Yourself cat lovers can build their outdoor enclosure using materials like PVC piping, mesh nets and many other supplies available at home improvement centers. You can search for the word catio in google images and you’ll find lots of great photos with the website where the came from below. That’s actually how I got my ideas together by just searching images for a few hours. It was pretty fun!

I have a nice sized backyard here in Atlanta and I thought that by using a combination of part of my deck and the grass area I could give my cats the best of both worlds. I designed it to run from the house  at a kitchen window out to the main area on the deck then down with an extention to a cat run in a grassy patch. I know it sounds complicated but it isn’t at all. I do have a handy husband who loves cats as much as I do so the construction of the outdoor enclosure is all his.. thanks honey!

I read about using a combination of lattice the kind you get plants to creep up and a strong bird netting to keep any predators out from under the cat run. I think we have to do this as I ‘ve caught my neighbors beagle digging around in my yard a few times. What a pest!

So if you want to build outdoor cat enclosures one like I am there are simple manuals and pre-fabricated systems sold on cat enclosure websites that you can check out. Again go check google images for cat enclosures or catios, cat runs, or cat cages and you’ll find more sites to help you narrow it down.