My Sincerest Apologies

I owe a very sincere apology.......to my cats.  They did the impossible and proved me wrong and now spend the majority of their time out in the new "catio".  If any of you have ever owned a cat, then you know how cats are ungrateful, snotty, and in some cases ignorant.  Have you ever been at a grocery store or pet store and out of the corner of your eye you spot the perfect cat toy.  You pay a ridiculous amount for the toy, because you know that your cat will really like this one this time.  So you get home and your loving cat greets you at the door and you can't wait to open the new addition to their toy bin.  You even go as far as to go and get your camera and make sure there are fresh batteries in it-because you really don't want to miss this!  You get settled, you open their new toy, and you roll it across the floor.....  and you get nuthin!  They are so disgusted with you they can't even stand to be in the same room with you.  Then not ten minutes later, to add insult to injury, you hear them playing in the other room.  They have discovered that there was a water bottle lid left on the table and that is their new pride and joy.  Cats.
So we decided to build this catio for them to go out and enjoy the sunshine-as brief as it may be in Idaho right now-and now it is hard to get them back in the house.

Here is a view from the tunnel we built.  I removed the screen from a basement window and cut a 1/4" piece of plywood to replace it.  Then I purchased a small pet door...($20 at Home Depot).  I then hung some shelving that I made out of 8" wide MDF and wrapped with remnant carpet, so they jump up on a series of 3 shelves to reach the pet door. The tunnel itself is very simple: the base is a 2 x 6 pressure treated piece of lumber. Which was also purchased at the Home Depot and if you go back to where they cut lumber for customers they have an off-cut bin and you can get shorter lengths of lumber for really cheap.  I bought 3 total 2 x 6 that were 5' long for only $1.00 each! I then just used some furring strips to create the U-shape.  I used the same furring strips as a top rail support and then just wrap with chicken wire.  I used staples to attach the wire to the wood framing.





You will soon find that the cats sometimes enjoy the tunnel more than the enclosure itself.  It is almost to the point where I have to build another tunnel to avoid a traffic standstill.




This is Lucy enjoying the sunshine.

So here it is.  You can see the tunnel on the left hand side of the enclosure.  The overall size is 11' x 11' x 4' tall.  I installed a door with a latch so we can go if we want to.  We have some chairs set up so we could coax them out.  But once they understood the concept, there was no stopping them!  I used standard 2x4's for the framing because I have a gallon of Olympic outdoor paint that I still need to apply to protect the wood from the weather.  Pressure treated lumber would have been best to use, but if you are on a budget then you can use standard framing studs like I did....but you will need to apply a protective finish.  I used steel fencing for the base exterior, again using the staples to keep it in place.  I also used the green fence posts that integrate with the steel fencing.  I drove four posts into the ground.  Then I built four individual frames to construct the sides, back, and face.  Then I just simply bolted the framed walls to the posts that were driven into the ground. 
I would highly suggest this to anyone who is nervous about letting your house cats out.  If you live on a busy road, or up in the mountains where there is wildlife, or even if you don't have either of these scenarios and you just want your cat to be safe.  I can't believe how much they have enjoyed this so far.  You will not regret creating your very own catio! 

Feel free to email me if you have any questions about the construction, materials, or need help designing one for your home.               kate@kateschorzman.com

Spring Time

I love that spring has finally sprung!  I have been extremely busy both at work and at home.  Too busy!  I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and write a post for weeks.  I have been waiting for the Idaho State University Center for New Directions to release photos of the Women and Work conference so I can write about my experience.  Also Vision 12 (local public access tv) was there to record the whole thing.  Yes, that is right folks-I will have gone from HGTV right to Vision 12!  It was a very fun experience though and was very successful, I will post both video and photos just as soon as I can. 
Work has been so very busy.  I have been working with awesome clients this year so far and it really looks like the construction is picking up.  We have sold jobs and are booked clear through June!  Everyone seems to be ready for their kitchen and bath rennovations.....which is great for me!
I have been working on quite a few projects at home.  I have been taking photos of progress of all of them that I have going....(I love to start new projects)  One of which is a catio.  Sounds a bit strange, and it probably is, but I care for my animals and my cats really want to go outside and eat grass and enjoy the sunshine....but I am afraid of them getting in fights with other cats or getting out of the yard and not be able to find their way back in.   So we are building an outdoor cat patio...or catio.  So far I have invested about $200 dollars and about 10 hours, and when it is all said and done I will be very happy with it.  And I am absolutely positive that the cats will never use it, but we will see.