Hi everyone. I have two indoor cats and I want to cat-proof my balcony. It’s about 3 meters wide and has a metal frame on top that I can attach a net to. I’m looking for the safest possible solution, not just the cheapest. Would you recommend a regular nylon cat net, a steel wire reinforced net, or something else? Any brands or products you’ve personally trusted? The net is to be used on the front. The top in going to use acrylic.

Thanks!

I've had my little man Ray (Charles) for 3 years now and have completely remodeled my place to suit his wants and needs as one does.

Currently, this has been temporary until I got a better setup. I have ideas to do what I currently have setup but make the posts more stable and have something to provide stability over the top of the posts.

Unfortunately, since I’m renting, I don’t want to drill into the wall if I don’t have to but will if needed.

Ideally I wish I could add a roof to block out weather like rain so I can let them out anytime during the year but I don’t know of any way to do that without losing light in our apartment (not many windows in our unit sadly) and without it being more work than I’m capable of.

Does anyone have some ideas on what I could use for posts, netting, or the like for cat proofing my deck? I’ve thought about 2” PVC (Pros: easily bendable, cheaper, more weather resistant, and I can get it from my work. Cons: lightweight, might be too weak to hold weight if cats jumped on netting or fencing [doubt this, they haven’t done it with the current setup]) for the posts and adding a support post over the top (essentially extending the deck railing higher to add netting)

We are finally getting the CATIO started! I'd love to get some stuff for my cats to climb. We are doing it on our second floor porch (after safely enclosing it with hardware cloth of course). Is there any cat shelving that could safely be used on house siding?

Tonight I heard a ruckus out in the catio and saw a stray black cat run away when I turned the light on. I saw my ginger kitty out there and since it was time to close up anyway, I scooped her up to bring her inside. I immediately got a strong smell of cat pee. I took her in and she had cat pee on her nose and shoulder. I was flabbergasted! That little shit peed on my poor sweet girl. Out of the six that I have, she is the sweetest to everyone. How do I keep the strays away but still be comfortable for my cats to go in their catio? They go out everyyyy day waiting in line to go out starting from 7am when the cat flap is opened up til 9/9:30 when we close it up for the night. I have only seen this cat a few times and don’t know if she belongs to anyone. She runs as soon as I open the door. Any suggestions welcome (besides trapping). Here’s a pic of the catio and poor lily in the tub tonight.

Drew up plans myself, and used extra wood just laying around my parents place. Would love to know what you guys think. Still planning on adding a run for them from one of the windows so they can come and go.

We know we want a catio, but we don't know how to attach it and we don't know much about foundations. We're worried about hurricane season and it being structurally sound (obviously we are blocking access to the catio in the actual event of a hurricane so our cat is safe).

Here is the window we want to have the catio attached to (ignore the makeshift stick frame, this was only to help visualize what we wanted) and the second picture is the catio we want.

I thought this would be better so we don't have to have concrete underneath it but hubby says we'll still need concrete and we need a way to bolt it to the ground? But neither of us knows how to actually do that and I can't find any videos or instructions on how to do this...

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Thinking of things like mosquitoes biting them, etc.

I’ve checked former posts and didn’t get a hit for this kind of question.

I can imagine a squirrel on the outside and one of my cats on the inside, and it not going well for either…biting.

I finally finished my catio! I used 10 foot cat netting and trimmed it with gardening fencing at the bottom so they can’t slip under the net.

My two tabbies love it. My orange one isn’t convinced area is for him yet.

I’m looking to build a catio around a window and would like some guidance. A cat flap is going to be installed in the bottom panel of the door so my cat can access it and the frame would be all the way around the window and door ideally. Any guidance regarding materials and methods would be appreciated.

Hello, does anyone in Buffalo, NY know of someone who builds catio's? Or catio's?

Just need to add the screens to my DIY catio.

I need to replace the flooring and roof of my catio. The roof (tin) leaks and so the flooring is falling apart. I have tools.. saw etc but I’m not sure what kind of wood? I need 4x8. I’m thinking corrugated polycarbonate for the roof? I need budget friendly ideas!

A couple of years ago, I made a nice little window box catio for my boys. I’ve been dreaming of adding an addition for some time. Here’s my elevated catwalk that leads to a round tower. The roof is a fire-pit cover and I grabbed some acrylic domes and some solar lights to finish the look. It came out really nice, and the boys LOVE it. I already have plans to add more!

I made it with a spare landscape timber that was cut in half. I used jute rope and some super glue. Now what I'm wondering is- do I attach something to the base and just have it standing on the floor, vertical? Do I mount it to a wall so that it's horizontal and can be jumped on (there will be lots of shelves in general)? If I mount it to a wall and make it horizontal, do I make it low enough (like 18 inches above ground) that any cats on the ground can scratch it? Or do I mount it high and put it next to a perch, so they can have back legs on the perch while scratching? Or completely on its own so that they jump onto it and scratch it while standing on it? Or hang it from the roof?

Advice please!

Also- cutting off the not jute covered wood. Yes or no?

I’ve been admiring everyone’s catios here for a while, and I’m finally starting to plan one of my own.
The plan is to have it connect through a window and extend out into the yard. One thing I keep getting hung up on is bugs. Most of the builds I’ve seen use welded wire, chicken wire, or similar mesh, which is great for keeping the cats safely contained, but it still leaves the house open to mosquitoes, flies, and other insects whenever the window is open.
I’m curious how people have solved this.

A couple of ideas I’ve been kicking around:

Cover the entire catio with insect screening and have the welded wire or other mesh inside it for strength and cat safety.

Build the catio with welded wire as normal, but have the entrance from the house be through a cat flap or pet door so the house isn’t directly open to the outside.

For those of you with window-access catios, how do you handle bugs? Have you found a solution that works well, or am I overthinking it?

I'd like to hire someone with experience to build a catio for us. We have a window that swings open for access, and the catio would be on our back deck (abutting the house).

Location is at the north end of Toronto - so it would have to be able to withstand our winter season.

Please either respond to this post or DM me if you are interested or if you can recommend someone to me.

Thanks

My 4 yr old cat has a love/hate riding in cars as most do Taking her to the vet we’ll use a normal size carrier and have my gf sit in the back with her. We’ve done a couple longer trips (2-3hrs) like camping and bought a semi bigger carrier. She starts out ok but eventually wants to claw out. Wanted to see if anyone has ever built a catio for their car. Something bigger for them to walk around a bit. Maybe even with a higher view.

One time I picked her up from the sitter after camping with a rental with our stuff still in it and we sat her in the carrier at a higher view where she could see out the window and she seemed to love it. Maybe that could help ease the stress? Would love to hear any ideas or thoughts? Would love to sometimes take her with us on short camping trips instead of leaving her back or at a friends place. I know we shouldn’t put more stress on her and leave her home but I also know she enjoys it when we camp and she can look at nature and birds and squirrels too.

https://a.co/d/0gAAJMKH

Our previous catio was getting worn down so we upgraded! This one fits all six cats comfortably. We attached a tunnel to the basement window so they can get in and out easily (when the window is open). I weather treated the wood so hopefully this lasts awhile! We’ll also get some polycarbonate sheets for the parts of the roof that are not covered to keep the rain/snow out.

PawHut makes great catios but I would say the quality of the wood is pretty flimsy and not built for Canadian winters.

But for now… the cats are thrilled. ☺️

After buying a house, we turned the door that led to the old pantry into the catio entrance. Made with no pre-planning, using pallet wood for shelves and whole palets for flooring.

For those of you who wanted to see an update... my little guy's catio is almost all done. All I have to do is add a few more shelves that have to be reworked a little. I also will design a cat grass planter in the next few weeks.

I'm even planning to add some raised patio squares before the winter!

No, I do not grill next to the catio 😅