Over Labor Day weekend 2001 I decided to put up some catwalks for my kitties. Although they have access to an outdoor cat run and a cat enclosure, I felt they needed more interesting things to play on while inside my house. I used carpeted 1x10 boards and secured them above my doorways using 6 inch "L" brackets. I used "L" brackets instead of typical shelving angle brackets because from below you don't see much of the "L" brackets. I had originally tried using 1x8 uncarpeted boards but after a few 7 foot high falls (the cats landed fine) I decided to use wider boards and to carpet the top of the boards for added traction.
Above is dad looking through the hole we cut above my bedroom door which allows the cats to walk onto the catwalk in my hallway. I put a nice looking yellow cat-face as a border for the hole.
The cats can get up to the catwalks via these carpeted steps in my bedroom. "Linda" often likes to perch on the top step to get a good view of things. The catwalk next to Linda was a temporary 1x8 board which I later replaced with my standard 1x10 carpeted board.
The cats can also get up to the catwalks in my bedroom via this cool carpeted ramp I built for them. They prefer to use the steps though. When they do use the ramp they make it look harder to get up than I really think it is for them. They crouch very low and claw the carpet very loudly as they creep up the ramp.
There's a hole above my bedroom door which allows access to the catwalk in the hallway. When Tiger heard the heater kick on, he would dash up to the cat walk and lay in front of the heater vent. Tiger passed away in November 2008, at roughly 18 years old.
Tiger just trotted through the access hole located several feet behind him. The cats get down from the catwalk in my den by using the carpeted steps in the right of the picture.
A few years after I built the main cat walks in my bedroom, hallway and den I built some smaller ones in the guest bedroom. That's "Josie" on the cat walk back when she was just 3 months old.
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Tiger & Linda on the catwalks - November 2001Josie on catwalks for her first time - June 20, 2007Other Related Links On My Site:
My Cats' Home Page
The Catrun
The Large Cat Enclosure
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