This is my homemade catio. I used what’s called “deer fencing”. It doesn’t obstruct your view or the view of your cats. It was simple to do and cheap. I wrapped it around my deck and then… 🙂 once it was installed (used steal beams for reinforcement in between) I cut sections of additional deer fence and attached it to the top at a 45 degree angle all the way around the top and about 10″ in depth. It isn’t the most beautiful job as I am no expert, but it works and we are all happy! 🙂 …. Carol
P.S. from Michael — there are quite a few pages on PoC about catios. I have always liked them and as Carol says they can be made cheaply. However, not everyone likes them.
Update: Here is Quentin, the guy with the dodgy leg who lives with Carol:
Wow that’s just great. I need to make a catio on my small balcony and I’m not sure how yet. I like this because it doesn’t block your view but I persoanly love ivy and would love to let ivy grow on the fence – it’s perfect for it.
Love the pics of Quentin – I love his face and expression 🙂
Oh I do want to get ivy for one side 🙂
Yes Quentin is very expressive Marc!
At night he sleeps above my head and sometimes
chews on my scalp!
He has one of those cute male cat faces. Innocence and charm with a dash of the wild.
There you have it! lol
I think a catio on your balcony is an excellent idea, Marc. I know you feel badly that they can’t go outside where you live.
🙂 By the way, Quentin on the flowered coverlet was when I brought him in the house out of the snow before I cleaned him up! You can see in that picture his dodgy leg is crooked it is in the forefront of that picture. The other two pictures were after I fed him 3 cans of cat food! and brushed him real good.
No I haven’t given you pictures of the others yet but I will, thank you so much Michael 🙂
Love and Light
Carol
LOL no worries Michael 🙂
Carol, I have added the pics of Quentin (Quinn) to this page. I have another post about Quinn (Mighty Quinn) – and his picture, which I’ll publish tomorrow. Do I have pictures of your other cats. Sorry for this but I can’t find any more pictures.
Thank you Michael for taking care of this for me 🙂
That is a wind chime in the middle. I live in Wisconsin, USA a stones throw from lake Michigan. Behind me is a natural wetland that geese and ducks often inhabit. Also there are red fox, deer, raccoons, sand hill cranes, minx, rabbits and a variety of other inhabitants (besides birds, falcons, hawks and eagles)
I still prefer to sit outside with them when they are out. From the sky to a hungry hawk or eagle they would look like a rabbit! Also, I would never let my cats roam, too many dangers I would be a wreck worrying…
Ruth that would be a shock over those cats being abandoned but fortunate they have good homes now.
I will send Michael pictures of my cats, for some reason I am having difficulty posting them for whatever reason…
Love and Light
Carol
-> yes Michael I am self-sufficient 🙂 (old tomboy in me)
Carol, it is not that you have difficulty in posting the pictures of your cats, it’s more about me keeping track of things ;).
If I miss something just kick my butt…
I’ll find the pics and publish them.
Carol, we could be neighbors! I thought the plants in your back yard seemed about where things are by me– no leaves on the trees but the green grass just starting. Two warm days have changed that. We have leaves now, tiny baby leaves finally. You are closer to the lake so you might not have leaves yet. That cooler near the lake thing is real!
I stay out with Monty for the most part also. My pastor won’t make a catio for his cat unless it would be covered from above, he’s so worried about hawks. But his cat weighs 18 pounds and I don’t think he’s really in much danger of being carried away by a bird of prey. I’d be more worried about the obesity.
Ruth are you in Two Rivers, WI?
No, Carol, you are about two hours (give or take) north of me. I am in the metro Milwaukee area, but one of my favorite hangouts is Harrington Beach State Park near Belgium. I’ve been wanting to try your Point Beach State Forest. It would be a little farther, but still a feasible day trip. I have a friend who is in Sturgeon Bay and we’ve talked about meeting up at Point Beach sometime. (We both have to drive, but at least no one drives the whole way.) What if you joined us? Wouldn’t that be cool? I don’t know when it will ever happen. We were getting close to finding a good time last summer and then she broke her foot. Maybe this year.
I’m in West Allis, so I’m not right on the lake. But my church is in Bayview. You could see the lake from the church if you stood on the roof I think. You can really feel how much cooler it is over there at this time of year, especially if the wind is from off the lake.
My parents have visited Manitowoc a couple of times, which is quite close to Two Rivers. I grew up in the Wisconsin Dells area. It’s beautiful up there, but once I discovered Lake Michigan I just fell in love with it. The lake was soooo warm last summer, I swam constantly. I love when there are big waves and it’s really dangerous. That is like the best thing ever– but I hate when parents don’t supervise their children out there. It’s a big, dangerous lake, not a waterpark with lifeguards, people. And even then– I saved a little girl’s life at one of those parks last summer. I never had kids, but I know how dear Monty is to me. I just can’t imagine letting kids go off unsupervised around water when they’re just little kids.
Do you have problems with flooding and mosquitoes so near a wetland area?
Mosquitoes definitely! Rarely flooding I am in the East Point subdivision which is on a hill right off hwy 42 actually…
by the way Ruth my email addy is: angeltherapy52 at yahoo
I hate that when mosquitoes are biting Monty. Sometimes they are not bad here in town. It depends on the year. Dusk is a great time for him to be out– cooler, the birds are going to sleep as are the bees. But sometimes there are too many mosquitoes to be out. Does the UK have mosquitoes, I wonder? If they don’t it is a paradise and we should all consider moving there to get away from those little blood sucking fiends.
Hi Ruth, sadly, we do have mosquitoes but not many.. 😉 I just saw one in my home today. They don’t bite cats as far as I know but they do bite people, occasionally at night (usually) while sleeping. It is fairly rare though in my experience. It probably depends on where you live in the UK. Don’t mosquitoes like ponds etc.? If you’re near still water and trees there’ll be mosquitoes in the UK in summer.
As soon as I saw Carol’s address I thought of Ruth (Monty’s mom). It is nice that you’re in the same area. Although America is a big place so distances are further than one imagines for a Brit.
Two Rivers is roughly one hundred miles from West Allis, but by taking the interstate highway system that is only about a two hour drive. Devil’s Lake in Baraboo is about two hours (a little more, I think once you drive through Baraboo slowly so you don’t get a ticket) and I’ve driven up there, hiked and/or swam, and driven back on the same day lots of times. When I work in Stoughton that’s about an hour and a half drive to get to work, but I get a higher rate of pay from the staffing company for anything over 50 miles from my house.
I read once that the difference between Americans and Europeans is that Americans think 100 years is a long time ago while Europeans think 100 miles is a long way to go.
If you’re worried Ruth (no worries, here is me and my two pages you can look at)
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?AuthorID=127705
I found you on Facebook, Carol. I also noticed that the other Ruth had gotten there before me, because it said we have one mutual friend. Sure enough, the mutual friend was Ruth a.k.a. Kattaddorra!
I can remember reading about a kitten on a balcony in America and the owner went inside and when he came back out the kitten was nowhere to be seen. A bird of prey had taken it we are told.
Yes, a kitten would certainly be an easy target for a bird of prey. But my pastor’s cat, Gideon, would not. Pastor had two cats, Gideon and Jonah, but one of them died. I think Gideon is the survivor. Both looked like barrels from above. Once Pastor came up there in the balcony at church while I was practicing organ and we get talking and he says, with a straight face, that Gideon is really doing fine at 18 pounds because he can get up to the sofa at that weight. When he’s 19 or 20 pounds he can’t move around too well, but at 18 pounds he’s fine. I’ve seen his cat waddle around. He’s not fine. I don’t know how I managed not to burst out laughing. I think if your cat is 18 pounds you get him outside and a bird of prey taking him is the least of your worries. Getting him more active and dropping some weight is certainly the more pressing concern.
Pastor loves his cat, would never think of having him declawed, and keeps him in because he worries over him. But sometimes you have to say no to more food. It’s not easy with Monty either. Monty is not 18 pounds though, because he goes outside. The outside time is what keeps him fit and somewhat trim. He’s still a bit chubby because of his feral starving days, I think. But he gets more active out there than inside without my having to do a thing. He runs. He climbs trees. He marks every tree with his claws. He constantly walks around sniffing everything. He’s just moving more, unless it’s really hot suddenly and he hasn’t lost his winter coat yet. (Poor Monty, but he still wants to be out there.)
If he’s in the house all day he sits and looks out the window or sleeps on my bed. An hour or two outside does wonders for him, even if sometimes it’s a pain to supervise him. It’s worth it, because as much as there are risks out there, feline diabetes is a real health risk also. I read that humans who do their workouts outside stick with their exercise plans better. I’ve been working out in the back yard with Monty and it is a routine I’ve stuck to for a lot longer than almost anything else I’ve tried. Catios are good for our cats’ health because of the increased stimulation and the increased desire to exercise that comes from the increased stimulation they get from that little taste of the outdoors. It works for everybody– humans and cats. I just don’t think cats do as well being kept inside all the time. I know it can be unavoidable, but it’s a lot harder to have a happy, healthy cat that way.
That is wonderful Carol! It looks so roomy and your cats have a lovely view as well as grass to enjoy. It only goes to show that if you put your mind to it, anything is possible.
WELL DONE you! I’d love to read more about your cats and see more photos.
I think it’s even better than the one we made for our ex neighbour
https://pictures-of-cats.org/we-built-a-cat-run.html
That was very hard work but her 15 cats loved it. Unfortunately it all came to a sad ending when she took off one day and didn’t return, we had the shock of our lives that she could do that!
The cats are rehomed now and the run gone, it makes us sad as we loved those cats too.
Well, it looks great. I like simple, straightforward, functional things 😉 I presume that your garden extends down to the river or pond beyond? Is that right?
May I ask where you live? It looks nice with plenty of space. If you made it yourself that is really good too. A self-sufficient woman 🙂
One of the hidden benefits of a catio is that it almost eliminates any anxiety a cat’s caretaker might have when a cat roams free. I would be anxious if my cat roamed free. In fact, I could not tolerate it these days. There are too many dangers.
By the way, what is that object right in the middle of the picture on a pole?