NEWS AND COMMENT: Lorraine and Adrian Marshall built a catio in their front garden (yard) for their 10 cats, at their home in Blackpool, UK. Nice idea and they did a good job. The cats look happy in it as they would because catios are very good at giving indoor domestic cats some sense of the outdoors. But…they failed to apply for planning permission. A silly oversight especially as it was constructed in the FRONT garden (visible to more people). Someone complained, as they do, and the local authority has said they have to tear it down as it is illegal. And now Lorraine is becoming ill with stress. She was already ill so this has made it worse. And no doubt one or some of their neighbours are upset with the catio. They live in a terraced house so they are close to their neighbours. I am afraid when you live that close to neighbours you have to play it right. You have to do things by the book to keep the peace and ensure things are predictable.
It is a shame but it is also a shame that Lorraine thinks it is a good idea to have ten cats. She mentions that the cats get along better with the catio. This tells me that there were stresses between the cats because they were forced into a space that was too small. The catio created more space. Originally, they were inside/outside cats but she decided to keep them inside as it was too dangerous to let them out unsupervised. But ten cats in what appears to be a smallish home is not really viable without the extended space of a good-sized catio.
I guess the story tells us that catios are not always a good idea from the human standpoint. This is not the first time that the failure to obtain planning permission for a catio in the front garden has resulted in a demand for it to be demolished.
Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.
SOME MORE ON CATIOS:
