Many of you have asked and I’m sure many more are silently wondering… how do we live peacefully with 14 cats. Well… the answer is quite simple. We don’t. lol. We are constantly going out of our way to accommodate the cats needs before our own. They come first… just as any child should. :)
For a very long time we had only 7 indoor cats. And that really wasn’t that much work. Then in 2005 we took in 6 kittens from our local humane society from the rescue efforts of Hurricane Katrina. That’s when it started getting to be a lot of work. Cats are very territorial and they need space. Plus I really wanted to be able to give them the life I felt they deserved to live. I really wanted them to be able to go outside, but it isn’t safe in our area for cats to roam. I don’t think it’s safe in ANY area anywhere for cats to roam ever, but I digress. I believe that cats deserve a chance to be able to enjoy the outdoors in a confined and SAFE manner. They are wild animals and I feel it’s only fair to allow them the choice to enjoy their natural habitat if they so choose when it can be done in a SAFE controlled manner.
I can not stress to you enough the words safe, controlled and confined. I do not condone roaming cats anywhere except on working farms with mass acreage that need pest control and even then spaying and neutering is an absolute must to control the population. Sorry about that… I’m a Feline Wellness Advocate and I often go off on a tangent when it comes to taking care of the furries I love so much. :o) So… back to the point… giving the cats the space they need to be happy and the enjoyment of getting to spend time in a safe controlled outdoor environment.
My brain started working….
Supervised time one on one outside on leashes? Nope. I don’t have that much time... or patience. Only one of our cats, Ebby, is leashed trained and training 13 more was NOT on the agenda. A secure area was my only option. I started researching and spent a good 3 months building a cat enclosure in my head. When I felt armed with everything I needed to know I told Mr. Primcat and he said (as any loving father would) “When do we start?”. So I drew it up on paper, started ordering supplies and we got to building.
Let’s take a walk through the process of building a ridiculously huge cat enclosure for our ridiculously spoiled babies.
This is the back of the house before we started… not very exciting.
Posts in with the help of friends, family and neighbors. Yeah… it’s really that big and I would have made it bigger but the septic system is over on the left and stopped me…. for now!!! The right is still open for expansion! ;o)
Framing on and painted for the netting and eventually lattice to be affixed to.
Nylon bird netting (ordered form BirdBGone in California) on sides and on the top so they can’t get out. 2” on top – 3/4” on sides. It’s also buried a foot deep in the ground so they can’t dig out. Unfortunately for a few rabbits they chewed their way into the enclosure. :( Made me very sad… so I cut down some metal fencing and put it all the way around the bottom on the outside about a foot up so that no more bunnies could be harmed. ;) Cuz I luvs me some bunnies.
Netting, netting everywhere.
Sorry kittehs… there will be no escapes from the Pussy Palace… as it was named during building by our neighbors. lol! BTW… so many of our neighbors took part in building this palace. I sincerely appreciate that. It makes me feel good that our community comes together even for the craziest of cat ladies and men. ;o)
From the outside…
And finally the completed Cat Enclosure in 2006.
2,100 square feet of cat heaven. >^..^<
Also fondly referred to as the Primcats house. And now you know how we got our name. It’s not just a blog… it’s for real. :)
We have since added lots of toys and logs and stumps for climbing exploring and playing. The cats spend a lot of time out there and we have one cat, Katrina, that comes in only for eating and her daily lovings. The rest of her time is spent patrolling the perimeter of the palace and catching bugs. :) It really has a wonderful blessing to our cats. They appreciate it a lot.
I hope that in the future we will be able to enclose more of our property for the cats. I’m sure in time I will find a way to make it happen.
I hope you enjoyed your tour of the cat enclosure.
Until next time…
Carmen and the super spoiled Primcats
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5 comments:
OH MY Carmen!!!!! LOL, that is a GREAT idea!!! As soon as I saw it I thought of my 2 house rabbits, lol, but then read about bunnies chewing through, I would love to have a place like that for them and get them out of the living room, LOL!!!!! Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful weekend!!!
What a wonderful idea.
Youre such a good mommy to your kitties!!
~Tam
It is an awesome structure; well thought out and well executed.
We have 9 miniature dachshunds and my poor husband was walking them all by leash, 2-3 times a day. We planned an area of our yard, attached the fenced area to our back door and now we just let them in and out whenever they want. I know it isn't as big as your area or enclosed on top but it is a blessing to us and to the dogs. They do patrol the perimeter, watching for intruders like cats, bunnies and squirrels and the occasional misguided bird or butterfly. We love cats, too, but our little dogs are very territorial and don't even allow for other dogs. We get our kitty love at Mom's or my sister's house.
You are truly a kitty advocate!
★Linda★
My your furry babies are very lucky to have a protected area to roam about. I have 7 furry kitty babies here at the homestead along with the flock of ducks & my little doggie & of course the turtle & goldfish. I have been pretty lucky that they all seem to have adapted to each other & get along. There was a summer my fish pond got cleaned out. I had a mama kitty who I guess thought her kittens needed some extra tastes on the menue. Blessings!
Hi Carmen! I saw your enclosure on the wvcats site and fell in love. I run a sanctuary and we have a literal cat herd that is dying to get outside and romp. I'm very excited to build something similar. you're one of the few that did a LARGE run. Anything you would change about it? :)
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