Building a cat "Gym"..thingo (note the word "CAT"- if you don't like em,don't click!)

[Kitah]

For AGES now I've been wanting to make a bigger cat scratching post/'playground' type thing for my two cats to give them something else to play on/in/around as they are completely indoor cats (unless I take them for a walk outside on a harness).

I bought the wood at the end of last year, but only just had the time to get the carpet and build it! The carpet was all free thanks to three stores in Townsville.

Note- this isn't actually finished yet. At the bottom of three posts in the last image there is fabric wrapped around three brackets to prevent the cats hurting themselves until I add the extra platform and a cubby/box type thing, as shown in the first illustration

And two more pics- Kit likes to play in the bathroom sink...

 

[Kristy_07]

Cute pics, mate It looks like that love it! The extra V-shaped, leopard-print bit seems a bit superfluous to me. It looks like they enjoy the climbing and the levels, and that this might just get in the way? I don't mean to be needlessly critical, though! It's great that you've built them a play-gym, especially as they are indoor kitties!

 

[Kitah]

Both of them usually like small cramped spaces, so I was hoping they'd use it as a 'cubby' type thing as well. Turns out its a bit too small though I was being a cheapskate and used those two leopard print things that came from something else- I didn't have any more wood to make my own! Thanks for the comment though

Needless to say that more shall be added when I can... as soon as the saw at bunnings is fixed, I'll make the box and last platform

 

[craig.a.c]

Not a bad effort. The cats will love it.
Need to do something like that for mine.

 

[Profanicus]

Nice work, cats looove these gyms! I'm not very handy (also lazy) so I just bought my 2 guys one of these. Well 2 of them now since they have destroyed the first one, seems like it will be a yearly expense
Oh and nice kitties btw

 

[boodie]

Looks really good, about how much did it cost all up? Do you know? and how long did it take you to build? And good on you for keeping your cats indoors. Saves some of the local wildlife.

My boy is getting a bit old for play (he's 16 now) and likes to spend most of his days following me around the house lecturing me until i sit down and he can snuggle up. He never much liked climbing and was always quite docile. Give him a piece of sting though and he would be entertained all day.

 

[Kitah]

Thanks guys

This would have cost about $100 so far, and I'll be spending another $30ish today to get the wood for the box and some more screws haha It's taken me a fair while to do- most of the time was sticking the carpet down onto the various pieces of wood, and a lot of time waiting for the contact adhesive to dry! As an estimate, I think it took about 16hours from start to this stage? I quite enjoyed it though, and the cats seem to like it so I consider it time well spent!

And Boodie, I keep the cats in for multiple reasons- protect the wildlife, keep my cats safe and to avoid annoying the neighbours! Besides, I don't think Kit would last long outside; his skin is pink, and he's a sook lol! And I think all cats go nuts with string, though I don't know why they find it so appealing

I shall post some more pics here later when Its completely finished if anyone is interested

 

[boodie]

That sounds like pretty good value for money. Anyways great job.

And yeah, all cats love string. There's something magical about it i think.
My cat would go outdoors to get the sunlight, but when he was about 3 he got swooped by magpies and decided indoors was safer. Now he won't leave the house without human supervision. That fool.

 

[Megzz]

Haha those photos are sooo cute and the gym looks great, nice job!

 

[bfg23]

I have just finished building the frame of a 2x3x2m cat run so we can let our little female burmese outside during the days.
Its going to be a castle for the spoilt little girl so ill get some photos up as I go along.

 

[Snowman]

Think after the first screw I would have chopped the allen key and stuck it in a cordless drill

 

[Helikaon]

where did you get the carpet from? that is an excellent idea. and have motivated me to make one for my guys, they would love a kitty castle

 

[krusty]

very cool ,they look like the love it,i was going to do the same thing for my cats but got a realy realy big one of ebay for next to nothing so i saved my self a bit of cash.

 

[Kitah]

Bfg- definitely post pictures when you've got it set up, and any progress photos if you happen to have them. Wouldn't mind seeing a pic or two (or three or four or five) of you're girl!

Snowman- I don't have the drillbits to use the cordless drill unfortunately, so I just put them in by hand. Wasn't too bad haha. I shall eventually invest in some more drillbits I suppose

Helikaon- I went around to three different carpet stores, and just asked what their cheapest carpet was- I was intending to buy carpet, but all of them just gave me bits and pieces of carpet for free, so I didn't pay a cent for any of it. I'm sure if you make something for you're guys, they'll love it! Though they may also be just as entertained with a cardboard box and piece of string, but at least this will (hopefully) last longer!

Krusty, any pics of your setup? I like seeing the different plans, setups etc just for curiosity sake. How sturdy is it? the main thing that put me off buying one, besides the incredible pricetags at pet stores, was that they weren't very stable and didn't give me the impression they would last very long.


So, an update---
Finished! Well, pretty much. Just got to add a rope/toy hanging off somewhere, and fix the 'hammock'

Added the platform underneath the yellow leopard thing-

And the stage it is at now- with the box! the cats LOVE the box, as I thought they would

 

[1stprincess]

looks fantastic... my cat would love this aswell..

 

[Kitah]

Thanks The cats seem to love it! During "Crazy cat half hour" both of them go bezerk on it, and at other times Kit can usually be found sleeping on either of the two highest platforms, and the cats often just rest underneath as well.

I had an idea to do a rundown of the stuff I used

- - 1800x600x16mm MDF; cut up to make the base (1110mm x 600mm), the top two platforms and the platform that the leopard print thing is sitting on
- -1800x600x12mm MDF; cut up to make the box and the platform between the three poles on the right hand sid
- -70cm of a 1.8m pine plank to make the walkway between the top two platform
- -The vertical poles are made from those greenish round things often used to make fences. I got these for free from my dad
- -2L of contact adhesive
- -Four screws with 'eyes' or whatever they are called- its got screw thread on it but has a round bit on the end to attach things. Three were used for the hammock, and the last one is going to be used to hang toys off
- -About 600 U shaped nails
- -100 8G 20mm screws
- -140 13mm button head screws
- -100 7G 20mm screws
- -100 12mm round headed screws
- -About 40 screws that I already had (some 25mm, some 20mm)
- -3 150mm internal hex head screws
- -8 75mm internal hex head screws
- -12 125mm internal hex head screws
- -7 assorted mediumish sized brackets
- -24 little tiny brackets (entire bracket takes two screws- about 30mm long)
- - 6 ~ 60mm brackets
- - Lots of carpet- compliments of three stores in Townsville who gave it to me for free. The platforms and the top of the box were made from old carpet display/example mats, the grey came off a large roll another store gave me, and the beige base carpet came from the last store. Thanks to all the stores! (better not mention them here)
- - And the two pieces of leopard print wood came from another cat scratching post that I dismantled
- - And a fair bit of time!!

Total rough cost- $126

 

[Snowman]

They must get hungry with all the pictures of food you have up! Nice painted firetails

 

[Kitah]

To be honest, I'm very surprised they haven't pulled those pictures off yet! Usually anything that is within their reach and isn't fully attached comes down, if its on the walls. Not sure what the novelty is!

 

[Dipcdame]

brilliant!!!!! its a structure any self respecting cat would LOVE

 

[Emily]

Aw absolutely gorgeous!!!! Fantastic job you've done!!