| Cats
can be happily kept inside all the time, and an indoor cat is much
healthier and safer than an outdoor cat. But, if you have the
space, you might want to consider providing your kitties with a "cat
run" where they can go outside at will and watch birds and doze in the
sun. Below is the cat run we have had since the first year I
bought the house. It's about 3/4 the length of the house, and 5
feet deep, built of redwood and wire mesh. |
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| The cats access the cat run
through a door in the large
window (off of the laundry room). The sides and top are wire mesh. In
the first picture are Tuxedo, Beauregard, and Sophie. The cats have an
upright tree branch for scratching and climbing. The "shelving
system" is
made of pine planks and was purchased ready-to-assemble (we bought two
units) from Fred Meyer's store (the price was greatly
exaggerated
in "The Cats Are NOT Pampered!"), plus there
are other shelves throughout the run. There are two houses inside
the cat run. The photo with my shadow shows the "people door" into the run. The last photo is of the backyard: what the cats see when they look out from their cat run. If you want to see more photos of my pond, arbor, garden, and rose trellises, I have a photo album at Webshots. |
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| Here are some links
to cat runs/enclosures built by others: http://www.brushyland.com/cats/enclose.htm http://www.brushyland.com/cats/catrun.htm http://www.cat-world.com.au/cat-worldenclosures.htm http://www.catmax.com.au/ http://www.kvasir.co.uk/new_cat_run.htm http://www.geocities.com/holmescathy/outdoorenclosure.html http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Park/9857/enclosure.html http://www.communityconcernforcats.org/enclosures.html http://www.allmycountrykitties.com/the_cat_hut.html (The Cat Hut) Pre-built enclosures you can buy: Pet Samaritan Fund C&D Pet Products Drs Foster and Smith Just 4 Cats Inside Out for Pets Feline Funhouses Purr-Secure The Cat's Den at Habitat Haven Detailed instructions for an enclosure you can build yourself: SafeCat Outdoor Enclosure Articles about enclosures/cat runs: http://www.thecatsite.com/cat_care/care.php?a=enclosures http://www.catsinternational.org/articles/fun_for_cats/outdoor_enclosures.html http://www.paws.org/work/factsheet/catfactsheets/enclosures.html |
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