Cat Run Simply Made
by
Alicia W
3 Materials
$50
3 Days
Medium
My sister has two cats and they needed a space they could call their own. So I made them an indoor “cat run”.
Here are her cats, Strudel and Stella.
I began by measuring her walls and decided where the run would be placed.
The cats needed steps to get to the longer “run” areas. Each step was 12” x 6” and I spaced them 12” apart.
To make the steps, I used primed 1”x6” pine boards cutting them to size.
Each step was 12”, there were two longer pieces at each window which were 24” and the longer runs were 5’ and 7’ respectively.
To attach the steps and runs to the wall, I made brackets using 1”x2” primed pine. After I figured out how to cut the brackets, I set my miter saw on 0 degrees
A-Using my 6” template, I placed a piece of painter’s tape to mark the length that the pieces should be cut
B-I lined up each piece
C-and made a straight cut
D-perfect.
For the next piece of the bracket, I set my miter saw at 45 degrees
A-and using my template piece
B-I placed painter’s tape to make the length of this piece
C-I made my cut
D-After each cut, I flipped the board over so my board would be cut correctly \___/
After each of the steps and runs were cut
A-I purchased a roll of easyliner which is drawer/shelf liner
B-I rolled it out
C-using the step as a guide, I cut the liner to size
D-and trimmed it fit
E-I laid the liner on top of the step
F-and stapled it to the step
For the 12” steps, I knew that one bracket would be enough to hold it to the wall.
A-With the lined side facing up I measured and marked the center
B-Using the straight piece of the bracket, I marked the width onto the step
C-and drilled a pilot hole
D-I placed a 1-1/4” screw into the hole
E-After adding wood glue to the end of the bracket piece, I drilled that piece into the step
I measured from the floor to the bottom of each step and marked that measurement onto the wall with a pencil
Placing the step where the pencil mark was on the wall,
A-I made sure the step was level
B-drilled a pilot hole through the straight bracket piece and into the wall
C-I screwed in an anchor where there wasn’t a stud
D-lined the screw up with the anchor
E-and drilled it into the wall.
For the 45 degree piece of bracket,
A-I centered it on the step and drilled a pilot hole
B-then screwed the bottom of the 45 degree piece of bracket to the straight piece of bracket
C-I screwed the step to the 45 degree piece from above.
I continued to add steps and runs on three walls of the room. In total there were 11 steps and three long runs. There were also two smaller pieces that allowed the cats to look out the windows.
On the longer runs, I added more brackets to hold them to the wall as needed.
I hung a few cat toys from fishing line from the bottom of some of the steps.
Strudel enjoyed jumping from step to step
While Stella just wanted to look out the window.
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Resources for this project:
1”x6” primed pine board
1”x2” primed pine board
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Comments
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3 of 35 comments
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Thank you for the great project! We have two cats (brother and sister), and Samantha (the sister) has arthritis in her back. Charles (the brother) can leap on anything like a champion. Do you have any suggestions for a wall of shelves that can accomodate both cats?
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Hi Chris, what you can do for Samantha is to make the shelves closer to each other, like steps for her. If you think Charles would like the steps farther away make some like that. Samantha will know which to use cats are very smart and you can watch who uses what. Good luck :)
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Hi Alice, thank you for your tutorial these are very easy to make and attach. The use of the rubber shelving mat is excellent. I would also suggest toggle bolts for those shelves that you can't place over studs. :)
Frequently asked questions
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Our kitten would love this. What room did you put it in?
WHAT IS THE WEIGHT OF EACH CAT? My pride is 16 - 18 lbs each, not sure 1 brace would stand up to them jumping onto the steps. They have been known to almost tip a sofa over.
Why not put a ledge under each window for a" lazy hangout"?