Who has an outdoor cat run?

[KitCat]

We added on a screened porch for our kitty. He doen't have claws and has always respected screen as a barrier. You can use metal screen which is tougher.

[Catlady711]

I have a homemade cat enclosure. It's not attatched to the house so I just use carriers and a helper to get the cats from the house to the enclosure.

Here's more info on it from my kitties website and pix of it.

http://www.freewebs.com/catcam1/katzenhaus.htm


Sorry the site isn't updated more.

Stuff I will note from our original design:

* Don't use marine carpeting unless you live in a dry climate or have a good weather resistant cover for when it's not being used. We ended up having to completely rip out all the carpet and replace the sisal because of our wet weather, and the shady location, everything molded from being damp for days on end.

* Make sure to use a good stain for the wood. We only put 2 coats of cheap stain on ours and it doesn't look nearly as good now even when I power wash it.

* I'm not sure what we could have done better but we do have some warping on our human door so the latches don't all line up right. It's cat secure but not like it was intended to be.

Anyways hope that helps some.

[Emeraldgreen]

We built a large cat run for our many rescue cats when we moved to our house 2 years ago. I've attached some pictures. Actually, what we did was build a really big dog area, oval/square in size, kind of like a small horse riding ring and then we sectioned off one end of it for our cats. Quite a few of our cats are pals with the dogs so they can visit with the dogs through the fencing. Our cats who are not very fond of the dogs just ignore them for the most part but if they start barking at a crow or something, a few of the cats fluff up like halloween cats but just for half a minute and then they're back to exploring their outdoor world.

We used agricultural fencing and made sure the holes were not too big for potential escapees. We used 6 foot fence posts (the ones that look like giant pencils) and then dug a foot and a half down to secure them into the ground. We live by the ocean so we collected dozens of pieces of driftwood to use as posts running down the centre to support the fencing across the top. And they make fantastic scratching posts. The fencing on the top is a mix of chicken coop fencing which is quite light and easy to work with and fish netting that the previous owner had laying around that he had been using for deer netting to protect his garden.

We don't put any litter boxes out there because there is alot of grass and dirt and they sometimes 'go'out there but unfortunately they like to 'hold' it and then use the box when they come back inside! LOL
We put a few of those nylon collapsable camping chairs in there that they love to lounge on in the sunshine. The run itself has a tree at one end so there is always a shady spot for them.

We let the grass grow really long in some areas of the run because our cats absolutely LOVE playing 'jungle kitty' and stalk each other and bugs etc..
Our run is about 60-70 feet in length and about 15-20 feet wide. They really love to run and this length of run allows them to actually pick up speed. We see them racing around in there all the time.

Some things I would suggest that we wish we had done but didn't are:
I would have built the run connected to the house. As it is, we have to load everybody up in their carriers and lug them a hundred feet or so and some of my cats are pretty big and by the time I get them all out there I'm tuckered out! So, we ended up getting a dolly and bungie cords and now I load them up on that and wheel them out to the run. It's quite comical.
Also, like you, I worried about 'carrying' them out because if I lost one, I would be so devastated. You never know when a cat might get spooked by an odd noise or whatever.

The other thing I would strongly suggest is to make a door that is also made for people. We made a door that half the size of a normal door and boy do we regret it! Everytime we need to round everybody up we have to crawl in there and collect them all. And, we have a few that think it's hiliarious when we chase them from one end of the run to the next trying to catch them. Lots of fun. LOL

Also, I wish that we had created a covered section to the run. On summer days when it sprinkles here and there throughout the day, I throw a tarp across the top of one end but it really would have been better to have a covered section on a permanent basis.



Hope this info helps. I'm sure you kitties will just love it!

I've attached a few pics of our run.
In one of the pics you can see some lawn chairs. My husband and I like to have coffee and 'cat watch'. We're always so amazed by how entertaining they can be! LOL

[mruffruff]

I built an enclosure onto the side of my house a few years ago. It is about 9 feet by 30 feet. I used treated 8 foot 2x4's for the posts and wire fencing. The wire fencing is only about 4 feet tall so I used chicken wire to extend the sides to 6 feet and go over the top. The hardest part was securing the wire to the brick side of the house.

I used a short chain link gate to access it from my front yard. I should have put it on the back instead. The cats have a cat flap through the window in their room, and a storm porch with another flap.

I also added a shed for 4 litter boxes with doors for rainy weather. I like to leave them open when it's nice out. If I forget to close the doors, it's a real mess to clean the boxes. I also have a kids' plastic playhouse in the pen as well as shelves. I've had to cover as much of the ground as possible with pavers because they like to use the dirt instead of the litter boxes.

I am attempting to post pictures, but am having a senior moment (or three!). I'll try again later.


It isn't the fanciest or nicest looking, but they love to be able to go in and out at will.

[Cinder & Smoke]

In one of the pics you can see some lawn chairs.
My husband and I like to have coffee and 'cat watch'.

Your version of KAT TV, huh?

Is that Pay per View or free?

[Emeraldgreen]

Your version of KAT TV, huh?

Is that Pay per View or free?

It does cost but just a mere handful of Greenies cat treats and a spoonful of Fancy Feast per cat per show. That's all they demand at this point but we're hoping they don't start a union. Could spiral out of control with demands of private trailers to prepare in before they 'go on stage', body doubles for extreme stunts, strikes if they decide they want to upgrade to real tuna etc.. etc...