Who has an outdoor cat run?

[Fuzzybuns]

I'm in the beginning stages of planning one for my three but I want to know what works for you and what doesn't first. I'm not sure if I want it attached to the house so they can go out a window or if I'm brave enough to try and walk each to and from without somebody trying to get away.
What do you have in it, tree stumps for scratching, highups for climbing and perching, big flat rocks to rest on and so on?
How'd you do the people door? Hubby suggested a doorway like you'd pass through in an aviary...open, walk in and close, open the next one. I see his point but I think it'd be too much and I really don't think they'd be paying any attention to the door anyway, lol. However, he also said we could add some shelves for me to keep neccessary items out there...but what would I need that I can't carry from the house? It's not like they'll be living out there, lol.
What materials did you use? Is there a litterbox in there? Is it at least partially covered? Did you plant catnip in the corner? Do you feed them in it, or is that how you bait them back in the house? Did you bury the bottom so kitty can't weasel out?

I know it's a lot but I really want one very badly for the fuzzybuns and the better I have a plan together the more likely I can have one. If you'd rather not answer all these, I'd gladly look at pictures if you have them.

Thank you for your time!

[kt_luvs_kitties]

I dont know ANYTHING about making a run, but I do know that the cats will love it (I have always wanted my cats to have one) and they are very lucky to get one! Mine are so jealous!

If you google it, many people have directions on building one. GOOD LUCK!

[kittycats_delight]

I am pretty sure there are a few people with outdoor cat enclosures. I know 100% that Tamara (Glacier) has one. She has had it as long as I can remember. Why not PM her. I believe her's is connected to the house and the kitties use a window to get in and out but don't quote me on that . I am sure Tamara wouldn't mind giving you some info.

Michelle

[catmandu]

I Would Love To Have One On The Side Of The Found Cat Hotel So They Can Have A Little More Space , And Some Fresh Air.
I Will Have To Talk To My Contractor To See Waht We Can Come Up With.

[Poo]

Hiya
I have a cat run, my partner and I put it together. We built if off the back of our conservatory. The conservatory has double doors, so we can get in the cat run too. There was already a cat flap in the wall when we moved into our house, so thats how my kittys get in and out of the run, they come and go as they please. We have a door into a small holding area and then another door into the garden, so we are able to get into the garden without the kittys escaping. My partner is a plumber and he has put large belfast sink out there where I can wash all their litter trays and they have their covered litter trays in the cat run.

They have beds out there, toys, a log to scratch on and a kitty climbing frame. It's not the gradest thing, and not that pretty to look at, but they seem to enjoy it-and thats the main thing. It's the best thing we ever did building it. In the summer, they spend loads of time out there, day and night and we are able to have the doors open and get some air in without worrying about them escaping.

I will try and get some photos over the weekend and post them for you to have a look at and get some inspiration. Hope that helps.
Nicki

[krazyaboutkatz]

K & L has a cat run that runs along part of the back of her house. You could also pm her about it. I think that she once started a thread about it and posted pictures so maybe you can look it up. Good luck.

[K & L]

This is ours. It was worth every penny!

[Glacier]

I am pretty sure there are a few people with outdoor cat enclosures. I know 100% that Tamara (Glacier) has one. She has had it as long as I can remember. Why not PM her. I believe her's is connected to the house and the kitties use a window to get in and out but don't quote me on that . I am sure Tamara wouldn't mind giving you some info.

Michelle

Yup, that's right. We took the screen out of a window so the cats can come and go as they please. The window is only about 18 inches off the ground. Most of the cats jump in and out, but there is a ramp for those that prefer to walk! They don't use it in the winter. It's fenced with chainlink to the height of our house roof, then has a section angled in. No one has ever climbed it, but the angled section would stop them from getting out if they did climb. It's also fenced off on either end so my dogs can't even see the cat run. It's about the size of a small city back yard. It has a man gate too, but we don't use it unless we need access to pipes that come into the house from that side.

One thing to be aware of is if you have hunter cats, you will be cleaning up carcasses regularly. Nine cats in my cat run and still the mice come in! Boots the hunting machine has a great time out there! He even brought a bat in one night. I don't mind the mice, but I could live without ever seeing another bat in my bedroom!

Here's sweet ol' Beau enjoying the spring sunshine last year.

He liked to lounge out there occasionally.

[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.

[nancys]

I would love to have something like that for my cats - wonder where you could get the plans to build one. All my babies have turned into house cats, but I think they could go outdoors, if they had a safe place to go. There are too many dogs running around where I live.

[Moesha]

For those that have cat runs I have a question, do you cats try to escape outdoors because they know how nice it is out there? Morgan never shows any interest in going outside himself. He likes to watch birds from his cat perch or by laying by the glass doors. I would be afraid that if he had a cat run, he'd want to be outside all the time.

[Glacier]

For those that have cat runs I have a question, do you cats try to escape outdoors because they know how nice it is out there?

It has actually reduced the number of attempted dashes out the door. They know they have a safe place to go outside now and they don't have to be sneaky about it. It's enhanced their safety dramatically since my dogs have full access to the rest of the property. A cat outside with my dogs has a very short life expectancy!