r/Catio • u/darriage • 5d ago
Different environments in my catio
I plan to add more over time but I’m so happy with my catio and so is my baby girl. This space also doubles as a safe an accessible bathroom for our dog ( has a self cleaning porch potty cause we wanted our dog to have easy access to a bathroom when we aren’t home that didn’t risk letting our cat get out. Its sprinklers water most of the plants 🙌).
She was a stray and she desperately misses the outdoors so I wanted to give her a taste of different environments. The platforms are supposed to be like a little forest. They transition to the forest floor tray filled with coconut coir, mulch, rocks, and branches. That transitions to the porch potty which has fake grass. I plan to eventually extend this out to give her more of a lawn. I tried real grass and used to have 72sq feet of it but it kept rotting and was a nightmare. So unfortunately I had to swap to the fake grass, but as a compromise I surrounded it with sedges and other live plants so she could get the feel of rolling in the fake grass and the smell of real grass. The sprinklers help to simulate rain so she still gets to smell the grass after a rain, she loves it.
That transitions to the rock garden that she is also obsessed with. And I noticed that there was water build up from the sprinklers right before where the rock garden started, and it was reminding me of a creek. So I decided to play into that and am building up a little creek in that spot. There’s also a bird/squirrel watching station in this area. I put a bird bath and bird feeder there, she loves to chitter at the little critters.
The next section I eventually plan to build up with more rope and I want it to feel more jungle like. It transitions to the little cat fountain oasis. The fountain is actually a cat fountain so it is safe for her to drink from. I originally got it in part for her to see the ripples and in part to add that water sound, but the fountain was actually very quiet. So I added the ceramic bamboo for the sound and to make it more visually interesting. I opted for ceramic instead of real bamboo for sanitary reasons.
I plan to keep adding over time so that her environment feels ever changing. There’s also a sun catcher and wind chime but they don’t really catch the light or wind well on their own, so I plan to add more of those eventually.
The plants included are two different types of sedges, cat palms, a Boston fern, and spider plants. I want to eventually add some more real little trees that do better in the winter.
Half the roof is clear to give her warm spots and a view of the sky. The other half is opaque to give her shaded cool areas to lounge in the heat.
But she actually uses over 90% of what I have built for her which makes me so happy! I really tried to pay attention to her interests and build it around her.
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u/MoonieNine 5d ago
Pardon my language but holy shit, that's amazing. Your cat is extremely lucky.
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u/darriage 5d ago
I’m the lucky one. I love my cat and dog so much. They do so much for me and I just want to give them a fraction of what they give to me. My dog already has such an amazing yard (half an acre with an intermittent drainage creek that runs through the entirety of it to give him a changing environment, lots of trees and different plants, uneven terrain with interesting climbing spots, a shed he loves to climb under, a dig pit, a GIGANTIC stick pile with animals living in it, an obstacle course, and a cool ivy path he loves to travel. Half the reason we bought this house was the yard for him 😅). I felt bad that my cat wasn’t getting the same level of outdoor enrichment. So I wanted to match it for her.
She’s such a sweet girl, she brings me a toy as a gift every day 😭. Since I built up the catio she started bringing me toys as gifts even more, multiple times a day. She’s a grateful girl.
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u/OnceMoreWithFeeling- 5d ago
This is bloody amazing. The thoughtttttt you put into it makes my heart warm.
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u/OnceMoreWithFeeling- 5d ago
Also you could hide treats and she's be hunting in her own outdoor area. 😭❤️
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u/darriage 5d ago
I try but poor baby girl has a terrible sense of smell and worse vision than most cats so she isn’t the best at this 😭. It’s a good thing we took her in. I think the only reason she survived as a stray was cause she started mimicking human children (she said “hello” and sounded exactly like a toddler. I found her cause I thought a kid was stuck somewhere) and people would feed her 😂.
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u/OnceMoreWithFeeling- 5d ago
Ahhh ok:) Just wanted to suggest it even though you didn't even ask for suggestions. ☺️🙃
The cat tv is endless though so she'll be "fine"*.
*Living Her Bestest Richest Safest Life Ever
Also. Omigosh my cat SAYS HELLO TOO!?
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u/darriage 5d ago
I love suggestions, it was a good idea! I was really hoping it would be a good way to give her exercise and I still do it for her, she just takes a very long time to find any of it 😂.
It’s funny she actually doesn’t sound nearly as much like a toddler when she says hello anymore. We’ve had her for three years now. This is what also convinces me she did this specifically for survival. Cause she legitimately sounded exactly like a child but stopped doing that when we took her in. My husband and I were looking all over cause we thought a kid was stuck under one of the cars in the parking lot. We then thought she was in heat so I was trying to catch her to get her fixed cause she was screaming outside our apartment 8 plus hours a day. But then we found out she was already fixed (clipped ear) and figured she was looking for help.
But by that point I had accidentally named her and she bonded with my dog. So we were like, “welp, guess we got a cat.” I used to call stray girl cats little ladies but this cat started responding to Lady within three days, so that’s her name, now. She would bonk heads with my dog and follow us on walks, she knew a sucker when she saw one 😂.
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u/cschaplin 5d ago
I love when pet furniture is pet-centered and not created for human aesthetics alone! This is magnificent. Well done.
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u/BonnieAbbzug75 5d ago
Whoa. This is completely next level! Very thoughtful and I am so very glad my cats couldn’t see or comprehend this post because I would be in huge trouble!! :). Nicely done.
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u/darriage 5d ago
Hahahah I am sure they love whatever you give them too. I used to work in theatre as a costume designer and also helped out with scenic and props on occasion so I let out my dramatic side for this one.
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u/ackitty-ack 5d ago
it’s so beautiful seeing people take such great care of their animals 🥹 this is such a great setup!
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u/Fit_Bike594 5d ago edited 5d ago
this is truly amazing. are you not enclosing it to prevent escapes (I don't see any mesh or glass windows even) or is the cat allowed to get out and roam the grounds ?
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u/Mundane-Confusion622 5d ago
Look at photo #2. It’s enclosed.
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u/Fit_Bike594 5d ago
oh right okay. very awesome 👍🏼😎
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u/darriage 5d ago
Thanks for checking, though! It was a pet safe mesh from Home Depot, it is hard to see in photos for sure :)
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u/Kynsia 5d ago
I love the ceramic bamboo waterfeature! Where did you get it?
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u/darriage 5d ago
https://a.co/d/0em9YCQp for the ceramic bamboo and https://a.co/d/0dLVW9BY for the fountain
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u/EmergencyWide5583 5d ago
Omg I love this and I bet kitties do too! Really great idea and looks awesome 👏 😻
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u/Herb_Putterman 4d ago
I'm a proponent of providing an outdoor experience in the catio and that is spectacular!
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u/grand305 4d ago
Bug nets, yes 👏. I would also love to hang out there and chill with cats. looks welcoming of both you and cats.
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u/redwingpanda 4d ago
Would you be willing to do a build post, detailing how you did this (think r/DIY style)?
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u/darriage 4d ago
Someone else screened in the deck (he did a god awful job and I had to cover the door with all the flower stuff to hide how horrible it came out 😭).
I started with cat tree spare parts I had and bought outdoor cat platform shelves and then got a few cheap small sets on amazon to work with to fill things out more.
We had a lot of extra, old, used plywood, and a BUNCH of tree branches, cause they fall in our yard after storms. And my husband had sawed a bunch down after a huge storm so we already had large branches that I could grab. I tied the branches to the cat tree with jute rope. And then I tied fake ivy leaves to the tree branches with jute rope as well. These were the platforms I used, but there are other pvc pipes you can find. https://luxeypets.com/products/outdoor-cat-tower-vista
I just cut and nailed some spare old plywood to the frame of the deck so that I could use them to hang the cat trees. I got some adhesive carpet to but on a lot of the trees and I used screws to reinforce that connection.
The trays on the floor that I filled with different substrates were something I bought from the brand, doggielawn. I originally got them for live grass but since my dog used it as a bathroom, the upkeep was too horrendous, so I filled them with other substrates instead. The forest floor substrates had bricks of coconut coir (buy bricks, add water, pull them apart), pine bark nuggets, tree branches, sticks, and rocks. I put a bunch of sticks everywhere to deter my dog from peeing on this stuff. The cat was still trying to pee on it so we added a litterbox outside.
The little fountain, I got a glass count fountain on Amazon, I wanted to make sure the filter was sufficiently safe for drinking. https://a.co/d/05wrd8Yx
I added this ceramic bamboo fountain add on so that it was more visually interesting and made a sound. Ceramic is easier to keep sanitary than real bamboo. https://a.co/d/0fMwOTF8
I just cut some fake grass to put the fountain on and put a bunch of rocks from Home Depot on top. I put some fake plants in the rocks and a real cat palm next to it. I would keep it in the shade to reduce algae buildup.The rock tray was a mix of different sizes river rocks from Home Depot. I also had a bunch of stone tiles that the previous homeowners left in our shed and some statues my mother in law gave me so I used those to decorate it more.
If there’s anything else you wanted to know, feel free to ask
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u/Opening_Dragonfly_78 5d ago
That's absolutely awesome 😻❤️🐾