6 Ways to Make your Home Perfect for Cats

Justwords Justwords
Wandsticker Friedegunde & Co, cats on appletrees cats on appletrees Paredes y pisos
Loading admin actions …

Imagine a scenario; Garfield is at your home making sarcastic comments while Tom is madly chasing Jerry, and Snowball is watching from the windowsill lazily, with a boring disdain. Indoor cats are actually quite habituated in leading an easy and pampered lifestyle. But is a cosy home and regular meals enough to keep them safe and really comfortable. Although cats are quite domesticated these days, but by nature they still remain explorers and predators. They love activities like balancing and climbing. So what can you do to ensure that they retain their natural instinct within the house? You really need to be thoughtful to create a happy and happening space for your darling furry balls.

Stack shelves and boxes for playtime

The cat is by nature a playful creature. Cats should be encouraged to play with their foods; always remember that cats are basically predators and lack of exercise can cause obesity. Most cats love to climb on high places. Instead of stashing all the food and water in one place, you can set smaller bowls throughout the house, which cats can explore and find out. Cats love to play with boxes; so make the entire arrangement playful. Stack the boxes and keep the small bowls or containers of food at different heights. You will end up encouraging agility, exercise and challenges which most cats love. Take a cue from this funky climbing furniture crafted by Stylecats, supplier of furniture and accessories from Germany.

Wrap ropes around furniture to create scratching posts

When you have pets inside the house like dogs and cats, you need to be careful with your furniture. With any creature with long sharp nails, you are bound to have scratches on your precious furniture. For cats too, this is a favourite activity. Before you think about making a post, you need to determine the total height till which the cat can reach. For instance, most cats would make scratches between 22 and 37 inches off the ground. Take a high post a couple of inches higher than the usual marks length and get a sisal rope which will be at least 3 to 8 inches thick and wrap it around the post. You can create the post from wood, and also use remnants of an old carpet to wrap around the post. Or simply use raw wooden blocks like the ones shown above for your kitty’s scratching needs.

Reduce litter tray odour

Of course cleaning the litter box from time to time is crucial to keep the smell away and your cats happy. Cleaning the box twice daily should be enough to get rid of the odour. Also, you should have a sufficient number of litter boxes at your home. Please note that, the smell of the litter depends a lot on the kind of food that you feed your cat. It is better to avoid dry cat food because this makes the cat’s urine smelly. Another way to prevent the odour in the litter is to avoid grains and potatoes in your cat’s diet; grain is not one of cat’s natural food items and most of it will pass out without getting absorbed in the body.

Cover exposed chords

Cable-Tidy Home Office Desk Finoak LTD Estudios y despachos de estilo moderno Escritorios

You cannot keep exposed long wires in the house, if you have a pet. Household cables and house pets are dangerous combinations and you cannot afford to have both, unless you take precautions. You cannot keep your ball of fur away from potentially dangerous corners; so the easiest way to create a safe environment is to keep the chords and cables out of their way. You can use adhesive-backed chord clips to attach the wires with the furniture. If you want, you can hide the wires by using a cable box or concealed surge protector so that they do not pose any distraction for the pets. In order to avoid chewing and chomping by the pets, you can shield the wires with tubing or conduit. And if you have no other option but to run the wire across a floor, you can at least use cord covers for protecting both your pets and wires.

Make a window perch

Well, if you remember Snowball from Stuart Little, you must remember that his favourite place in the house was a window perch. Cats love to sit beside the windows; they may never be able to answer what intrigues their interest, but mostly their favourite place in the house is beside the window! You can cut out a long shelf from wood to fit the windowsill. Once it comfortably fits, you need to cut the sides so that it can be easily attached to the window jambs. Slide the board and nail it around the corners. Paint it nicely and if you want, you can also add something soft and cushiony for your furry friend.

Build a ‘catio’ or enclosed outdoor space

Unlike dogs who are always happy with human companionship, cats need their space and want to get away from other pets, noise and humans too. They need their special cat zone, where they can cherish some personal time with their water, food, toys and even their scratching post. Also, remember that cats love outdoors and find it extremely cosy to lounge on a balcony or terrace. You can opt for either cat fencing or cat enclosures which will be their ‘catio’. Or you can build a cat enclosure yourself, but if you want you can also contact a professional builder. Simply fencing your balcony or deck can be a great idea as well.

Small adjustments to your home can make it a perfect and cosy hangout zone for your beloved pet. Go through another ideabook to find out what else you can do - 9 tips for a pet friendly home.

¿Necesitas ayuda con tu proyecto?
¡Contáctanos!

Destacados de nuestra revista