How to Build a Cat Climbing Tower

If you have cats, you know that they like to do two things in their spare time. The first is to stay in high places and the second is to scratch. If you want to make their lifestyle perfect, you can build them a cat climbing tower. This will allow them to feel at home and will allow them to tap into their feline instincts.

Things You'll Need

• Plywood
• 2x4s
• Nails
• Carpet

Instructions

1. Build a design. Since the idea of a cat tower is to allow your pet to jump, climb and play, you will want to figure out the best design for the cat. Some will be simple poles with a couple of ledges while others will include places for them to climb inside to, such as small houses, and extra layers and ramps that they can jump around.

2. Start with the individual pieces. You will want a combination of flat pieces, such as plywood, combined with 2x4s that will be used for the poles in between the different platforms. With each of these pieces, cut pieces of carpet for the bottom and side areas and glue or staple them into place.

3. Build your platform. You will want to have a sturdy bottom area of plywood that will help the cat tower to stay in place. Combine this with putting in the first 2x 4 and nailing it into place.

4. Put the next platform on top of the 2x4. You can nail the next platform on top of the 2x4 after this, making the first level for climbing.

5. Start layering platforms, crawl spaces and 2x4s. After you have the basics down, you can start putting together the entire design. Cats enjoy when the pole sizes are different, with smaller and larger platforms that move upwards, allowing them to jump and climb through different layers. After you have your first three pieces down, you can move the design with these different layers, nailing from either the foundation or the other pieces of wood that are in place.

Tips & Warnings

• For the carpet that goes on the top of the platforms, put this over last in order to prevent scrapes or problems that could happen with the nails being put in.

• For extra clawing that can be done on the platform, put rope instead of carpet on the side poles. This will give them something more to grab onto.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish