How to Make Cat Trees
If you have cats, you know that cat furniture can be a great addition to your home. Since giving the cats their own piece of furniture will save yours from all of the nicks and claw marks, knowing that your feline friend has her own place to play and claw at can give you peace of mind. The bad part is that when you go to purchase any type of cat furniture, the price is exasperating. Fortunately, you can make your own high quality cat tree for a fraction of the price that retail stores sell them for. This simple cat tree can last quite a while and will give your cat plenty of joy.
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Things You'll Need
- 2 empty oatmeal canisters
- Scrap carpeting or an old rug
- Heavy duty staple gun with staples
- 2 scrap pieces of plywood cut to whatever size you want
- 1 1/4-inch wooden dowel
- Nails
- Hammer
- Drill fitted with 1/4-inch drill bit
- Hot glue
- Hot glue gun
Instructions
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1
Lay out your pieces on a flat working area. Cut the bottom out of only one of the oatmeal canisters.
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2
Cover the bottom piece of the plywood with carpet or rug with staple gun and trim.
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3
Stack both canisters on top of each other and measure the length. Subtract 1 inch from this measurement and cut dowel to that length. Find the middle of one of the pieces of plywood and nail your dowel to the center from the bottom of the plywood.
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4
Cover both canisters with carpet using either hot glue or a staple gun.
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5
Place the open-ended, carpet-covered canister over the dowel. Hot glue the bottom of the canister to the bottom carpet.
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6
Drill a hole in the middle of the second piece of plywood. Spread hot glue on to the top of the canister and "thread" the piece of plywood over the dowel and on top of the canister.
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7
Spread hot glue to the top of the second canister and place it over the remaining dowel onto the second piece of plywood. Make sure that there is contact between the hot glue and the carpet so that the canister is secure.
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8
Cut a round piece of scrap carpet or rug and hot glue to the top of your tree (this will be the bottom of the second canister).
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1
Tips & Warnings
Hot glue will be extremely hot. Do not let glue come in contact with skin.
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Comments
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petfanatic
Nov 25, 2010
Thanks for this great how-to post! I have two cats at home and I have been buying cat trees for them. Fortunately, the cat trees are durable enough to make them happy and to keep them busy all the time. But I sure need this info in case I decided to build a cat tree for them in the future :)
