How to Build a Tree Hammock for a Cat
Tree hammocks are perfect accessories for cats, because they provide a place where your pet can both rest and exercise. To keep your cat enticed, you can rub catnip on the fabric of the hammock so the animal will play with it more often. You can easily build a tree hammock for a cat, even if you are not a carpenter.
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Things You'll Need
- Wood glue
- Plywood
- Styrofoam cylinders and circles
- Staple gun
- Measuring tape
- Fabric
- Hand saw
- Knife
- Protractor
- Pencil
Instructions
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1
Determine where you want to put the tree hammock. You don't want it to be too big or too small for the space you have available. A decent-sized hammock should be about 3' to 4' high.
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2
Use a hand saw to cut two 2'x2' rectangular pieces of plywood. One rectangle will be the base of the tree hammock, while the other one will be used to make the second story. You can also cut out a 1'x1' rectangular piece to add a third story to the hammock.
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3
Purchase Styrofoam cylinders that are 2' tall. These will help stabilize each story of the tree hammock. Measure the width of the base of the cylinder and write down the measurement to refer to later.
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4
Use wood glue to adhere the Styrofoam cylinders to the plywood. Put down the base plywood, then glue a cylinder on each side. After the glue has dried, use a staple gun to cover the first story in fabric. You can use the protractor to help you accurately cut out the holes in the fabric where the cylinders will go, so you can place the fabric directly over them and slide it down onto the plywood. Follow this process for each story.
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5
Fold over a piece of fabric to strengthen it, and make sure it's long enough to reach from one cylinder to the other. This will be your actual hammock. Staple it securely to the wood in the second story.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are more experienced with cutting and sanding wood, create cylinders out of wood to make your structure sturdier.
Monitor your cat at play to ensure the hammock is safe.
Resources
- Photo Credit Made available by www.active-cat-furniture.com.
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Comments
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I know that this sounds strange but we actually screw our cat trees into the floor, along with speaker stands and the speakers are mounted to the stands. Our bookcases are all anchored to the walls and we do not keep any cleaning supplies down low under the kitchen sink. Our linen closet has a key lock so that children and pets can not get in there with out a key. It's also where we keep all medicines. These little things make our lives so easy and we don't need to worry about pets or children being hurt.
