How to Build a Homemade Cat Condo

Give your cat his own place to hide by building him a condo.

All cats need a place to stretch their limbs and scratch their claws. This keeps them both physically and mentally healthy. If the cats live in your home, that scratching place often becomes your good furniture. To prevent this from happening, try providing your cat with some furniture of his own. By building your cat a condo, you give your cat a place to play and snooze all while saving your furniture and wallet.

Things You'll Need

• 4-foot tall folding step ladder
• Tape measure
• 2-by-4-inch wood stud, cut to length
• Hammer and nails
• 12-inch diameter cardboard concrete form, cut to length
• Sisal rope
• Glue

Instructions

1. Open the ladder and set it up as if you were going to climb it.

2. Measure the distance between the right front leg of the ladder and the right back leg of the ladder. Make a note of this measurement. Repeat this procedure with the left-hand front and back legs of the ladder. Have your 2x4-inch wood stud cut into two pieces that match these lengths.

3. Attach the right-hand front and back legs of the ladder to the same piece of wood stud. Place the stud alongside the legs, nailing through the legs into the stud. (The legs should be attached to the side of the stud.) Repeat this procedure with the left-hand legs of the ladder and second piece of wood stud.

4. Lie the concrete form horizontally in the space between the legs of the ladder to make a tunnel. Determine how long you want it to be, remove it from the ladder and have it cut to the length you have chosen.

5. Cover your tunnel in sisal rope by gluing an end of the rope to one end of the tunnel, then snugly wrapping the rope around the tunnel until it is covered. Glue the other end of the rope onto the tunnel to secure it when you have finished wrapping the tunnel.

6. Place the tunnel between the legs of the ladder again. Attach it to the wood studs by hammering nails through the inside of the tunnel into the studs.

7. Cover the rest of the structure with sisal rope. Start at the bottom and work your way up, snugly wrapping sisal rope around each part of the ladder. Cover any exposed wood, such as steps, legs, hinges and paint trays. Be sure to secure each end of rope with glue before and after wrapping.

8. Test the structure for safety. Ensure that no jagged edges are exposed and that no nails are poking out. Make sure the rope is all tightly wound around the ladder, the glue has all dried and that the tunnel is securely attached to the structure. If the new cat condo passes the safety test, allow your cats to start playing.

Tips & Warnings

• A sprinkle of cat nip on the structure encourages reluctant cats to begin playtime.

• Add another section of tunnel by attaching another wrapped segment of concrete form to the first with nails. This gives your cats even more room to play and hide out.

References

• ND.edu: The Cat Ladder
• "Think Like a Cat: How to Raise a Well-Adjusted Cat Not a Sour Puss"; Pamela Johnson-Bennett; 2000