Cat jungle gyms, playgrounds, and treehouses are outrageously expensive when purchased in a store. Many people who would like to provide such indoor play equipment for their beloved feline friends cannot afford to do so. However, there are ways to make play equipment for your cat that requires little, if any, expense or experience in building things.Cat in the boxGather a gebination of differently sized, sturdy boxes such as those suggested in the "Things You'll Need" section below. Cardboard boxes can be obtained for free from membership/warehouse stores, liquor stores, furniture stores, discount stores, copy shops, toy stores. Cardboard tubes can be salvaged from paper towels, wrapping paper, mailing tubes, and bolts of fabric.
Gather materials to hold the boxes together, also listed below. It is important for you to pick appropriate materials for your cat. For example, if your cat chews cardboard, don't use tape or glue. Also, pick the materials according to whether you want to be able to disassemble some or all of the boxes after you are finished or whether you want some or all of the boxes to be permanently connected.
Plan the structure for the play equipment before actually cutting or connecting boxes.
Consider if you want different "rooms" to have different purposes: sleeping room, playroom, snack room, observation deck. Consider the placement of the play equipment in your home: next to a window (should have lots of windows), with a view of the aquarium or television (needs strategically placed window), in a corner (needs reasonable support), freestanding in the middle of the room (needs extra support).
Experiment with different ways of arranging the boxes: Put some boxes inside of others. Connect two or more groups of boxes using single, long boxes as tunnels or bridges. Make steps using a series of smaller boxes.
Experiment with different size windows, doors, and trap doors. Try drawing windows, doors, or trap doors first before cutting. Use cardboard tubes as support posts in vertical structures. For advanced cat house builders, use pizza boxes to create balconies supported by columns below.
Connect the boxes. It is easiest to do this in the room where the play equipment will stay. After it is assembled, it can be difficult to maneuver play equipment around corners, up or down stairs, or through doorways. Make the play equipment gefortable for your cat. Use materials that can be removed for cleaning (check the list below). Cat size pillows can be made from old socks, potholder mitts, pillowcases, hand towels, shirts, curtains.
Decorate the play equipment (optional). Be sure to avoid materials that are choking hazards or toxic. See if your cat might like a "curtain" over a window or doorway. Perhaps a small, sturdy mirror would provide entertainment. Introduce your cat to the play equipment (if they haven't been the Project Managers!). Catnip might entice wary kitties. Placing familiar toys or blankets inside the entrance "room" may encourage your cat to explore their new cat house. Try temporarily placing your cat's food dish inside the cat house. Place the "mansion" next to a window or in a sunbeam. Watch your cats as they enjoy their jungle gym to learn what they like and what works well in your jungle gym design. Eventually each cardboard jungle gym will start to sag and wear out. Use your observations to design your next cat jungle gym.
When you put your play equipment together, make an "emergency hatch" so that you can access your cat without gepletely tearing apart and destroying the jungle gym. This is important when you need to pill your cat or take him/her to the vet, if you have a household emergency and need to leave with your cat quickly, or if you have more than one cat and they get into a tiff inside the jungle gym.
To cut cardboard, a steak knife is easier, safer, and more precise than a box cutter, exacto knife, or scissors. It may be easier to cut and decorate boxes before assembling them, but this takes more planning before doing.
Size the windows and doors in proportion to your cat(s). For example, for a small, nervous cat in a multiple cat household, make one area of the jungle gym with doors and windows small enough that only s/he can enter.
If you have more than one cat, make two entrances/exits in each box so cats can avoid being trapped by each other. One cat can avoid waking a sleeping, cranky feline friend, if there is an alternate exit.
Use a bookcase or dresser missing a drawer to enclose one shelf or drawer space with cardboard (except for an entrance opening) or a curtain valance. Use tall potato chip cans, old banisters, broom handles, or other tall items as support posts or columns to support the structure above.
If you build the play equipment more than a couple of boxes high, you will need to reinforce the first couple of levels with vertical posts or cardboard (multiple strips thick, length = box height, folded in half along the length, and turned up on end) in the vertical corners to support the weight of the boxes plus cats above. You may also need to reinforce the (outside) top of each box with flat pieces of cardboard (i.e. pizza box) -- especially the topmost box because cats will sit on top of the structure.
An alternate structure could be a one or two story maze. Just don't make it too difficult for your cat to find his/her way out!
Ask the clerk before taking boxes from a store for the first time. Some stores recycle boxes; they get money back from manufacturers for the boxes they return. These stores might consider it theft if you take their boxes without asking.
Do not take boxes from recycling bins. Items deposited in recycling bins are considered the property of the recycling gepany. Salvaging boxes from recycling bins might be considered theft.
Make sure all materials used to make play equipment is non-toxic.
Do not build your jungle gym more than 3-4 levels high, depending upon the size of the boxes used, the weight of your cat/s, and the design of your structure. Building the structure too high can be dangerous for your cat/s, you, and your home. The higher you build your jungle gym, the wider the base should be -- both north/south and east/west.
Be very careful cutting anything around cats, who usually consider it their duty to participate in such a project as this one.
Do not place your cat house right next to a heat source such as the television, a portable heater, a stove, or a lamp. This creates a fire hazard. Do not place your cat house anywhere that it would get wet. Even just being in a humid room can weaken the structure or the connections among boxes.
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