Hello All,

Over the years Marvin and I have always wanted to build our babies an outdoor enclosure that included a totally covered area for their litter boxes too. When we were in our rental, it just was not going to happen. However, once we bought our property, one of the first "projects" was the enclosure, mainly because we had acquired 5 more kitties (Mina, Tammy, LuLu, Toni, and Haley). We already had Axle, Eloo (bless his little heart in heaven, we miss you Buddy Boo!!!!!), and Perfecta.

We needed something that could allow them to be outdoors AND a place for the pooper boxes.

So we started with this: (we call it the Kitty Krapper v 1.5, lol!)



This was an 8 x 4 unit made with plywood, 4 x 4 posts, screen, sheet metal, and a few other things. We put a cat door in the wall and used an insulated tube (abt. 16 inches in diameter) for them to get from the pet door to the unit. We also cut a window in the side and I can open one end to enter to get the boxes and clean them. We put peel & stick tile inside for easy clean up.

We just recently finished (finally Yeah!) the outdoor part for them so they can enjoy being outside, but safe from predators (we live where coyotes and owls can prey on domestic animals, so we keep them indoors).



It is the 8 x 4 unit now all screened in on both sides and on bottom. All of it is screened with 1/2 inch mesh and regular screen. We used 2 x 2's and 1 x 2's. Along the top we used some shade cloth to provide more shade for them. They are on the side of the house that gets the most shade (since we live in the desert) and so it is the perfect spot for them. We threw a scratch post made of pine in there and they are loving it!

Mina was adopted out recently to a wonderful kitty lover (she is now in charge of computer operations at her new home) so we now have 7 babies (including the dog, making 6 kitties), and hence, 6 litter boxes inside the unit.

There is a 7-8 inch concrete ledge on that side of the house that is inside the enclosure that they use to lay on and chill out. So far, everyone loved it the minute we opened the hole again for re-entry.

I wanted to share these, just in case someone else was thinking of doing an enclosure. We will share anything we learned from this, so email me anytime (angelique@porphyrins.org). We had read and seen pictures of others online and received inspiration from their ideas. I think this is a great alternative for letting them outdoors completely.

I hope you all enjoy these!!!



Above is Tammy checking me out on the other side



Above is a view of a few kitties checking out the new stuff

What a fantastic idea, I was wondering what we could do to keep the cats in, but never really thought of what you have done. I was thinking more along the lines of the cat netting idea which costs an arm and a leg to have made up not including the floor part. I only have 1 cat here at the moment, but I have had up to 10 including kittens that I have been babysitting. I have a bought cat cage, only small and portable on wheels. too small to keep them in all the time, but fine for locking them up at night. I used to let them out for the day and the kittens would stay around the house and garden area and the cats would hang out in the hay sheds. My own cat Ulriich, my baby, was the only one that wandered off and he was the one that got killed on the road and I don't want to go through that again.
One of my daughters lives in another state in an apartment with her two children, two cats and one dog. Gees it's small for all that lot, but she does have a balcony that has recently been fitted with a cat net enclosure and that has made all the difference. She has a large glass window with a cat door fitted into it and a glass door that leads on to the balcony. The cats look so cute when you walk past on the street and see them sitting there looking out at everyone. When I fathom out how to upload photos, I will put some on here and show you what I have. In the mean time I am going to pester my husband, because you have given me some great ideas.

madi xx

That's very nice..lucky kitties!