EDMONDS, WA :: Last summer I built a kennel for Mance and Sage, allowing them to safely and conveniently enjoy a little bit of the outside world. I’m just now posting it on the website because, 1) I’ve been working through a large backlog of photos, and 2) I’ve been waiting for a snow day to conceal our ugly patio (a project for this summer).
I researched a number of cat containment systems, but this simple cage seemed to be the best solution for us. It doesn’t look too bad, and it’ll be easy for us to move and reconfigure once it is placed in its permanent location. Right now, it’s against the house, next to a low window. We simply open the window during the day so that they can hop in and out as they please. When it gets dark, we call them in and close the window so that they don’t bring in any mice. This happened a few times when we first let them stay out all night. That was a few times too many for Kristie. Fortunately, the mice were offered to us alive and intact.
The kennel is simply two small dog kennels that I assembled into one large cat kennel. The canopy is a roll of black, plastic chicken “wire”, fastened every few inches with black zip ties, and capped with a length of aluminum flashing that I spray-painted black to match. The entire assembly can be lifted and moved by two people, but is heavy enough to keep the cats in and other creatures out.
The cats love it! They get to sit in the sun and the fresh air while munching on grass or chasing bugs. They’ve become friends with the squirrels, and hope someday a bird will be stupid enough to fly into the kennel. Mance and Sage even go out in the rain, or in this case, the snow. It was their first experience with it, so I grabbed a camera and watched them test it out. It’s snowed a lot this year at our house, and each time the cats are eager for us to wake-up and open the window.
I researched a number of cat containment systems, but this simple cage seemed to be the best solution for us. It doesn’t look too bad, and it’ll be easy for us to move and reconfigure once it is placed in its permanent location. Right now, it’s against the house, next to a low window. We simply open the window during the day so that they can hop in and out as they please. When it gets dark, we call them in and close the window so that they don’t bring in any mice. This happened a few times when we first let them stay out all night. That was a few times too many for Kristie. Fortunately, the mice were offered to us alive and intact.
The kennel is simply two small dog kennels that I assembled into one large cat kennel. The canopy is a roll of black, plastic chicken “wire”, fastened every few inches with black zip ties, and capped with a length of aluminum flashing that I spray-painted black to match. The entire assembly can be lifted and moved by two people, but is heavy enough to keep the cats in and other creatures out.
The cats love it! They get to sit in the sun and the fresh air while munching on grass or chasing bugs. They’ve become friends with the squirrels, and hope someday a bird will be stupid enough to fly into the kennel. Mance and Sage even go out in the rain, or in this case, the snow. It was their first experience with it, so I grabbed a camera and watched them test it out. It’s snowed a lot this year at our house, and each time the cats are eager for us to wake-up and open the window.
I had no idea the kennel was so huge! What a couple of lucky cats. Have fun with that patio project this summer. 😛