In our home, we have a whopping FIVE CATS. We just started out with our outdoor cat Bambi, and our family grew when my sister found a litter of four kittens and decided to keep them. Those four are now indoor kitties that get along fine, but as Bambi is getting older, we’ve been trying to get him to transition into being an indoor cat too. He hasn’t been very happy with the space he’s getting, so we’ve come up with a few ways to give all our cats more room.
Make room for mobility
In the outdoors, cats have a lot of space to explore and climb around, so it’s important to have that same kind of stimulation in your home. It may not be possible for everyone to make their home bigger, but there are ways you can create more space by giving your cats more opportunities to jump and climb.
Use your windows and walls - Window seats and catwalks are a great way to let your cats climb around. We recently got catwalks, which have quickly become popular for all our cats! You could also buy or make a window seat, although we’ve never tried that before
Rearrange furniture - If you don’t want to drill more things into your walls, you can also move around your existing furniture to make it easier for your cats to climb about.
Invest in cat furniture - Our family doesn’t really like having our cats climb on our furniture, so we’ve bought a couple of cat tree that are set up in various rooms. You can get free standing cat trees, as well as ones that span all the way to your ceiling.
Leave kitty nooks
Regardless of how many cats you have, all cats need their own area to chill without being distracted by others. An ideal nook varies from cat-to-cat: a simple box or sleeping pad may do the trick. My kitties love gnawing on cardboard, so having something more durable like a couple Sweet Pitaya cat caves was the best long-term option for us. They’ve been working beautifully, even with the occasional scratches and bites!
Share your ideas!
What are some ways you give your cats more indoor space? What works best for you?
Written by: Alexandra Wei