Humane Society of Boulder Valley Gets Catified! Adoption Center Redesigned to Delight Shelter Cats and Visitors

The Humane Society of Boulder Valley in Boulder, Colorado recently remodeled their cat adoption center to create a Catification wonderland! Their goal was to create an attractive space that’s comfortable and functional for both cats and visitors.

The cage-free cat rooms are bright and colorful, bringing in the Colorado sunshine through solar tubes in the roof. The extra sunshine reduces stress levels for the cats and makes the rooms an inviting place for visitors to hang out and spend time playing with the cats, or just watching them do their thing.

They chose lots of products that we’ve featured here on Hauspanther, including the yellow Juliette step shelves, which add a splash of color and create perfect cat walkways.

The Cat Clouds and Cat Silhouette wall shelves from The Refined Feline extend the cat superhighway around the rooms, giving the resident felines plenty of levels to choose from. Both the Juliette steps and the Refined Feline shelves are made of powder-coated steel, making them easy to sanitize and very durable, both critical features in a shelter environment.

I noticed the small white step shelves between the Refined Feline shelves and inquired as to what they were, since I didn’t recognize them. The folks remodeling the adoption center wanted to add some small steps between the larger shelves, but they couldn’t find just what they wanted on the market, so they went to a local fabricator and had these made from powder-coated metal to match the other shelves. A very nice custom solution! (…and a big message to the cat product manufacturers, we need these!)

In one room, they installed the cat climbing wall system from Catswall. This system uses a slat wall with modular boxes, steps, and perches so the wall can be easily reconfigured. The bright green accent slats match the green Hepper Nom Nom Dish perfectly. I also see the SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Post, an all-time favorite!

There are so many creative touches throughout the space, like the hanging toys attached to the bottoms of the metal shelves with heavy-duty magnets and carabineers. The porthole passages between the spaces are actually old ship porthole windows that they purchased on eBay and decorated with window clings. The portholes can be opened or closed, depending on the current cat population.

Also creatively repurposed are the orange nest boxes. These are metal storage boxes from The Container Store. They mounted the boxes on the walls, creating raised hideaway beds for kitties looking for a little extra privacy. The tops of the boxes also provide additional steps along the cat superhighway.

I particularly like the cushion design they are using for inside the nest boxes. They place donated towels inside extra large Ziplock bags and then slide the bags into decorative pillowcases. This makes it easy to remove and wash the pillowcases, replacing the plastic bags only as needed if they become soiled. Brilliant!

Materials were chosen for their ease of cleaning and durability, but style is never sacrificed. The floors are an industrial epoxy material that comes in a variety of colors and the modern plastic sofas in the cat rooms are from Kartell, perfect for both human and feline seating – stylish, and very easy to clean.

One of my favorite features is the repurposed amplifier cat hangout! They took and old Fender amp, replaced the electronics inside with a soft bed and the cats have a cool hideaway with a perch on top. This is a tribute to Jackson Galaxy who, as you may know from reading his memoir Cat Daddy, got his start in animal rescue at Boulder Humane! Jackson was also a big help with the new cat room design. I talked to him about the new design and here’s what he has to say about it:

“I couldn’t be more excited to see the work that my friends at HSBV have done. The homeless cats of Boulder Valley have a place that challenges and comforts them; at the same time, it shows them off in a brilliant, inviting way to their potential new forever families.

It’s really thrilling to see shelter-based Catification in action — HSBV made sure to provide almost floor-to-ceiling access, ensuring that they are maximizing territorial confidence. Obviously there was much thinking done with cat glasses firmly in place! I also love the ingenuity involved. If there isn’t a product on the market that speaks to the needs of the space, then invent it! And let’s not forget that place where form meets function; as appealing as the space is to the cats, it’s equally so for the humans. Now that’s true Catification!

Most of all, as I look at this finished product, knowing what it looked like before and all that it took to make this transformation happen, I am, as ever, proud to say “I came from there!” A place where not only are cats’ lives valued, but the quality of their day-to-day experiences are as well. Bravo, HSBV!!”

If you’re ever in Boulder, make sure to stop by and visit this beautiful facility and spend some time with the cats! Read more about the Humane Society of Boulder Valley on their website BoulderHumane.org.