Just to prove that Catification is an ongoing process for everyone (myself included!) I’m going to give you a little behind-the-scenes peek at my current project! I’m constantly on the lookout for new little places I can Catify with minimal effort and maximum impact for the cats. If you read Catification, you probably saw photos of my catio, which is fully equipped with cat climbing shelves, however, there are some storage cabinets on the catio with an absolutely perfect cat lounge spot on top that I’ve never integrated into the cat superhighway. The time has come!
Now, I can’t believe I’m actually admitting this to you (and showing you a photo!), but I haven’t looked at the top of the cabinets, let alone CLEANED up there, since I installed them several years ago. The cats have never tried to go up there so it was off my radar. Of course, imagine my HORROR when I found this blanket of fur and dust on top! (I actually gasped and almost fell off the ladder.) Good heavens! Do you have a place you’ve been ignoring that would be perfect to Catify?
The first step in Catifying is sometimes just finding a spot and doing a little cleaning. Look for the top of a bookcase or kitchen cabinet, a little forgotten shelf or ledge. How about a deep windowsill? You probably have more potential Catification spots than you think!
Next step, add some carpet tiles, cut to the right size and secured in place with double-sided carpet tape. This creates a comfy, non-slip surface that’s inviting to cats. They will also be able to add their scent to the new carpet, truly making the spot their own, claiming their new territory. And when it’s time to clean, either pick-up the carpet tiles and clean or replace, or use a hand-held vacuum for quick touch-ups. There you have it, a fully reclaimed and Catified space!
Of course, Ando had to be the first to investigate. I put him up there just to give it a test run and he asked me why, oh why, I hand’t thought of this sooner! I brought him down carefully, since the cat’s can’t access the top of the cabinets by themselves yet, but I have two other parts of this project underway that I will share with you shortly. Stay tuned!
Now go find a forgotten spot in your home and Catify it! I want to see photos! Please share on the Hauspanther Facebook page or submit them to me via our project submission form!
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Get more simple ideas for Catifying your home in my first book co-authored with Jackson Galaxy, Catification: Designing a Happy and Stylish Home for Your Cat (and You!), and our second book coming out next month, Catify to Satisfy: Simple Solutions for Creating a Cat-Friendly Home, now available for pre-order!
You know they are going to love it! It would be really cool if you were able to install some sort of shelf that spanned that window, too. This was a fun blog post.
GOOD. Ando richly deserves this. *Flora and Dazzle do, too* 😉
Does the double-sided carpet tape allow for easy removal of the carpet (and the tape itself)? My catifyable area is a beautiful wooden bookcase that I wouldn’t want any tape residue to get permanently stuck to. What do you think?
Good question! I use standard carpet tape from the hardware store. It allows you to pull up and restick the carpet a few times before it’s no longer sticky enough to hold, then you’d need to add more. As for harming the surface, I find that it’s easy to remove the tape from laminate surfaces, but it could cause damage to delicate surfaces.
An alternative to using the carpet tape might be adding a non-slip rug liner or shelf liner, both available at most hardware and home supply stores. It will depend on how your cat is jumping on and off the surface, you’ll need to experiment and see if the rug liner provides enough friction to keep the carpet in place.
The other option, which I haven’t tried, might be to find a “repositionable” tape, which might not harm the wood surface since it’s not as sticky..
I hope that helps a little!