In Between Projects. Catio for Eddie, Max and Riley

By Danmonsterman @danmonsterman
Hey all.  I took a small hiatus from my art to build a "catio".   I've always wanted to do this.  We have an old cat, Riley, who has led an exclusively indoor life.   We wanted her to have a little time outside before she's gone.  And the Bengal, Max, he spends all day waiting for me to play with him.  He's afraid of every toy except one.   And he just needed more stimulation.   As for the little pill Eddie, he just needed a place to roam.  So, for those of you cat lovers out there, here is what I built over the last three weeks for my cats.
We have a family room on the second story of our house.  Now they can go out onto a patio outside the window.  Here is Max's first steps outdoors.   Very tentative!

Just outside that window is a four layer structure.  The cats can wind their way down through a small maze.   Can you see Eddie at the bottom?

They can then take a ramp to the back yard.  More about that later.   Or they can walk around to the side of the house and take a ramp that leads to a bathroom on the lowest level of our house.  Here is Eddie getting ready to do just that.  Max is still unsure.

Here is the ramp to(from) the bathroom.

That leads to this small enclosure outside the bathroom window.   Max become very confident once he understood where the paths ended up.  Here is Max and Eddie outside the bathroom.

As I mentioned they can take the other ramp to the back yard.  Lots of fun that direction!  It goes behind a giant cedar tree.

Down two more smaller ramps.   Left to right, Max, Eddie, and our very old cat Riley.

At the end that path is the "Cathouse".   Everything a cat could want in that place including a catnip plant.  It's only been "open" two days and all three cats love it.   It has been a joy watching them explore.    We have a chair inside so that we can hang out with them. 

We've never seen these cats get along this well.   So much to watch!  Birds, bugs, and squirrels are all the rage. 

Here is Riley on the tree.

Here is Max in the middle of night.   I found him outside chasing the bugs that were attracted to the lights (yes...it has lights)(and a heated bed inside one of the little rooms).

Old Riley has found many places to rest her bones.  

I have at least a hundred more photos, but you get the idea.   Back to some art.  I'll have some of that real soon.   Take care
Dan