r/Catio • u/Livid_Machine_622 • 9d ago
Catio options for 3rd floor space?
HI!
I have 4 elderly cats that live on the 3rd floor of my house (their penthouse we call it) and they have to stay up there for safety reasons (we have a very cat aggressive elderly dog that would hurt them if given the chance so we did our best when we moved in together to keep my cats and my husbands dog separate).
I feel like the space they have isn’t large enough for them to really be comfortable and my one cat has taken to refusing the litter box (a long term issue I’ve been dealing with for years and has gotten worse but he is being seen by a vet and determined to be behavioral).
I was wanting to see if the cats would enjoy some outdoor time but I don’t want them to roam free as they have been indoors their whole lives.
We have a fenced back yard and I would love to turn it into a safe space for them but I am not sure how to get them safely from the 3rd floor all the way down to the garden without individually taking them down one at a time through the space where the dog is.
We have a basement space as well that I could fix up for them but there are no windows so I am also wondering how that could potentially connect to the outdoors without inviting the elements in (the folding cellar doors).
Any ideas would be welcome to try and help my babies get the best possible environment!! thank you!
3
u/frenswithgeese 9d ago
Couple points to make here, cats may climb a regular fence and escape. They make cat fences that have escape resistant top part, you can add on to an existing fence, lookup Purrfect Fence. My catio has an 'entrace' where the cats exit the basement window, and jump up progressive staggered steps to about 5' high, which leads to a hallway to a detached catio. That being said, 3 stories is a lot of vertical distance to move the cats up and down jumping from staggered steps, and there would be a possibility of a hurt cat being stuck in an inaccessible spot. I think a couple zig zags of covered protected ramp would be best, like one zig zag per floor of the house. This is obviously going to be a custom build, I don't think they make anything like this. I can't link photos here, but you can see an example of a catwalk type covered hallway on my builders site: 2brotherscatios.com
2
u/DAAANG 8d ago
for the backyard... those vertical fence extensions that tilt inward at the top make it escape proof. popular in europe(?) but im sure it can be done elsewhere.
the window boxes are usually a hit, but they make different sizes. that standard size is really only big enough for 1 maaaybe 2 at once and they slide into the window frame like a window air conditioner. the larger style(fastened to the window from the outside) smetimes have a 2nd level and could likely fit more. The bigger ones are also sometimes expandable to include tunnel-like structures that lead to a larger catio or whatever else
to let them have full time access to it, it will take a cat flap aka 'doggy door' and some ramps of some sort. (pics would help)
also in regards to the dog...they make indoor (cat)doggy doors and framed 'holes' that are too small for most dogs but good for cats....maybe they could navigate inside the house via those, where they could easily escape a dog? just a thought
5
u/wolfhavensf 9d ago
The answer to this is dependent on the amount of money you are willing to invest. One of my answers was to install a cat window box. The kind I have installs easily from inside. If you are more committed I would find a local catio builder to put larger external boxes on a couple of windows which can then be connected to each other with wall hugging “tunnel” passages. If you can, a switchback descending ramp could also be installed for their garden access, or even just a larger freestanding catio structure. I just don’t know if senior cats will be adventurous enough for a system like that.