What do cats want? Or...design for the cool urban cat. Fantasies welcome!

The Possum-cat justs wants someone to play with him - and he can climb up them!

Hmmmm...common, but not really a design question!

Position is all. They want to be able to spy on the neighbors. Design is secondary, but should be tall enough for a full length, back curving stretch while scratching.

Yes...but how do you make that ok for the owner?

(Mine's post is hiddden behind a chair....but has a great view..through my main living room windows).

I used to have a much bigger one, which greatly delighted and entertaiuned the cats, but was so butt ugly I couldn't take it any more!


This was kind of it:

What's wrong with some thing like this in a corner?



Or this?

You should SEE what they have!!!!


You WILL see some of what they have,

They have trees:



They are hollow.

Mushroom type trees:


Anything you want:
http://www.7thheavencatfurniture.com/?goldencancid=1066366&goldencanp=2

http://www.cozycatfurniture.com/catgyms_cattowers.html

The garden walkabout system:

http://www.catsplay.com/kittywalk3.jpg

The terrifying:

A LITTERBOX COVER!!!



The Lord "Ellpus:



The Lost Weekend:




Now....this is a little promising:


It ain't THERE, but it's trying.

The top one is understatedly butt ugly, but still butt ugly.

I like the second one better....


This has potential, I think:





Thing is, all the carpet ones look like **** after a few days, because of the scratching.

That's one of the ugliest ones to me.

In the other thread I started to ask questions about what cats like..

and started with tops of kitchen cabinets, tops of bookshelves, and tops of chair backs - so they want PERCH (didn't get around to scratching..) It seems to me most of these purchaseable contraptions are fairly skimpy re cat comfort.

I also surmise they like VIEWS.

The tree one, using the REAL tree, or the cubistic one you added?

I think the real tree one is ugly as is.....but I am kind of thinking how one might use a natural object, and add cat possibilities to it, while maintaining the beauty of the natural object. As cats do all the time when allowed outside...they make all kinds of viewing spots and perches...usually kind of hidden, unless they are sunning.


Osso, yes, they love to scratch, and need it in their play equipment.

They do love to look! I like my evening walks, because so many cats are just hanging out on their walls, or on the footpath, watching the world go by.

The tree one, it's horrid.

But if you really don't like these why not have one built? I can't find any cat trees at all here in Costa Rica, so I may end up designing one and having it built.

Here's my current idea:

Ever seen these "floating bookshelves"?

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/05/06/invisible-bookshelf-.html

I want to do something like that for my cat, and have staggered perches for it built into the wall.

Well, I WOULD likely have one built if I can figure out what to have built! That's partly what this thread is about.

That shelf idea is great.

What wuld they look like when Fiona isn't on them?

Like...perspex? Be an interesting feature themselves?

Yeh, like the floating shelves.. or even good looking non-floating shelves, say with brackets of some style.

I was actually thinking of doing the book thing as is so they'd be both bookshelf and cat hideout but I'm waiting for a better idea.

A friend of mine had an elaborate 37-foot-long tube thing that his cats used to love to climb into. It extended from his basement to the back yard. I guess cats don't get claustrophobic.

Well, the books would suffer when the cat jumped on them.....so, yes, I think betterness is warranted....but it IS a very promising idea.

I think cats like a degree of tightness and such...perhaps they are evolving into rabbits?

The outdoor cage thing, with tunnels between them, which kind of loop around the garden are becoming popular here, and can have little visual impact if carefully designed..but they are made of metal netting and wouldn't be claustrophobic.

I bought a play tunnel for my cat, but she never used it. Luckily it concertinas up and can be easily stored, so I'll bring it out for the next kitten.

I had an aviary as an outdoor cat place before I moved here, and had shelves on brackets put up inside..as well as a perspex "nest" with carpet floor, in case it got cold.

It hid in a nook in the garden, so you couldn't see it from the house.

But the shelves were too ugly to have inside.