What the Cat Coop!

My neighbor asked me why I had built a chicken coop; hence my new structure was dubbed the Cat Coop. Tired of my cats waking me up early to accompany them in the back yard, I built this structure so that they could have constant access with the outside, day and night, all year long, and most importantly, I don’t risk their being lifted by an eagle.



The initial layout of the coop.

 

To remain invisible to the homeowners association, I painted the framed structure with the left over paint from the house, so that is sort of blends in; stretched dark heavy duty wiring over the frame; and then attached three frames together and then to the house with hook and eye latches so that it can be fully or partially taken down.



The steps and bird netting.
 Cat door in window not designed until the second summer.

 

Because there were a lot of strange angles around this part of the house and considering the stretch above the window access, I needed something pliable to top off the roof of this structure. You’ll see in the earlier photos I used a bird netting which draped nicely and was hardly noticeable. Yet, the cats discovered they liked chewing through this and nearly hung themselves a few times. Solution, I used the last of the heavy duty fencing I had to start up and over to begin the roof, bought “chicken” wire to connect it from the heavy duty fencing up to hooks along the outer wall and up over the window. The chicken wire worked out fabulously because it was easy to manipulate into seams to make the necessary angles. It was almost like working with fabric, but then it would keep its shape.

 

Changed the bird netting in for this sturdier and more pliable chicken wire.
You can see here where the bleeding heart bushes are filling in.

To complete this treasure, two steps were placed outside the window that the cats also use as perches and a manipulated cat door to fit the frame of the tiny window. What already existed in the closed in area were two bleeding heart bushes for shade, nice thick cool grass and a hardy harvest of cat nip. They discovered a natural kitty litter spot up under the window's eave which I occasionally need to rake out and replenish with top soil.



Bee hive visible on the left. Cat nip crop in on the far left corner of the coop.
And yes, the cat is on the outside in this pic. They do still get to roam the full back yard,
but only when I can accompany them.

 

The Cat Coop: a perfect and easy solution that has brought peace and happiness to my household.