Cats adore climbing toys—in fact, without toys, they’re likely to climb up on top of your refrigerator, the kitchen cabinets, in windows, or wherever they like! Most cat lovers probably don’t mind these lounging spots, but it’s also nice to provide cats with appropriate, safe places to ascend as well.
My husband built me a quick and cheap cat tower for my office since the cats and I are always fighting over my footrest and they have taken to it so well. In fact, the two are snuggling in the lower shelf (they don’t much care for the top shelf all that much yet) as I type.
I have a corner in my office where two shelves on adjacent walls don’t quite meet—they are about a foot apart, though they’re deep, so they create a nice, large crevice between them. It was pretty much wasted space. So my husband took two pieces of plywood and built small supporting beams beneath them and screwed them in to fit snugly between these two cabinets. Bingo—instant cat tower!
Of course, that’s not all you have to do; you have to make it cozy. He cut out the tip of one triangle to make it wide enough where the cats can easily jump up to the top shelf. Though they’ve both explored it and can fit well, they seem to prefer the bottom one still. (I actually wonder if we put in another shelf as a “roof” they might like it better?) Then you have to put something soft to make it comfortable, like a scrap of carpet or a blanket. We’re using a couple of my old sweaters that the two seem to really enjoy. He also hung a big, sparkly pom pom ball from the center of the bottom of the top shelf for them to play with. Cats would also surely appreciate the addition of some catnip, if you feel so inclined.
If you don’t have a corner like the one I described, you can still easily do this in any corner of your home provided that you build sides to it, too. You could also make it on the floor, such as under a desk or in some unused space.
Finally, if you want to go even more intricate, you could always use one of these elaborate tutorials. I think we may have to make some of these ourselves…