How to build your own kitty gym - Page 2 - Pet forum for dogs cats and humans

Meghan_K · #31 January 12th, 2005, 09:15 AM

I was very glad that you posted that picture of your kitty gym, Chico. Now everyone who wants to put sisal rope on theirs can see how you did yours. And who cares if it's not the ritz hotel-cats don't care how purdy it is, just how comfy and/or stimulating it is. And when you build it yourself you save so much money compared to petsmart's prices.

Simplicity rules!

Meghan_K · #32 January 13th, 2005, 10:03 PM

Here is a picture of Meeko that Travis took. He is sitting in his sunbeam, enjoying the warmth and his new kitty gym. We sprinkled some catnip on the main platform of the gym, and man, he was bouncing off the walls for a while-he got all dreamy and just plain silly.

Sneaky2006 · #33 January 13th, 2005, 10:11 PM

I was just wondering if you guys ever had to recover any of the legs or platforms?? We have one *very small* cat house (only big enough for half a cat) with one small platform on top and the beam connecting the two looks awful, we have it in the living room and I hate people to see it. There's also carpet pieces all over the floor everyday from them scratching at it all the time... does that happen to you guys? And if it does, do you leave it like that or fix it some way?

Meghan_K · #34 January 13th, 2005, 11:21 PM

You could pull the screws out holding the legs together and replace the legs or rearrange them, and replace the carpet.
Or you could wrap it with sisal rope to give them something else to shred besides the carpet. You could hang some cat toys off an arm or platform, if you would play with them, I'm sure the cat will too, and it mights save 5 minutes of worn carpet. Hehehe.

glasslass · #35 January 14th, 2005, 12:34 AM

That was a great class! Wow!! This forum has really been educational in all aspects of pet life! I've made prints and put them in my file for future use. Good stuff!

The kitty is adorable. Love all the pix, but expecially the first one "helping"!

chico2 · #36 January 14th, 2005, 08:41 AM

Sneaky,go and get some sisal rope to replace the ruined carpet,they really love that.In my pic,we had not finished putting all the rope on,I now have most of the main beam covered in rope.You just twirl it around tightly putting hot-glue to hold it in place.
Meghan,you definetly need another kitten to enjoy that tree with Meeko,it looks great,two kittens would have sooo much fun on it :love:

Meghan_K · #37 January 15th, 2005, 10:58 AM

Thank you Glasslass,
Yes, Meeko is a very good little "helper". Especially when he helps us unplug all the wires out of the back of the computer.

Chico, you should've seen the look on my husbands face when he read the part about getting another kitten.

Who knows, maybe one day we'll get him another buddy to play with, but for right now-I think he's happy being the "cat of the house".

amber416 · #38 March 14th, 2005, 03:35 PM

I had to pull up this old thread to thank you meghan k! my fiance finally got around to making Tink's kitty gym and your instructions helped so much...thanks again!

Shamrock · #39 March 14th, 2005, 04:13 PM

Thanks Meghan for posting this, and Amber for bringing this back up I was just thinking about this thread as I would like to add a kitty gym. The large ones are really pricey to buy in the pet stores, I see.
I have two low cat perches, which have been ok, but my newest cat is really a jumper and climber - he loves high places.
A great spring project for my husband, I'm going to print off the instructions, and pics to show how great it all looks when completed
Looks like your baby adores his new kitty gym, I'm sure it brings him tons of pleasure and enjoyment.
Well done!

happycats · #40 March 14th, 2005, 04:15 PM

What a beautiful job!
I'm still waiting for my hubby to build one

It may be a while, so Im glad you brought this post back up.

happycats · #41 March 31st, 2005, 08:18 PM

another thread intrested in making kitty gym, this Is a great thread, with easy step by step directions !!!!
Thanks again to Meghan .

Meghan_K · #42 February 11th, 2009, 11:39 PM

Sorry for the lost time, we have just arrived in the 21st century out here in the country ..... wireless internet has arrived, hehe.

Well, since 2004 Meeko has inrceased in size and mass exponentionally, and due to inertial forces outside of our control Meeko eventually snapped it in half and by this gave us a better understanding of kitty forces and how to build a better kitty gym , so with this said, there will be a version 1.1 of the (Meeko 5000 play unit)
comming soon to a post near you.
Meeko has been taking his frustrations out on our couch and rugs, so hopefully within the next couple of months hubbie and I will collaborate on a walkthrough for you with pictures, step-by-step instructions and the like. The new and improved version will feature a 'kitty tube'. More to come.

TacoGrl · #43 February 12th, 2009, 12:24 AM

This is great! Thx...now I have a project to keep me out of trouble!

happycats · #44 February 12th, 2009, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meghan_K

Sorry for the lost time, we have just arrived in the 21st century out here in the country ..... wireless internet has arrived, hehe.

Well, since 2004 Meeko has inrceased in size and mass exponentionally, and due to inertial forces outside of our control Meeko eventually snapped it in half and by this gave us a better understanding of kitty forces and how to build a better kitty gym , so with this said, there will be a version 1.1 of the (Meeko 5000 play unit)
comming soon to a post near you.
Meeko has been taking his frustrations out on our couch and rugs, so hopefully within the next couple of months hubbie and I will collaborate on a walkthrough for you with pictures, step-by-step instructions and the like. The new and improved version will feature a 'kitty tube'. More to come.

WELCOME BACK!!!

can't wait to see the new and improved "Meeko 5000"

Meghan_K · #45 February 12th, 2009, 08:41 AM

Thanks happycats for the welcome back, it has been a long time! My husband was busy perusing this thread last night and was preening a bit at the response, especially Tinks kitty gym that amber416 posted. Thank you amber! You made my hubbies night.

And thank you for everyone who kept this old thread alive, he couldn't believe it still exsisted. Just goes to show how many people don't need to rely on Petsmart and other pricey stores to supply their kitties with a kitty gym

chico2 · #46 February 12th, 2009, 08:43 AM

Can't wait to see Meeko again,you just answered my question from the other post

I just knew Meeko would be a huge beautiful cat one day

maneater · #47 February 12th, 2009, 10:49 PM

This just came at the right time. I was in the pet store looking for something for my chuahua's to climb on. I guess i could modify the cat one for my dogs.s

Meghan_K · #48 March 8th, 2009, 03:59 AM

Not only that maneater but my hubby is in the process of drawing up some advanced blueprints for our dog Ringo, as well. He needs a new doghouse and this one comes with a feeding station with a roof that opens to allow easy access for feeding

He is going in for surgery in the spring so it will be an older dog friendly doghouse that will welcome him back after a stint in our home

We have been discussing dog friendly heating methods that have evolved to a point where our top idea is having a small ceramic heater on a timer that senses what temperature it is and turns on and off accordingly. Said heater will be housed in a separate metal housing with heat piped into the doghouse to lower the risk of fire hazards, accidents, ect. I will be starting a new thread regarding just that

My hubby will be posting pics and instructions that will allow you to customize your doggie manor for any size of pooch - and I'm sure your Chihuahua would love a customized doggie gym

I know Ringo would if he could shrink down to Meekos size

Tundra_Queen · #49 May 13th, 2009, 10:53 PM

Meghan...... UUUU whooooooo

Any progress on the new cat gym? *BWG* We're waiting.

Debbie

adammo · #50 May 14th, 2009, 01:51 PM

Wow this thread is awesome! My girlfriend and I have always wanted to build our own.

I didn't see, but how much do you think it costs to round all of the materials up?

Thanks again!

Joeyjoejoe · #51 May 15th, 2009, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adammo

Wow this thread is awesome! My girlfriend and I have always wanted to build our own.

I didn't see, but how much do you think it costs to round all of the materials up?

Thanks again!

Depends... but if you want to go the absolute cheap route, you should be able to get scrap carpet and scrap wood free from friends, family, carpet companies, etc. Then other than sisal rope, it's just the cost of supplies to attach everything together.

For me I, got free carpet and used an old Ikea bookshelf. Total cost was just under $40... and half of that cost was for additional shelves.

Jim Hall · #52 May 15th, 2009, 10:11 AM

how much do you figure materials where ,maybe $40? if that

adammo · #53 July 17th, 2009, 12:30 PM

My girlfriend and I finished working on our house last week and it turned out quite well for our first time. I will post pics later. A couple of problems we had:

- When drilling into the carpet to make holes for the screws, we kept getting the carpet tangled. Is there anyway to avoid this? We tried drilling slower but it would always catch.

- How to you keep a large cat house like this stable? We've tried supports but it still wobbles quite a bit. Right now it is about 3 feet high. We wanted to add another section, but once we put it up we found it was too dangerous.

Thanks for any advice

.