With the help of her dad, Tracy, from Northern Ireland, transformed a regular storage shelf into a fabulous custom cat climbing tree for her new kitten, Simon. They started with an inexpensive pre-made shelf and cut holes in the three upper shelves, large enough for Simon to climb through. They covered each shelf with carpet scraps then Tracy took the sisal rope off an old scratcher and wrapped one of the legs. She plans to continue wrapping the legs with sisal to create more scratching surfaces. Tracy added a few toys and a cozy bed, and Simon now has the best custom cat tree ever! Check out this video that Tracy made of the whole process, which only took an afternoon:
Notes From Jackson:
I absolutely love this project for a few key reasons. First, Tracy and her dad show how just a little imagination and a little elbow grease can make something that will no doubt benefit Simon for the rest of his life. He learns, at a very early age, to appreciate the vertical world and use it as an extension of his territory. He gains confidence at a time when his social skills are developing at the speed of light. And, as she demonstrates at the end, she becomes an important cog in the learning machine, creating a bonding exercise and showing him that love and reward comes from accepting challenge. And to top it off I just love Tracy. Her optimism is so contagious. Great work, Tracy, and welcome to Team Cat Mojo!!
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The Catification column on JacksonGalaxy.com is written by Cat Style Expert, Kate Benjamin. Kate specializes in environmental enhancement for living with cats and is the founder and editor of hauspanther.com, the premiere online magazine for design-conscious cat people. Kate’s design expertise and Jackson’s cat behavior know-how combine to create cat-friendly environments that are sure to please both human and feline family members alike.
We regret that Jackson does not answer questions posted in the comments. This is due to his demanding schedule and the high volume of requests he receives. But most importantly, since he has not met your cat, it would be contrary to his approach for him to give specific personalized advice for your specific situation. That being said, general questions and issues are addressed throughout this blog, in his book CAT DADDY and of course, the show My Cat From Hell.
this is a great project. I will soon be getting a kitty and plan to build one of these as well! thank you and thank Tracey!
I have a cat that is Nearly angelic. My problem is when it comes to treats and play. She is a 5 year old Manx (a rumpy). I belong to her and have tried various toys to engage her in play. The current option is one of the best, yet still she knows that the flying darting and squeaky mouse is hooked to a string and pole. She would much rather lay still and try to grab the string or pole. Often she looks at me with an expression that’s sort of “really? you expect me to buy that?” I have tried every treat I can think of and the only thing she seems to really like is catnip. She seems to worry about being cornered alot as well, and I do everything I can think of to make sure that doesn’t happen. And I though Manx cats were jumpers and liked being up high. Doesn’t seem to be the case with Kasha. She’s not a problem in the least; I’d just like to see her have a more joyous life.
I have tried every kind of cat toy for 2 of my cats but they never cared for them. I tried for hours on end to get them to have fun with them but nothing worked. One of the toys I had were little plush fish on a string connected to a pole but they didn’t want me to play with it with them. Instead one would get the fish in her mouth and run around the house dragging it so the other would chase the pole from behind. Eventually though they gave that up. My cats never liked the feather toy Jackson uses, they eventually found their own toys.
Precious, found a little leather sting that was from a pair of boots or pants…something, and she has not left it alone for the entire 3 years since she found it. We tied it to a longer string so we could play with her since the peice was only maybe 3 inches so we would get clawed in the process of play. She learned how to open the drawer with different craft items and would always get out the huge spool of the leather-ish string and we eventually had to put a child proof lock on it lol. When she was just a month or two old she started carrying things around in her mouth like a dog! Flip flops, house shoes, etc. It was hilarious seeing her carry something 3x her size, but she still does it, I think she likes to play hide and seek!
Kit Kat was gotten within 2 days of Precious and she wouldn’t play with any toys other than chasing the fish pole toy Precious drug around. Then one day I was going through my receipts and rolled one up to throw in the waste basket and I missed and she went wild! I had tried balls before but she didn’t like them (later on she did find a half deflated toddler basket ball and went nuts) she liked balls that she could pick back up with her nails and mouth to kind throw again herself. Then she started learning how to get shoe laces untied so she could play with them, and its still something she drags around. She is a quiet cat, barley meows at all but with a string in her mouth she sounds like a cat in heat. She just screams, we actually looked for a long time for another cat before we would find her in another room doing it..
Bella was rescued from a abandoned house that was going to be demolished, our roommate found her in a wall after searching too find where the meows were coming from. She doesn’t like normal toys either. After spraining my ankle I had taken off the ace bandage and put it on my nightstand before re-wrapping it and she took off with it! Its the only thing she plays with. She ended up ripping a 5 inch peice off and hides it but every night she takes it to which ever bed she sleeps in. Its funny having a cat that has a kind of security blanket lol.
I wasted a ton of money on toys over the years but my cats just wouldn’t have it. I’m glad they found their own bc it worried me that they never wanted to play.
I love this shelving unit converted to cat climber – we’ve been adopted by a momma kitty and 5 babies (plus she brought a teenager from a previous litter and we’ve got an inside rescue kitty) and I’ve been wanting to build them something that can stay outside under a patio roof! This one looks like wood, but if I use one of the heavy duty plastic shelf units, I can still cut the holes, cover the shelves with carpet and wrap sisal around the legs! That will give the babies something to climb on and stay out of the weather! Perfect!
That looks really good! Lucky cat!
Great idea Tracy, your Dad did an awesome job. You don’t sound Irish, you sound American—that’s fine, I’m an American of Irish ancestry (Cork). Thanks
Keni, I’ve been told I sound American loads of times
I used to work in public education with lots of auditorium speaking. I think it’s an attempt at eloquence, either that or too much American tv growing up.
We had a few major problems with Simon and my jack Russell dog Nora for a few months but things are finally good now after alot of training and play with both parties. Simon is nearly 1 year old and is huge. He’s nearly too big for these shelves. But he has access to the garden now and he’s loving it. We are thinking of building a climbing frame from scrap and fallen trees for the garden this summer. Might not be able to rope my dad into this one though.
I loved this idea! I am actively looking for cheap ways to help my cats appreciate vertical territories and this is perfect. I also loved the other post about old cabinet drawers being a repurposed cat tree! Saves us so much money because it is very expensive here in Manila to purchase a pre-made cat tree. Thanks again!
I love this idea! Was the structure anchored to the wall or is it free standing?