Scrap Lumber, Cat Netting and One Very Happy Napoleon

When we moved here, it felt only natural that Napoleon should get to enjoy the outdoors too. He’s an indoor cat and probably always will be, but it seemed a little unfair to live on a small farm and only experience it through a window.

The plan has always been to build him a proper catio along the barn wall, with plenty of space, climbing opportunities and a cat door so he can decide for himself when he wants to go outside.

Unfortunately, the barn wall needs to be straightened and reinforced first, so building anything permanent right now would only mean tearing it down again in a few months.

So instead, we built a temporary solution.

Using scrap lumber left over from other projects and some inexpensive cat netting, we enclosed part of the patio. It wasn’t the catio we’d originally planned, but it was enough to give Napoleon a place of his own outdoors.

Napoleon certainly seems happy with the result.

He spends most of his days out there. Every now and then he decides someone should come outside and give him some extra scratches, so he sits by the door and makes sure we know about it. He really is an unusually social cat.

It didn’t take long before we realized that Napoleon wasn’t the only one enjoying the new enclosure.

Caspian came with the property when we bought the house, but it quickly became obvious that she had chosen my daughter, Napoleon and the apartment as her new home. Whether that’s because Martin lives inside with us or because my daughter is a true cat whisperer, only Caspian knows.

Before long, an automatic cat door was installed, and now she comes and goes whenever she pleases.

It only took a few days before she started using the catio too. More often than not, she and Napoleon can be found lying there together in the sunshine. We’ve also added cat grass and catnip, so I’m fairly sure the little corner has earned the approval of both cats.

Whenever my daughter heads out into the garden, Caspian is usually right behind her. She follows her around like a little dog, always wanting to know what’s going on.

As it turns out, Caspian had actually been registered as a male cat when we bought the property. That turned out not to be entirely accurate. The records have since been corrected, but around here she’s usually called Caspelina instead.

Martin also seems to enjoy the new enclosure, although for completely different reasons.

He can stand outside the netting for ages watching the cats. He’s also discovered that Napoleon reacts whenever he gets a little too close, which Martin finds endlessly entertaining.

Napoleon, on the other hand, isn’t nearly as amused.

Caspelina simply ignores him. If Martin gets too close, she calmly walks away. I suspect Martin thinks Napoleon is much more fun.

This setup won’t be permanent. Once the barn wall has been repaired, the plan is still to build a much larger catio with more climbing opportunities and a cat door.

For now though, a few pieces of scrap lumber, some inexpensive cat netting and a free weekend were all it took to give Napoleon his own sunny little spot this summer.

It turned out to be appreciated far more than I had hoped.

Status: Napoleon approves. Martin would prefer unrestricted access.