Incredible Home Catwalks Make for Purr-fectly Happy Cats
In 1988, when home builder Peter Cohen moved into his house in Goleta, California, two roaming outdoor cats came with the property. Shortly after he moved in, one was killed by a car and the other was hit by a car. This prompted Cohen to keep the surviving cat indoors. Soon after, he began rescuing cats that nobody wanted. Before he knew it, he had 18 on his hands.
Keep Watching:
Ideas adaptable to many spaces. Thanks for sharing this fun and cat-friendly space.
Btw. I did spy at least one cat in a photo.
And having grown up with a really great cat, where's the outdoor mat where all the "trophies" get presented?
Thank you for sharing.
ps I saw five absolutely beautiful cats in those photos.
Comment was made by my 8 year old daughter:)
Looking too hard I reckon. I suppose I was expecting to see cats in every photo you know doing their thing running down the slide in photo no 1......going up the stairs in the bathroom or at least a photo of Peter with his entourage.
(We need Houzz for cats and dogs.)
And yes, I wish I was one of your cats. LOL
He has long since moved onto another plane of existence--hoping he's spending one of his cat lives in this kitty heaven on earth!
>^..^
http://www.ustream.tv/ffrc
Watch out, it's addicting..................
Fantastic home.
Good on mr Cohen.
Oliver (8)
BTW, my Jack Russell Terrier also plays with all of my cats, and they with him. He has groomed them from the time the were "adopted", as young, feral, kittens.
I am very interested in seeing more examples of artsy homes that play with color and decor in unique, creative ways the way this homeowner has done!
And as Ernest Hemingway said, "One cat just leads to another."
I really like these catwalks and most of all the spiral to the upper floor.
Love the "Cat TV" (fish tank) LOL. I had fish for a while and my cats spent hours watching them. They were gold fish (bought "feeder" ones - they were being sold for food for larger fish at 25 cents each) who can live 20 years, are smart, social and actually interacted with the cats (and people) as they came up to the tank (as opposed to the beta fish I had at one point that ignored anything not in the tank). My cats found the gold fish far more interesting than the beta fish. Trouble I found is that fish seemed to be harder to care for than cats LOL.
The other place I'd like something like this is in my very small (13') camping trailer. That is a small space fro 5 cats and having vertical space like this would help with the spats that take place on occasion...
When the kitties get older these structures are a disaster. I would never want my older cats attempting these structures. After Blossom had a seizure I removed the three tier carpeted cat tree.
Also all the house plants can make them sick if they eat them. Cats do not always know what greens are good for them.
But, some people do not like older cats and they get rid of them once they show signs of aging.
I think your structures are NOT cat friendly. A great amount of money on these designs that only offer pain and suffering if kitty falls. Oh, cats do not land on their feet every time they fall !!
Awesome!! I used to want something like this for me as a child! .. *still do* :-) LOL
I live in area with no shelters that take cats, much less no-kill shelters. The no-kill shelters outside of my area have huge waiting lists. So I ended up with a bunch of kitties that I rescued from the streets. Some of them were literally in the road terrified out of their minds (they were only kittens). My oldest ones were actually brought here by their mother who pegged us as suckers. She dropped two litters of kittens on our doorstep. After the second litter we had her spayed and she disappeared (I hope she just went back to wherever she'd lived before). We have about 32 acres of land so the cats have plenty off room to roam.
I wish we had the time and space to be able to have all the cool spirals and passageways for the kitties. We definitely need a better litter solution. If we ever have a house built we'll have to see if we can work in at least one room designated for kitties.
In the meantime, I'm planning to put some shelves above some of the doors where kitties can sleep.
I love that Peter continued his story in the bathroom design and did not miss out on a great opportunity to show his personality and share more space with his cats. Great use of colors to highlight the kitty passages.
Why I believe bathrooms need attention: http://www.pottymouthtours.com/eight-day-god-created-bathooms/
We hung a jungle-art mural on that wall, below the shelf, then applied a 15-inch die-cut jungle border to 1/4-inch plywood, trimming the lower edge with a jig-saw, and incorporating cut-outs into the design. Then we attached the border piece to the front of the shelf with L-brackets, leaving about 9 inches open at the top.
In the two corners, we built a series of staggered shelves to serve as stairs (at each end of the shelf). These were concealed behind plywood trees. The first time I saw the cat in its jungle, there was nothing to see, except a twitching yellow tail, hanging out of one of the peepholes!
Both the young man and the cat were very happy with the result and I've been very proud of it for years. Now I bow to a master!
Amazing spaces!!!
Then I moved inside and had Peter build the first phase of catwalks and wrote about that as well http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cat-dream-house
Here's the thing you might not understand. Those lists were compiled in laboratories by force feeding captive cats (and dogs) with plants, or substances extracted from plants, until they sickened and died. Given a choice, cats are much smarter about eating what's good for them than people.
Now, if you choose to keep only plants that are not on those ***** lists, then your cats will probably eat them down to nubbins. Or they might not. Cats are famous for having peculiar tastes.
A much more sensible question is how do you keep the cats out of the plants. Okay, in all probability, Peter sometimes finds a plant laying on the floor, with that number of cats running around. I have 6 cats, and 15 or 20 plant sitting around, and in the last 4 years I've found a plant knocked over maybe 3 times. Not enough to make me get rid of either plants or cats, but each person needs to make their own decisions.
How to keep the cats from digging in the plants? There are a couple of strategies that have worked for me - large decorative stones covering the surface of the soil looks nice, and is no fun for kitty to dig in; also, a piece of chicken wire squished together a little and set on top of the soil will work. Some other things you might try are balls of aluminum foil or pieces of cardboard cut to fit. You can also stick to hanging plants.
Other approaches that might be helpful are providing "kitty greens" for them to eat - try different kinds to find the ones your little darlins' like. More toys, play time, and places to climb (ala Mr Cohen.) More, or cleaner litter pans - I have only 1 pan available to my cats, but it is cleaned every day.
So, Peter, LOVE what you've done with the place, cat-wise and plant-wise. Judging by the comments, looks like you could sell a book on the subject.
Having said that, you do make a valid point that a cat does use it's claws (and other body systems) to grasp onto an object for leverage when losing it's balance.
I am sorry that you obviously had a terrible accident with your little cherished kitty.
Please give us Houzzz readers who are also champions of the Cat World a bit of a break. We are as interested in advancing and protecting our felines as you are, as is this wonderful gentleman who has provided a terrific home for his darlings.
As far as smell, for our 3 cats, we put up a "grow tent" in the basement with a filtered air exhaust. It exhausted to the outside. It contained 4 boxes and we only opened the zipper entrance about 15". My father, who is not a cat fan and freaks out about cat smell, always said he could never detect any cat smells in our house.
1. The cat is not allowed on the furniture.
Alright... the cat can go on the furutnrie, but NOT the kitchen counters.
Okay... the cat can go on the kitchen counter, too; just not when I'm preparing food. Deal?
Fine... the cat can go wherever it wants as long as it doesn't put a paw on my face at 5:30 in the morning demanding to be fed.
The cat will be fed at 5:30 in the morning.
STEVEDENVER - Funny comment. Made me laugh. Thanks.
There is a book called "Poisonous2pets - Plants poisonous to dogs and cats" by Nicole O'Kane. This is a wonderful reference book for those who want to have plants and pets together.
I wish all plants in stores would say cat or dog friendly. I suppose it's a liability issue.
First, Sticky Paws makes a great plant deterrent product.
Second, I also wrote an article about this house which just went live on Catster. It includes a video. http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/home-remodeling-house-of-nekko-cat-paradise-pictures-photos-skywalk-tunnel-stairway-cats
wentzell, how do invisible fences work-- and how much space can they cover. I would like to keep my cats out of certain areas of the yard to keep them away from the dogs, but I also want to keep them from leaving the front 10 acres to go into the woods outside of the property line. I'm fine with them going into the wooded areas in the back 13 acres and the barn and such, but I would prefer for them to stay within the fenceline.
Captain Fluffy liked the box with the light colored dish drying mat.
Predicate liked the box with the black dish towel
Imhotep liked just the box. When I moved it in to another room, he zerged as soon as the door opened and immediately jumped in it.
How much fun is that
Thank you for sharing!
Keep it up!!
http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/adoption-pet-care/caring-for-your-pet/indoor-cats-vs-outdoor-cats.html
This is an absolutely amazingly beautiful home. My cats would love it too. Although I am not sure those poor plants would survive my brood.
Beautiful home!
My last human baby just moved out. I have no shame admitting I'm a cat lady now
Why must it be "cat lady", why not CAT WOMAN.
Amazing! An absolute heaven for felines!!! Loved the tunnel with shark teeth:)
Un-f-ing-believable! Even without the cat amenities, the house is BEAUTIFUL – made infinitely more so by the cats. Can’t I come live in a spare room? I make a great cat sitter.
Kimberleyallen - I suppose you don't spay or neuter either, b/c that wouldn't be "natural." Sigh.
Katerlyn - Sylvester Goes To Jail made me laugh.
Yes...I've seen this on Houzz before....I want one!
Yes It's cat paradise !
I love this house ! Fantastic idea for cats and our lovers !
Lucky cats, great to see a house designed for it's "owners" in all their forms, and not just as a show piece!
Houzz has featured this cat-friendly home in a much earlier article. Being a crazy cat lady myself...( the most I've had at any one time were an exquisite male Siames cat and two Siamese mother cats, The "girls" both gave birth withing 2 days of each other...12 kittens in all. 15 cats. One of the mother cats lost her milk and the mother with 7 kittens was trying to feed them all...so there I was bottle feeding kittens every few hours. I didn't mind, dear little blue-eyed creatures. My house was already set up to cater to cats. I too had moved here with my felines and had lost two to the unfamiliar but curious road...so I embarked on an adventure creating tunnels and posts, cat pods and shelves and a large outdoor wire mesh covered fernery full of flowers and grasses ...and CatNip of course ( the cat's own happy plant)...accessible through tunnel under the floor...just open the hatch and the morning queue would all file out... all in anticipation of...well. a few kittens.....mmmm. I too am an artist,...cats and art seem to go together. I've had a wonderfully enriched life sharing it with my feline friends. My house is as full of curiosities as is this..but not so amazing.. I've been inspired by many an article on HOUZZ for my rennovions but none as much as by this one! My favourite colours are Rose, Burgundy and Yellow and mostly natural timber since my cottage is all natural timber...but each kitty had its own coloured bed. Of course...each cat needs two litter boxes so plenty of these hidden around the place. ...That adventure, it seems, was a youthful, energetic lifetime ago. The old house was somewhat of a general wreck to begin with so it lent itself to whimsy and brightened my solitary days which would have been spent more dismally after having lost literally everybody in the span of three months...(hence the run for the hills with my three Siamese cats and a little stray miniature poodle....and whatever I could cram into my old car.) Crazy Cat Lady? I don't mind the title. Like Cohen.."I love my cats, my house and my art..and I designed it to be beautiful to me". Each birthday my friends give me little gifts of cat things...cat mugs, cat jwellery. cat cards, toys for my cats which of course please me. Who said everybody has to be conventional? Besides, I get as much pleasure from the cat antics as they do from enjoying the house I've mad for....us!
Thank you for the lovely story....we are in process of adding "catwalks". We have rescued (and kept) several beautiful Siamese cats over the past 30 years. Recently rescued a "feral" family: Mommy, Daddy and four kittens. They are doing great...but need additional "walkways". Thank you to the gentlemen that has done so much for cats. Spot in heaven is reserved for him/them. Elizabeth
@Kate Taylor they added a video above and it shows a cat walking the spiral. It must be an update, great! love it! regularly google or search "cat enclosures" and keep up on all the advances cat people make. 8-)
That is my daughters dream!!! I told her it's possible - just do it a little at a time! It all looks very pleasing to the eye and even more the cats love it!!! Great job and you and your partner are a saving grace to the cat world and cat lovers!!! :)
And to top it all off....it's a beautiful space to start with! The cats just make it better. Nice to see good people doing good things....they deserve a lot of credit for this.
I wish I had a smidgeon of smarts /talent that Mr Cohen has, but if he wants to adopt a friend / sister let me be the 1st :)
where can I buy the spiral catwalk?
WOW - I would clean his house everyday FOR FREE!!!!!!!
Where can one buy or get instructions on how to build the cat spiral?