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Making a cats’ climbing frame© C. Hughes Since making the climbing frame with directions below, we have also made another one that stays in our lounge - if you would like details to make this, please e-mail me:: We later made this one for the kitchen too: (sorry, I don't have instructions written out for this one though).
Because
all our cats are indoor cats (and we only allow our cats to go to indoor
homes), we like to provide them with as much stimulation as we
can. They do all live very happily indoors together with us.
Having decided our cats would appreciate something a bit different, we decided to make them a large climbing frame to go in a conservatory. If space is limited this could easily be scaled down. We started with a rough idea of what we had in mind, (see plan 2) and the sort of size of baseboard required. We chose a baseboard size of 42” x 60”. We approached a local tree surgeon, who offered us as much trunks/branches as we needed, free. Then we bought a piece of 18mm thick plywood (we used ply because it is more robust), 8ft x 4ft and cut it as in plan 1. The ply cost about £25.
We obtained enough carpet to cover all the pieces of ply with a margin of 4” all the way round to allow for turnover and tacking, plus enough to line the tunnel with 5” turnover at each end. (A local carpet centre donated some off cuts that they couldn’t use and also gave us the string matting that covers the top of the tunnel, because it had faded slightly at one end and they couldn’t sell it). We started by attaching three 2” x 1” slats of wood along the length of the base to make it easier to move and keep the carpet with the tacks off the floor. We then covered the other side of the base with carpet, tacking approximately every 3” with 20ml tacks. Then we fitted what we had decided to use as a main central support – a branch 6” diameter x 58” long.
We attached this from under the base, through the carpet with 2 x 6” screws. Prior to fitting the thick 10” diameter trunk (23” long) to its plywood top (see A in plan 2), a cut out was made in the ply to enable it to fit round the main upright it was going against, the carpet was attached to the top, before the large trunk was fitted to the baseboard. It was easier to fit the carpet by turning the trunk and board upside down and tacking it. Then it was screwed to the baseboard in several places from above, going in at an angle, and the carpeted ply was attached to the main upright with suitable connecting joints.
Prior to fitting plywood piece B, a hole was cut out (by drilling a series of holes and knocking out with a hammer and chisel) to allow the top of the trunk to go through. It was covered with carpet, cutting so it was shaped and tacked on the underside and fitted on the underside with joints.
Two branches approximately 4-5” thick, about 58” long were cut down at the correct angle, so they sat like ladder supports, and screwed to the baseboard and ply piece B, giving rigidity, by screwing down through the carpet into the legs. The screw heads must disappear into the carpet so they can’t be felt. Ply piece C was cut to fit between the two long branches, and shaped to fit round some of the central upright and carpeted and fitted by screws and joints to form part of the ladder.
It was suggested (by Linda Vousden, thank you – they love it!) that a tunnel would be a good feature to incorporate. For this we bought a 40” long piece of 12 ½” plastic drainage pipe for £9. A piece of carpet was joined into a tube, put inside and turned over at each end, and string matting sewn (with difficulty!) onto each end and string tied round it to finish it off and hold it tight. The string matting was also tied underneath the pipe. The tunnel was screwed to the base at each end – again making sure the heads were lost in the pile of the carpet and couldn’t be felt. Ply piece D was carpeted, then fitted on top of the tunnel to form a ladder step between the base and piece C. We had been given a flat piece of bark-covered wood, which gave another dimension, by attaching it to the side of the main upright.
Approximately 8 joints were used, about 300 gms of tacks and a variety of screws. In all, the cost came to approximately £40. NOTE: Any loose threads on the carpet should be well trimmed back so that cats can’t pull them out and choke on them. Disclaimer. No responsibility is taken for any accidents or damage that may be caused during assembly or use of this frame.
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