If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you will know that we’ve had a new addition to our family – Baby Luna Grayce – an 8 week old kitten that has stolen all of our hearts.
The thing about new kittens though is that they have these spurts of energy that usually result in some kind of damage; climbing curtains, falling between the stair rails, tipped plants and scratching. Oh my God the scratching!
She doesn’t mean to cause any damage, but when you are 2 lbs and only 5″ tall, using your claws to climb is the only way to get around.
I was at the pet store recently looking at cat trees to help channel some of that climbing and scratching energy and was shocked at the price tags – anywhere from $100 to $350 Cdn!
I saw this one and it inspired me.
This would not be a difficult build at all. In fact, you could probably whip this out in less than an hour (not including paint dry time) and save yourself $120.
But I didn’t need to build a DIY cat tree when I had this bookshelf I built for House of Wood:
I told you it was multi-functional (and super-easy to build). For the plans, click over to Mid-Century Modern Side Table on Jen’s blog.
To take it from a bookcase to a DIY cat tree, all I had to do was buy a small 2′ x 3′ carpet, which came in at about $10, and cut it to size with an exacto-knife (leaving the bound edges for the front sections.)
A few finishing nails to hold it in place and I have a place for Odie and Baby Luna to nap, play, climb and scratch!
I stapled a small cat toy to the underside of the bottom shelf and added a bit of foam for napping on.
As it turned out the building plans for my now DIY cat tree made it the perfect height for laying in the sun and gazing out the window – key criteria for Odie.
I carpeted the tall side of the DIY cat tree so they can stretch out and claw away as much as they like.
The bound edges of the mat I bought keep the front of the DIY cat tree from fraying and looking scruffy. The back – who cares.
They both love it as you can see – Odie likes the toy I tucked underneath the carpet and Baby Luna likes Odie’s tail (which looks a lot like the toy).
The wood for the bookshelf came in around $25 and the extra carpet bit was $10 – so you’re looking at about $35 (Cdn) for a sturdy DIY cat tree. A far cry from the $120 cat tree in the first photo I showed you.
One more cute video – this is Odie trying to give Luna a bath – and clearly she’s not having it.
Have a great one!
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