Pet project: The `catio'
Enclosures you can buy or build keep felines and their potential prey safe
Meow. It's Whiskers, your cat. Yes, I can talk. It's just that I usually don't bother. However, I want to tell you about this thing I need you to do: Build me a “catio” on the back of your house. A catio, as you may have guessed, is a patio for cats. That's right, it will be my domain — an outdoor space that's screened in to keep me safe from cars and coyotes while also protecting the unfortunate critters I might hunt.
This would be a good compromise in our never-ending skirmishes where I try to escape — unfortunately, I can't work the doorknob, no opposable thumbs, so I typically just attempt to dart out the door — and you try to keep me locked inside, don't you?
Here's what you need to know: Catios can range from a simple window box cut-out to a full enclosure across one side of the house. They need to be attached to the house in some fashion and have a cat door, so I can come and go as I please. I am a cat, after all.
Dana Stangel, who organized this year's Los Angeles Catio Tour (to be held Oct. 14), is an expert on urban wildlife. She likes catios because they protect lizards, rabbits, birds, bats, coyotes and other animals from cat attacks — and vice versa.
She attended her first catio tour in Portland, Oregon, two years ago and has since done her best to educate people about why they're a good idea.
“It mentally stimulates them because they can track birds and lizards with their eyes,” Stangel said. “They really like to be out there at night.”
But there are good reasons to keep them in. Stangel said the average life expectancy of a cat that goes outdoors can be fewer than five years, while an indoor cat can live for as much as 20 years.
“People often think of their cats as wild animals, but they're not wild,” Stangel said. She recalled a woman in Woodland Hills who built a “doggio” for her canine pets after a coyote came through her dog door looking for dinner.
“There's a video on the Internet of a coyote standing on top of the doggio, but he couldn't get to the beagles inside,” Stangel said.
Many people don't want to keep their felines indoors in the belief that cats are animals that need to roam. Some also want their pets to keep the mice and rat population around the house down.
Homeowner Susan Wattles said she had always let her cats roam free around the hillsides behind her Lake Forest townhouse. That is, until a fateful day 30 years ago when Vinnie, her laziest cat, came scrambling over the back fence in a great big hurry.
“I went out to see what was going on and a coyote came over the fence after him,” Wattles said. “I started screaming and yelling, and the coyote took off.”
Wattles said she and her husband immediately bought copper pipe and hardware cloth to enclose their back patio. Nowadays, their current pets, Rufus and Stanley, love being outdoors. She even grows cat grass for them to eat, and they can watch hummingbirds around the backyard fountains.
But cats aren't only prey. They are also predators. The American Bird Conservancy endorses catios, estimating that domestic and feral cats have contributed to the extinction of 63 species of wild birds, mammals and reptiles.
Nowadays, several cities have catio tours organized by animal lovers, including the original one in Portland, as well as Seattle; Santa Cruz; Austin, Texas; and more, according to CatioSpaces.com
There are companies such as Custom Catios, run by Alan Breslauer, also known as the Catio Guy, that specialize in their construction. Breslauer said he loves building them because they bring such joy to the cats that use them.
People can also build them on their own. Plans are available for purchase.
And what about a catio on wheels? Retired couple Mike and Cathy Mckeever of North Zulch, Texas, have been on the road in their RV for three years now. Their 10-year-old Russian blue and Manx rescue cat, Thumper, has been to 38 states with them. Originally, they kept Thumper on a leash outdoors, but Cathy Mckeever said he drove her nuts wanting to go in and out of the RV all the time.
Eventually, Mike Mckeever built a detachable catio that can be hooked up to the outside of their rig, then brought inside and laid on the bed when it's time to move on.
He used lightweight PVC, hardware cloth, plexiglass and plywood and the legs from an old walker, estimating it cost less than $125. The couple uses zip ties to secure the catio to hooks outside, then cuts them off when they leave.
“He loves going in and out all night long, and now I don't have to let him out,” Cathy Mckeever said.
So, Whiskers here again: Are you going to build me one? The home improvement store is open until 10 p.m.
But fix my dinner first.
BUILDING A CATIO
Typical supplies include PVC pipe, screening such as chicken wire or hardware cloth, and some type of roofing such as fiberglass panels.
Hardware cloth, available at home improvement stores, provides a mesh that’s easy to look through but too small to admit small animals and birds to the space.
Cats should also have a door or window to come in and out as they please, so the catio should always be attached to the house in some fashion.
LOS ANGELES CATIO TOUR
When: Oct. 14
Where: This Los Angeles County-wide driving tour starts at the Pasadena Humane Society and offers the chance to visit 14(or more) catios, mostly along the 101Freeway corridor.
Online: Videos will be available for those who can’t attend.
Cost: $22.53for live and online access, $17.35for online only, $84.75for VIP admission
Learn more: losangelescatiotour.com or emailinfo@ losangelescatiotour.com