The Adventures of Tanjiro, Uschi-Swirl, & Vladimir: Window Cat Tree

Friday, June 23, 2006

Window Cat Tree

Our one-room Strawbale house has very deep windowsills due to the 2+foot thick walls and since we live in a small house, space is at a premium. The main window in the “living-room” is located right next to our entrance, a straight view from the couch and is right next to the TV. So, it is right in our line of sight most of the time. Its proximity to the entrance made it a dumping ground for bills etc., and was a chronic eye sore!! When we started preparing for the arrival of the boys we wanted to have high places for them to perch and look down on us, but we didn’t find cat furniture we particularly liked and especially didn’t want to give up valuable floor space. We thought that the window would be a logical place for the boys to play and we would be able to watch them in action. Like they would just play in the one window,… >;-)

I added this construction project to the ever expanding list of cat-related projects. We wanted the structure to offer the boys places to perch and to challenge them regularly to climb and dig in their claws. At the same time I wanted a minimal visual impact.

The boys climb the structure every single day! Tanj greets us at the door every day then turns and runs to the window and climbs to the middle level, rolls around while getting some pets, then hangs from the sisal rope section, both hind and front claws dug in for grip, before heading to the top. It was a challenge for the boys to learn to get down but they have figured out how to lean against the glass and slide down to the middle level. Getting down was especially difficult for Uschi. For a while he struggled, but has since learned the safe technique from Tanj. Now both boys frequently climb and stretch on the window cat tree.