Cat Houses - for felines, that is

I've written in the past about catios, those enclosed areas giving cats some outside space, safe from predators, cars and the like.

Catios come in many shapes and sizes. many are owner designed and built. Some contractors have gotten in the game, identifying a niche.  A custom catio can be quite expensive.

 An enterprising builder out of Petaluma, California has put together a series of kits and accessories  for catios  These kits are designed to attach to your house, with the cats accessing through a window.  Free standing units are also available.

My friend, client and pet sitter/dog walker extraordinaire, Renee Stilson, just got one for her cats. Lucky cats, they are.  Here are a few pictures of a catio in action.

the kit

work in progress

the finished product

catio access

While I'm sure there are no statistics yet, I'd think, if properly built and situated, a catio could even add value to your home.  Hmm.

 If you are in need of a fabulous pet sitter, Renee, though her company,  Home Sweet Home Pet Sitting provides professional, caring and compassionate pet sitting and dog walking.

 I've got plenty more pictures and resources about catios, and would be glad to answer questions.  leslievjones@gmail.com, 503-312-8038.

Those Urban Coyotes and your pets

I live in one of Portland's closer, urban neighborhoods - not downtown urban- neighborhoody urban.  We've long known, sometimes a bit too well, about the healthy rat population.  But is has only been of late that I'm realizing exactly how populace coyotes are in our neighborhood. 

On our dog walks, we see a few too many signs about missing cats.  Ugh.  And now, thanks to the neighborhood social networking site, nextdoor, I'm hearing of actual sightings.  Lots of sightings right around SE Brooklyn and Woodward between SE 37th and SE 35th. 

A few years ago we converted our cats to indoor cats.  We live on a busy street, and Guido,

who cut a wide swath on our neighborhood kept coming home limping - the vet called it an athletic injury.  I diverge to tell a Guido story.  This is the cat who thought nothing of going in other people's houses.  One of the last straws was, went he went in a neighbor's house and beat the crap out of their cat.  How embarrassing.

It can be hard to convert cats to indoor cats.  We (meaning my husband) built a catio so our cats could still get out in the fresh air. The cats go out the dining room window; it extends along the house, leading to the enclosed dog house (the dogs never really used it anyway). We hope to build another soon.

The Audubon Society and the Geography Department at Portland State University are working on an urban coyote project.    Part of the project has  map showing actual sightings that have been reported. You can submit sighting data and photos.  Take a look at your neighborhood, you might be surprised.

Oh, and maybe those coyotes will do something about the rat population.  One can hope.