Outdoor PVC “Catio” for Cat Play & Protection

At FORMUFIT, we’ve showcased great examples of how our customers are creating their own PVC projects for themselves, their families and their pets. And where their pets are concerned, that dedication extends not only to our dog friends, but our cat friends as well.

The Sager family, located just outside of Fort Wayne, Indiana had a conundrum: they were locally known for rescuing cats from the local shelter to care for their own, but also wanted to allow their cats to experience the great outdoors. However, they also needed to be able to give them room to exercise or lounge as needed, protect them from the elements and predators, and allow easy access in and out of the house. 

The Sager's decided to take matters into their own paws: Using our structural grade PVC pipe and fittings, they constructed an outdoor “catio” which consisted of several cuts of FORMUFIT PVC pipe of varying lengths widths and heights. For fittings, they utilized our 5-Way PVC Cross, Standard PVC Cross and 4-Way PVC Tees. The Sagers chose FORMUFIT for their durability, the ease with ordering the parts from our warehouse directly to their door, and for the choices of various types of PVC pipe and fittings available to easily construct their masterpiece.

The cat patio is made up of two different 'layers', the outer layer being the protective area against predators and jailbreaking cats, and the inner PVC layer being a constructed cat condo or lounging/play area.

To finish off their catio, the Sagers used carpet to wrap some of the PVC pipe for makeshift scratch posts, added wood and rubber mat platforms, as well as several cat crawl tunnels of varying colors to attract the cats to play. Reinforced wire fencing with a walkthrough gate was added for easy access to the catio while providing a walkthrough for the Sagers between the house and the yard. As you’ll note in the pictures, the catio was constructed around the back corner of the house so that cats could enter and exit not only from the back door but also from one of the windows at their leisure.

You can find more images of the catio on the Sagers’ official Facebook page here. Note that while they have more detail on the construction of the catio on their site, the configuration will vary greatly depending upon each habitat, number of cats, and the like, should you choose to build your own.

As these satisfied felines will attest to, this catio is the cat’s meow.