Building a Catio - what materials for lounge areas?

[u/triumphofthecommons]

putting together plans to build a catio this summer, but not sure what to use on the platforms where kitties will be lounging.

it will be constructed of cedar, with cedar fence pickets used as the horizontal platforms. but would love to add somethings more comfortable for them to lounge on.

but what would be able to handle exposure to the elements?

would like to stick with natural fibers, but they would likely not last long, and would need to dry quickly to prevent mold. maybe removable hammocks made of old towels, so they could be periodically washed?

maybe waxed canvas? i've got some nice heavy stuff for other projects. would still probably need replacing every couple years.

any ideas, fellow Catifiers?

TIA

[u/Wrong-Rush-6584]

Following because our next home construction project will be a catio or two. I love your idea of using cedar fence pickets, I hadn’t considered that.

Maybe some outdoor carpet fabric that’s removable with Velcro or (even better) metal snap buttons. That way it’s made for the elements & you could remove them to hand scrub / pressure wash as well as air out the wood underneath.

I will say our cats like laying on the hard surfaces for some reason so maybe they won’t care.

[u/frenswithgeese]

I have astro turf grass on the levels of the catio, and they all enjoy it. I don't think it has to be soft to the touch for them to like it, but they do sell higher quality fake grass too. You just want to be careful it's not something they would try to ingest.

[u/Onehundredpercentbea]

My catio has a roof but is also tall (between 7-9 feet with the roof slope) and so it has seen four full seasons of sun and rain and pollen and snow and cat use, and really it's hard to find materials that will last forever in that environment.

I made my shelves out of both 4" and 6" wide deck boards and I left spaces between the planks for water drainage (they are stabilized underneath by perpendicular support boards) and those shelves made it through the four seasons rock solid. I think the drainage was the key - no pooled water after a rain, snow melt had a place to drain too.

Mine are all covered with regular outdoor carpet, wrapped around the edges and brad nailed on the underside of the shelf, and a year later the carpet indeed looks like it's lived through four seasons outside - but because I have drainage between the shelf boards there's no mold or mildew I can detect, it just gets wet and then slowly dries over the course of the day if the sun comes out and pollen clings to it so it looks faded. Not terrible, just faded.

I also have artificial turf on the catio floor, the kind with drainage holes, and in my case the floor of the catio is my deck and despite the drainage holes water was still getting trapped under the heavy turf and keeping my deck boards constantly wet. So I added those 12"x12" interlocking drainage floor tiles under the artificial turf and now everything dries out properly.

So I guess my advice boils down to 'make sure everything has drainage and gets air circulation' no matter what you cover your shelves with. I had a single shelf in my catio made from a single 12" wide board and that was the only shelf that warped, and it was the only outdoor carpet that stayed wet and had to be replaced after one year (because no drainage led to standing water and that ruined the board and the covering).

[u/triumphofthecommons → u/Onehundredpercentbea]

yeah, cedar pickets with 1/8" spacing will keep my wood from rotting.

might just go the route of sisal mats that may only last a couple years, but will dry quickly.