Cat Wall: What to Consider When Planning and Installing
The cat wall can create another space for the cat to move and rest without taking up space on the floor. But it's not enough to deploy several shelves depending on where they look good on the wall. The cat must move comfortably between them, have a place to jump and the individual elements must be securely fixed.
Before you drill, it pays off. cat wall first plan as routeNot like decorating.
Start by getting the cat to the wall
First, set your entry and exit points.
The first step is not necessarily cat furniture. The route may include a stable chest of drawers, sill or other piece of furniture on which the cat normally jumps.
Likewise, think of a way down. The cat should not be left for one long jump from the highest resting place on the floor.
Okay. cat wall Therefore, it may not contain many elements. More importantly, they make sense of each other in terms of cat movement.
Scatter your cat
There is no universal distance between stages.
A young active cat can handle a different route than a kitten, a senior or a cat with reduced mobility. The role also plays the size of individual surfaces and whether the cat has enough room for reflection and impact when jumping.
Therefore, mark the layout on the wall, for example with paper tape or cut-out pieces of cardboard in the actual size of the products. You can easily see not only the spacing, but also whether the assembly works too much in the room.
The stage and the place to rest are not the same.
When planning, it is useful to distinguish between places intended primarily for movement and places where the cat should actually lie.
Smaller wall step for cat can act as an intermediate step on the way up. For longer sleep, however, the cat needs a large and stable area to comfortably change its location.
At least one spot on the cat wall so plan as actual rest area, not just another level of route.
The highest place may not be just below the ceiling
Cats often seek high places, but higher does not automatically mean better.
A good view of the room, window or space in which household members move may be more important. The middle-height wall bed can be more attractive to a particular cat than the shelf just below the ceiling.
Consider the practical side. You will need to reach the rest stop when cleaning and checking the fixing.
Watch out for dead ends
The cat wall may look good on the photo, but in practice it creates a place from which two cats are difficult to pass away.
If you have more cats, it is advisable to think about more options to get out of higher places. One cat should not be able to simply block a single way down.
Even in one cat, it is better when the movement along the lineup acts naturally and does not have to turn hard on the narrow surface.
Check what you're digging into
The safety of the cat wall is mainly on the correct fixing.
Another method of assembly requires concrete, brick, poroconcrete or drywall. Therefore, the dowels and fasteners should be selected by specific wall, not just by what was in the furniture box.
At the same time, before drilling, it is necessary to verify whether electrical cables, water ducts or other manifolds lead through the site.
If you are not sure about wall material, installation guidance or appropriate anchoring, it is safer to consult with an expert.
Carrying capacity is not the only figure that decides
If the manufacturer indicates the maximum load on the wall element, respect it. However, the load-bearing data alone does not guarantee the safety of the whole installation.
The resulting strength also depends on the ground, correct anchoring and assembly quality. In addition, when jumping, the cat does not affect the construction as well as the same heavy object, which only lies on it.
After assembly, check each element thoroughly before first use and repeat the fastening check from time to time.
Think about the space around the wall
Don't just deal with the shelves.
There should be no TV, lamp, unstable decoration or other object that can be dropped by the cat while moving. Attention also to open doors, furniture edges and other obstacles at the drop point.
If feline wall furniture at the window, check his security too. An open or unloaded window may pose a risk regardless of how well the wall itself is designed.
First function, then composition
The cat wall can be a natural part of the interior. However, it should not be designed only by symmetry or free space on the wall.
First, determine where the cat comes from, where it will move, where it can rest and how it can safely get back down. Only then do the resulting composition.
Well designed cat wall It may not take the whole room or contain ten different shelves. Just a few correctly placed elements that the cat can naturally use.