Local "Catio" Tour Demonstrates Creative and Effective Protection for Cats

Street sign

Our local SPCA and Native Animal Rescue organizations along with volunteers and 11 area cat enclosure "catio" owners - including our location - band together to have Santa Cruz County's first annual Catio Tour.

We opened our catio creations to the public in hopes of inspiring other cat owners to consider building protective enclosures for their cats.
Catios protect cats from predators, fights, disease and many other dangers, not to mention potentially lowering one's veterinary bills. Catios also protect local birds and small native critters from predation from house cats which can seriously impact native animal populations.

Curious cat owners check out our "catzebo" and "catwalk"

Curious cat owners tour our "catzebo" and "catwalk"Our visitors had many questions about costs, construction, acclimating cats with catios. As I point out here at CatCluez, you can spend as little or as much as you want. The primary goal of a catio is to provide a safe, enriching environment that gives your cat a taste of the outdoors. This works especially well with "indoor" cats. Even previously free roaming cats can adjust to the catio lifestyle.

Thanks to these local agencies, local businesses and all the volunteers, the first annual Santa Cruz County Catio Tour was a great success, despite the weather.

REVIEW: "Ideal Hefty Pet Side Sliding Window Insert"

For a long time I was looking for a good-looking locking pet door that would work with a horizontal sliding window. I had seen the kind that installs in full-sized sliding doors, but hadn't ever seen one designed specifically for horizontally-sliding windows, which are similar to sliding glass doors, but smaller.

I discovered this adjustable insert which lets you easily install the pet door (included) in a horizontal sliding window. I already had built a plywood structure for a smaller cat door, but it was ugly and drafty. This seemed like a much better solution. The cat door was larger than the one I was using, so our older cat would be able to use it more easily, it provided a two-way locking mechanism so the cats could be locked in or out. It was well-made, functional and attractive. Available in two colors, I chose white and placed my order.

It arrived in perfect condition. The built-in window pane is glass and the construction is aluminum, and includes some weather stripping, a security lock and good instructions.

I removed the old home-made plywood insert and installed the new insert in the window frame. I had to use weather stripping on both sides of the insert, so the weather stripping that came with the product was about 1/2 of what I needed. Fortunately I had some lying around the house.

To secure the sliding window up against the insert and to prevent being able to open the window from the outside, a block-type lock is provided which requires that you drill a hole in your window frame. I opted to cut a piece of wood to drop-in between the left side of the window frame and the right side of the window slider so I wouldn't need to drill into my window frame.

We've been using this product for about two weeks now and it is working perfectly. It looks good, is secure, and weather-tight, and lets more light in because of the glass pane above the pet door section. I highly recommend this product to anyone wanting to control their cats in and out access through a horizontal sliding-window and maintain an attractive look.

I purchased this item from the following website:
http://www.moorepet-petdoors.com/