Catio

So some cat owners who would never dream of letting their pets roam free outside have come up with a creative compromise: an enclosed space — usually in the form of a screened-in porch or deck — that allows them to share the great outdoors. Please don’t call it a cage. They prefer the term “catio.”

And we have a catio of sorts, a small screened porch built by the previous owner for humans.

She made a “fence” of them for Varmint inside the wrought iron white fence that bordered the patio so that it was his “catio.”

They're happy to hang out on what we call their “catio” all day, lazing on the couch while glowering at chipmunks and letting the sun warm the downy fur on their bellies.

Behaviorally, catios help cats organically cross their own challenge line; like any Catification project, catios should be scalable and filled with everything from scent soakers (for comfort, both physical and territorial) to superhighway elements that can change over time to accomodate the cat's curiousity and maturation.