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Catifying

Nicaboli

Savannah Super Cat
This may seem like a dumb question, or one that has been previously answered, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts. My family and I watch a of Animal Planet and with that comes watching Jackson Galaxy. He is a big advocate of catifying your house with shelving and bridges and stuff up high on the walls of your house to broaden a cat's territory. I want to do that but before I do, I'm curious to find out if it's necessary (especially if a cat takes trips outside) or if you've done that and what works best. And did you wait until your savannah was full grown to get a better indication of weight/size for the materials needed?

And a random question: what is with Mango all of a sudden shredding to pieces all the toilet paper and paper towels lately??? He never did that before until after his surgery. What the what? Does anyone have a paper shredder cat and what did you do about it (besides hide it)?

One more thing and then my probing will end :) I was reading a little bit of the thread about cat-proofing your home. I read about the mattress being shredded from underneath and the stuffed toys being too flimsy. Come to find out, Mango has shredded the mattress and has destroyed some stuffed toys. I'm wondering if there have been any incidences with foreign objects getting lodged in the nasal passageways in cats from that. Could it be that Mango's breathing issue is due to that? We haven't scoped him yet since he is still freshly post-op, but the thought did occur to me since his PCR panel was negative. Anyone ever have a foreign object stuck in your cat's nose?
 

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
My cats go for walks on leash and in strollers, have a large screened in patio with 3 cat trees, a large cat tree in the house, and an entire room with shelves and climbing pole. They still like to jump to the top of doors, kitchen cabinets, and high furniture pieces such as our TV cabinet and a 12 foot cabinet in the dining room. I think it's a very very good idea to provide vertical space for cats even if it's just cat trees. It doesn't have to be elaborate.

When I built the cat room, I used this
technique to make the shelves. They are very sturdy. Whatever shelves you use -- whether you buy them or build them, have to be secured to wall studs in order to handle the weight of the cat. For the climbing pole, I used a pvc pipe and flange used for toilets to attach it to the box and the footing and wrapped it in rope.

As far the the paper shredding ---- it's just that he's growing up and experimenting and discovering new things. And an object up the nose wouldn't be unheard of. I've watched my cats sniff the floors like bloodhounds and inhale fuzz and pieces of litter and even bugs.
 

Nicaboli

Savannah Super Cat
Oh wow. Was the second video your cat room? That is so cool! Thanks for the tutorials...very helpful :)
 

Patti

Admin
Staff member
Vertical space is very important to cats regardless of how much horizontal territory they have, so I will always advocate providing it, whether it be from shelves, furniture, or cat trees.

Most cats that I've met are paper shredders - Mango just needed to discover the pleasures of shredding, clearly he is now an addict! :roflmao:

It is definitely possible for a cat to get something up their nostril, whether or not this is Mango's issue will need to be further evaluated by your vet. Does he have a runny nose? Does he sound like his nose is congested? If so, then this may be his issue.
 

Nicaboli

Savannah Super Cat
Haha....yeah, Mango is a shredding addict for sure. I caught him toting around a whole role of toilet paper. I had to play tag with him to get it back so he wouldn't shred it all up!

The more I hear and read, I'm thinking he must have something up his nose. His nose is runny and congested- sounding and he snores like a freight train. I hope it's easy to figure out and get out!

Well, I have a honey-do list to tackle so we can get some vertical living space for Mangs...:paw:
 

Patti

Admin
Staff member
He could have a polyp inside his nostril as well. Either way, it sounds like it bears looking into (or up ;) )!
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
My entire place has a cat walk around it with posts in the middle of my living/dining area...you can see much of it here:

 
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