ArcHouse Design Group
You Love Cats. You Will Always Love Cats. And You Plan to Build a House. Posted on September 26, 2009 by archousedesigngroup| If you know that you are going to have house cats, why not design your new home to solve cat problems before they begin? The number one problem with having a house cat is the litter box. Where do you put it? How do you control the odor? How do you keep it clean? A clever designer can find an out-of-the-way spot in the floorplan for a kitty closet for the litter box. This closet would have a tile floor and walls and a ventilation unit in the ceiling or wall that exhausts into the attic or to the outside. The closet door would have a cat door for kitty to come and go as needed. A decorative glass panel in the top of the door would let in light. This would add hardly anything at all to the cost of the house but it would make life so much more pleasant for you and for kitty.
Another great kitty idea is an exercise wheel. These are larger versions of the hamster or gerbil wheel. Some cats love running on wheels as much as hamsters do. They are a great solution but they are also very large and can be quite unattractive. Some of them have spokes; the cat can get caught in the spokes of the wheel and get injured. Here is a wheel that solves both problems. There are no spokes and it looks like a modern architectural feature. http://kittywheel.com/ This wheel could be incorporated into a room divider or a half wall so that it would become part of the house – and would not take up valuable floor space. Be sure to check out cat wheel (and dog wheel ) videos on YouTube to see how much the pets enjoy the exercise. Another problem that comes with having indoor pets is hair, dander and odor. There are a number of whole-house air cleaners on the market that can be installed as part of your heat and air system. While none of them are a cure-all for all dust and allergins, they do help. As with any technology, you get what you pay for. Be sure to research them carefully before choosing one. Because air ducts accumulate dust and allergins, which are then picked up and blown back into the room, you might consider one of the new ductless systems. As for the problem of kitty jumping on the table and shredding your couch fabric, well, you’re on your own there.
