Today’s project has abolutely nothing to do with Christmas, but it has everything to do with peace on earth (or at least peace in my house), because there’s a battle raging at my house between our dogs and cats.
Well, it’s actually only a battle between both of our cats and one of our dogs, but it’s driving me crazy.
The youngest of our four dogs is the troublemaker in the family, and she keeps raiding the cat’s food bowl. It does’t matter how many times we scold her for it, she likes their food better than her own, and won’t leave it alone, so I finally figured out a way to solve the problem, end the battle, and give the cats something they’d love at the same time…
A cat perch to overlook their kingdom, and enjoy their food in peace.
Since I’m busy with Christmas preparations, I didn’t feel like starting from scratch to make it , so I looked around and spotted my Santa-inspired tray .
BINGO, it would work perfect for this project!
Am I the only person who upcycles their own repurposed projects? 🙂
How to make a Rustic Perch for Cats:
~ Assemble pallet wood pieces, as directed in the tray tutorial
~Stain or paint the wood. (I spray painted mine to cover the text, then added another coat of regular paint).
~Distress the paint, if desired.
~ Predrill holes, then screw the shelf brackets to the back of the connected pallet pieces.
~ Screw the cat perch into the wall.
Tip – I have pallet wood walls in my entryway, so I could just screw directly into it, but if you have drywall, you’ll want to use drywall anchors, so it will be firmly attached and stable when your kitties climb on it.
If you don’t have cats that need a perch, it works just as well as a farmhouse shelf.
I also screwed a metal bowl into the perch, so it won’t slip off while they are eating … or the dog would still get to eat their food.
Both cats tested it out right away and gave it a thumbs up!
Blessings, & Merry Christmas!
Your cat perch turned out great. I’m sure you made your kitties happy, Angie. From time to time some of my repurposed projects get a makeover or get repurposed into something different again as well 🙂 .
Great idea … liked it as a tray, too! … and that black cat is beautiful! Merry Christmas!
Great idea Angie. Looks like it is the perfect perch for your cats.
Happy Christmas
Audrey Z. @ Timeless Treasures
I have similar issues with the two cats and one dog who live with me. The dog just lives to steal anybody’s cat food. One cat will eat her food and the other one’s too. She’s quite rotund. And the second cat gets scared away from her food by the first cat and the dog! What a circus! I think I have it pretty well figured out now, though. The gluttonous cat has her food in the back entryway with the half-door to the kitchen closed against the –also gluttonous– dog. The door has a kitty door so fatty can go to eat without the door being opened. Dog-dog eats in kitchen. Fraidy cat has her food in my office up on a book shelf that the other cat is too fat to jump up on. I keep the dog out of the office with an open-close gate. The only problem happens when I forget to close the gate to the office and the dog helps himself to the fraidy-cat’s food. He always spills it and gets yelled at, but to no avail. Next time there’s an opportunity, he’s right there. But that’s the best I’ve come up with so far! Such maneuvering just to keep myself from going bananas policing the pet food and the four-leggeds happy! Glad to know that you worked out your pet problem and the kitties are happy. Great use of that tray. You can always make another one!
Have a blessed Christmas and New Years! Much happiness to you and your family!
P.S. Where did you get those beautiful shelf brackets? I love them!
I LOVE how you solved your problem!!!!! And, isn’t it fun to do that by repurposingyour repurposed items?!? Have a happy, blessed Christmas!
Awwwww, your kitty is a sweetheart…and she looks really happy with the perch you built, too! I love this idea because, not only does it keep your kitties happy, it doesn’t interfere with your decor. I used to have a cat tree for my guy, but after his amputation we had to get rid of it because he was still getting up and down on it and nearly killing himself in the process. But maybe I could give him a perch like this that isn’t too high off the ground? I need to find beautiful shelf brackets like yours, though!
Naomi, your situation sounds like that riddle about taking a sheep, a wolf and a head of cabbage across a river…
When I first looked at the shelf, I thought you had made a hole in the shelf so the bowl wouldn’t move. Perhaps that could be a modification so the bowl wouldn’t need to be screwed down.
The things we do to keep peace in the house with the fur children.