So while I’m out on vacation, I decided to delight you with some old posts. I’m only giving you a few, but I’ve chosen the ones that have gotten the most attention. I guess somebody out there likes what I’ve done. SO, without further ado, I present “Cat Shelves.”
[insert audience applause here; fade out]
Remember yesterday when I said that I hate those carpeted cat trees? I do. I don’t know if I’d mind them so much if we had a bigger place, but we don’t. We have a tiny place. So having to find floor space to house a cat contraption is pretty much impossible. Putting it near a window so they can look outside - definitely impossible. Enter cat shelves.
I looked online (of course) for an alternative to the standard carpeted tree and I found a whole bunch of stuff. I liked the idea of a lot of them, but some of them were kinda ugly (I’m not a huge fan of kitty footprints all over things) or, of course, expensive. For example, I initially found the Buddha Square Cat Habitat shelves which are…$100 each. Uhhhh…yeah, no. I mean, I guess things made out of bamboo are environmentally friendly or something? Unless they are saving the world one cat at a time, I cannot understand why someone would pay $100 for a shelf. For their cat. Then I remembered that I have a Ryan. And there was an Ikea nearby. And now I had an excuse to drag Ryan to Ikea. HA! He totally loves it there. Not.
So, after buying Ikea’s Ekby Jarpen shelves (I get that they’re a foreign company, but the names…they sound like diseases - “Lizzie called in sick to work today. She’s got Ekby Jarpen Disease.”), cutting them down to size, gluing some fancy pants Flor carpeting to the top and hanging them strategically on the walls, we have this:
“But what about the scratching post part? I mean, that’s part of the draw of those GORGEOUS cat trees.” you say incredulously. Bam:
Ryan took a piece of plywood, bent it and screwed it into the wall and floor. Then he covered it with a sisal remnant (sold on eBay) which Ralph seems to love. Side note - when Ralph is being attacked by Ted, we can always judge the severity of the attack by what step Ralph runs to. The shelf pictured above is “Stepcon 1.” He has been known to go IMMEDIATELY to Stepcon 3 which means I need to have the squirt gun ready in case the ordeal needs to be minimized. Oh Ted…
But, my favorite part of having these shelves is this:
When Ralph stares down at us like he’s the king of the world. He always looks very haughty. Like he knows he’s untouchable. Well, until Ted decides he’s not.
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