Animal Welfare Professionals

We are currently upgrading our free roam cat rooms and we have had a current issue with the wooden boxes on the walls. They seem to hold a lot of hair and litter and are difficult to sanitize. What do your shelters use in their free roam cat rooms? 

What kind of cat towers do you have? 

Do you have any fixtures on the walls? If so what do you have? 

#AccesstoCare
#AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)
#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms
#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment

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Jessica Quaresimo
Cattery and Adoption Coordinator
Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons
East Hampton, NY
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We have used milk crates  w pillows. They can be ready sprayed clean.

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Iris Lugo
Fosterer
Acc
NY
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We use Kuranda Towers that have been donated and purchased through grants. We also use laundry baskets, plastic deck storage benches, and other plastic containers. We use quilted pillow shams and small, easily washed or brushed blankets.

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Roberta Jocius
Independent Cat Society
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We also have Kuranda towers on our free roam cat room, and they are great! 

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Erin Dams
Community Relations Coordinator
Roanoke Valley SPCA
Roanoke VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-18-2024 06:59 AM
From: Roberta Jocius
Subject: Free Roam Cat Room Design

We use Kuranda Towers that have been donated and purchased through grants. We also use laundry baskets, plastic deck storage benches, and other plastic containers. We use quilted pillow shams and small, easily washed or brushed blankets.

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Roberta Jocius
Independent Cat Society
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We use Rescue to spray down and disinfect things in free roaming rooms and use a variety of cat trees. We use beds that can be washed as well as replace the blankets and pillow cases frequently since they are easy to wash. 

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Stefanie Schmidt
Animal Welfare Specialist
Hearts Alive Village
NV
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I am like Kitty Kasa as they are made of plastic and washable. The milk crate idea was great!

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Wendy Montanez-Ortiz
Director
Gatos Borincoon
MA
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This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

Would anyone be willing to share pictures of your rooms?

Original Message:
Sent: 11-18-2024 06:54 PM
From: Wendy Montanez-Ortiz
Subject: Free Roam Cat Room Design

I am like Kitty Kasa as they are made of plastic and washable. The milk crate idea was great!

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Wendy Montanez-Ortiz
Director
none
MA
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We are foster-based rescue (I don't have a shelter location) but my own cats have this set up with cubes and a cat highway to go from one side of the room to the other with different entry/exit points.  I left mine unpainted but to make it easier to clean I would try next time to coat it beforehand with semigloss -non -toxic paint

And I am introducing cubes to my fosters that are durable plastic, easier to sterilize/ easy to clean too and learned yesterday about those cat trees that are similar material. My head now spins with ideas!

Examples from other rescues/communal rooms I recommend looking at this for inspiration!  They have several shelters and how they designed it pictorials of before and after.  I am not particularly recommending one product or another but rather ideas

 hauspanther.com/category/catification/shelter-rescue-catification-environmental-enrichment/

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Wendy Montanez-Ortiz
Director
Gatos Borincoon
MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-19-2024 03:39 AM
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Free Roam Cat Room Design

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

Would anyone be willing to share pictures of your rooms?

Original Message:
Sent: 11-18-2024 06:54 PM
From: Wendy Montanez-Ortiz
Subject: Free Roam Cat Room Design

I am like Kitty Kasa as they are made of plastic and washable. The milk crate idea was great!

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Wendy Montanez-Ortiz
Director
none
MA

We've had similar issues with wooden boxes in our free roam cat rooms, as they collect hair and litter, making cleaning difficult. Many shelters use metal or plastic climbing structures and shelves, which are easier to sanitize. For cat towers, we prefer ones made of durable, wipeable materials like plastic or stainless steel. As for wall fixtures, we've found that installing sturdy shelves, hammocks, or sisal posts works well for both enrichment and easy maintenance.

Hope this helps!

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Emily Smith
enternship
Dog Gone Problems
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This place, BABY PERCH -2 | Wall Walkers I have worked at two places that used the wall system and I loved it.  The hanging beds are completely washable.  I loved how you could really design a wall for your space.  We used every product including the cat bowls up on the wall.  

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Eleasha Gall
Director of Animal Behavior
Bucks County SPCA
PA
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