One of the most important parts of having a cat is making sure their needs are met. One need I often see… ahem… neglected is the need for vertical space. Many people don’t like having cat trees in their homes (even though there are many non-carpeted options or even options that don’t look like cat towers) or don’t have much space to add vertical space. Other times, we need to add vertical space in an area without much floor space. What can be done in these situations?
Enter the cat shelf. If you can drill into your walls, the easiest solution is often adding cat shelves to the wall. Cat shelves allow the cat to satisfy their need to climb and provides them with some space that is their own. This can help with a LOT of behavior problems, both addressing and preventing them.
Picking The Purrfect Cat Shelves
While you could start planning how you want to set up the shelves first, you may actually want to start by seeing what types of shelving is available. This can give you some inspiration and keep your expectations realistic as you plan your cat wall.
Price
The first thing to consider is is price. Obviously, you need to be able to afford whatever shelves you want to add. If your budget is tight, you might be able to get away with floating shelves that are meant for decorations as long as they can hold the weight of your cat (or multiple cats). It’s always good to overestimate the weight capacity you’ll need if you’re not sure. Ikea shelves can be a great, inexpensive way to add vertical space on a budget. Hills has a guide on making your own cat shelves for more ideas.
That said, you don’t want to go for shelves that will endanger your cat or home. Often times, higher quality items will cost more, but they will be safer, sturdier, and last longer. It’s worth spending a bit more for something that you won’t come with a large repair bill down the the line.
Shelf Size
Another important consideration is the size of the shelves themselves. You want to make sure your cat has enough room to navigate the shelves or to comfortably rest should they decide to lounge a bit. You also want to think about how the shelves will fit in the space without impeding its functioning for the humans. Generally, somewhere between 6 to 12 inches will be a good width for most shelves.
If you are installing them in a hall, slightly narrower shelves lower on the wall can help get your cats up to wider shelves are mounted higher than most humans. Another choice would be installing a “stairway” of shelves in an area with more room (for example, just outside the hallway) that leads up to shelving that spans the length of the hallway. On the other end of the hall, install another “stairway” leading down.
Mixing Cat Shelves and Human Shelves
Who said cat shelves need to be only for the cats? There’s no reason you can’t get some enjoyment out of the shelves, too!
While cats have a reputation for knocking things off shelves, you can still incorporate decorative elements into the shelves. One option would using objects that are a bit heavier, such as books, on the shelves so they’re not easily knocked over. You can also select a really long wall shelf or multiple shelves in a row to create a longer single shelf. You can then place a second row of shelving right above it and place something that fits in the space, like books, to prevent your cat from getting to the other side. That creates additional shelving and space for you to display things.
Another creative idea? Get a cat shelf with built in food or water bowls. Rather than actually using it for food or water, use it as a planter for cat safe plants. Some hanging cat safe plants like a hoya may look really nice if you have the right lighting. A favorite hoya of mine, Hoya curtisii, has adorable little leaves and looks great as a hanging plant. Be careful to not overwater the plant as there won’t be any drainage if you turn a cat dish into a planter.
Prevent Things From Being Knocked Over
While displaying anything super valuable, dangerous, or breakable on shared shelves isn’t a good idea, you can still show off things that are tempting to your cat if done carefully. Using something like museum putty on the shelf will keep the object adhered to the shelf and off your floor.
Whatever objects you add to your shelves, remember that the shelves need to be able to hold them plus the weight of your cat. Don’t combine cat shelves with storage for your kettlebell collection or you may just end up with a giant hole in your wall.
Options Besides Shelves
If you have it in your budget, your options become more robust besides basic shelves. For example, you can get stairs for your cat to climb. There are other types of objects that serve multiple functions besides climbing, though, so you can meet multiple of your cat’s basic behavioral needs.
A Full Jungle Gym
If your cat has claws (which I hope they do), you can get them a tall sisal rope covered post that they can both climb and scratch. There are even whole wall mounted cat condos you can get for extra resources for your cats. Personally, I really like Catastrophic Creations’ options for scratchers on the wall. They have sets of scratchers that allow you to make a whole freakin’ jungle gym on your wall.
Bonus: if you purchase something using this link, they’ll send you some free catnip with your order. I make my thoughts on catnip very clear (it’s great) and it can be a great way to help entice your kitties to climb on the shelves.
Variety Is The Spice Of Life
A lot of my clients have tried different kinds of cat shelves with varying reports about quality, but a few brands have consistently gotten great reviews from them. Both my clients and I LOVE the cat shelves Fukumaru has as they have a nice neutral wood color. They fit in with a lot of decor and are high quality. Plus, there they have a huge variety of climbing objects for your cats.
Fukumaru makes suspension bridges, scratching posts, and even an adorable house shaped cat bed for your wall. You can also get a comfy hammock for your cat to rest in. Catastrophic Creations also has a few cool hammocks for your wall.
Get Something Nice Looking
Other options exist including some more artsy looking shelves such as this amazing waved platform from the Refined Feline or a set of hexagonal cat shelves from CatsMode. It actually enhances your decor. Plus, your cat will love hanging out on it. If you prefer something more fun but classy, you can opt for a staircase with a moon shelf. Regardless of what color scheme you want or your aesthetic preferences, there’s something out there that can fit your needs so if you have specific requirements, don’t be afraid to look at multiple options.
A Cat Tunnel
While this won’t work with every home, you might be able to install a tunnel to connect multiple rooms with some creativity. A premade flapless cat door can be used in your drywall on each side and you can add a small shelve going through the wall along with some wood on either side so your kitty doesn’t get stuck inside the wall. This is a bit more complicated so only do this if you know what you’re doing.
Planning Your Layout
Once you have an idea of what’s out there and how much you and what fits your budget, the next step before purchasing is planning. You’ll want to get an idea of your layout ahead of time so you get the right number of shelves for your walls in order to prevent the hassle of returning shelves that won’t work.
Visualize Directly On The Wall
Use a stud finder and mark where all your studs are so you know approximately where the shelves will need to be installed for maximum stability. Compare these to the cat shelves you’re thinking of purchasing and make sure they can be installed into the studs in that wall. If you can’t safely drill into the studs, you’ll either need to find different shelves that do fit that location or see if there is a different wall in your home that may work better.
Never used a stud finder before? Check out this guide.
Use post it notes, painter’s tape, or a pencil on the wall to mark the studs. Next, mark where you want the actual shelves to go so you can have a visual representation of where you’re thinking of installing the shelves.
When you’re making your layout, include the height of the shelves themselves in your on wall rough draft. If you don’t, you may accidentally space your shelves too close together creating too narrow of a space for your cats to use.
Get Spacing Correct
Shelves should be placed so your cat can easily leap between them without risking missing the shelf. For most cats, that means the next shelf in a layout should be no more than about 12″ higher than the next closest shelf.
If the shelves are being mounted at the same height, you are somewhat at the mercy of how far apart your studs are, but you could always use longer or shorter shelves to ensure your cats can jump between them with ease. Somewhere around 6 inches between shelves horizontally is usually a good distance for most cats.
Keep Your Cats Away From Danger
When planning your cat shelf layout, consider how close they are to places you don’t want your cat to easily access. Cats may use the shelves to jump on top of a tall bookcase or your cabinets. If that’s someplace the cats can’t be, install the shelves further away or rearrange your furniture. If you want more tips on how to keep your cats safe around heavy furniture, check out my guide on cat proofing your home.
Use Unused Spaces
Don’t be afraid to incorporate unused space like the top of cabinets into your cat shelf layout rather than moving your furniture around. I’ve had a lot of clients have great success with this free extension of your shelves.
Once you think you’ve figured out your layout, mark where you want each shelf or object to go and then take a step back to look it over. You want to make sure you get the layout right when you are ready to install the shelves so you don’t have to fill in any holes later.
Special Considerations For Special Cats
If you have older cats or clumsy cats, place platforms slightly closer together so your cats can easily jump between them. An alternative is designing your layout so there’s minimal if any jumping involved. Cats can leap pretty high and far, but they may be less inclined to use the platforms if they have to do too much work or if jumping hurts.
Multicat Homes
If you have multiple cats in your home, it’s critical you don’t create a situation where your cats may be trapped. A cornered cat is going to become very fearful very quickly if they feel like another cat is blocking their way down or may attack them.
Make sure there are always multiple exits and your cats won’t ever end up cornered at the top of the shelves. If your cat shelves have a circuit that goes around an entire room, at least two separate exits to the floor are necessary.
Installing The Shelves
Once you’re positive your layout is how you want it, it’s time to install them. I’m not going to pretend this part is where my expertise lies (I’m good with the cat behavior part!) so I won’t be providing a step by step guide on the actual installation, but Catastrophic Creations has a great guide on how to do the installation. Lowes’ guide on installing floating shelves can apply to cat shelves, too, so I suggest reading them.
Do your research before grabbing your stud finder and drill. Make sure you really know how to install the shelves so they will hold your cats’ weight. Take into account the fact that your cats will be leaping onto the shelves so you may be safer over estimating how much weight the shelves can hold.
When in doubt, follow the installation guide that comes with the cat shelves. They will give you specific mounting requirements and give you the best chance of a safe install. Get creative with your layout and choice of shelving, not with how you install them.
Don’t Do It Yourself If You Aren’t Confident
If you aren’t a DIY expert or don’t have experience installing your own shelves, I recommend against installing shelves yourself.
Why? First, it’s easy to screw up and expensive to fix your walls. You could easily accidentally damage your home and create bigger problems or safety concerns during the installation. More importantly, if you don’t install the shelves properly it could be a safety concern for your cats.
If the shelf is installed into the wrong part of the wall, it may not be strong enough and over time the attachment to the wall may fail. This could lead to it falling while your cat is on it or falling off the wall onto your cat (or you). This isn’t an area you want to cut corners on as the installation is extremely important.
The Easiest Way To Install Shelves
Thankfully, you don’t have to be a construction expert to install cat shelves as there’s an easy solution: hire a professional! This is what I recommend for most people. They’ll know how to properly install the shelves in way that is safe for humans and cats. Plus, it will likely take less time and frustration than attempting to do something that’s not in your skillset. Read reviews before hiring someone and ask lots of questions to ensure they know how to properly install cat shelves.
Watch Your Cats Climb
Once the cat shelves are installed, it’s time to let your cats enjoy them! Let your cats decide to go up or not, though if needed you can use some catnip/silver vine to attract them to a shelf or leave out some treats to entice them to explore. Just don’t pick up your cat and place them on the shelves as this may scare them (kind of like how you don’t need to “show” them where the litter box is located). That would be a lot of work and money invested for your cats to develop an aversion to the shelves.
Deciding how to catify your space can be overwhelming so if you’d like some personalized help, I’m happy to help. I can help you decide what to get and how to layout your space to prevent behavior problems and make your cat happy. We aren’t limited to talking about cat shelves, either. I’m happy to come up with a custom plan to make your space cat AND human friendly!
