Having a pet doesn’t need to cost the earth

How about this super cute DIY cat cave??

We’ve established that cats like to get inside boxes – seriously, a parcel arrives and guaranteed Kipper the kitten will try to climb inside, and we thought – how he would LOVE a DIY Cat Cave.

We have several boxes dotted around the house, and Kipper just climbs in and makes himself comfortable!

He has made a bit of a nuisance of himself at bed time – creeping into the boys’ bedrooms and pouncing on them in the night, so we decided to look into the DIY cat cave and maybe even making our own DIY felted cat cave using a time-consuming felting process – but BOY did that look labour-intensive – and I’m just a bit busy with other projects sadly – but we didn’t want to give up on the idea – instead we decided to improvise – what do you think?

Why do cats like boxes?

Checking out boxes, and confined spaces in general is instinctive behaviour for cats. Move a cupboard, and sure enough, Kipper will be straight in the gap, waiting to pounce on passing naked toes!

In the wild, these areas allow the animals to both hide from predators and surreptitiously stalk prey.

Boxes also provide cats with a cosy, safe place to sleep, which is incredibly important given that the cats sleep for up to 20 hours a day.

Want to know how to make one of these?

How to make a DIY cat cave

You will need

an old sweater
a cat sized box
about five minutes!
to study and share this blog post once you’ve made the DIY Cat Cave – and tag us on instagram to show us yours! (honestly, it’s almost impossible to catch the cat actually IN the box, on camera, but looks seriously cute right?!)

Instructions

take a box
and an old sweater/jumper
moth holes a bonus
open the flaps of the box
slide the jumper over the box
so the open end lines up with the jumper neck
position the sweater opening in the centre
turn the box over
tie the sweater sleeves in a first knot
and tie the sweater sleeves in a second knot
tuck the loose ends in under the sleeves
ready for action

We popped an old T-shirt into the box to make a cosy cushion (a T-shirt that smells of his favourite human being) and in Kipper the Kitten climbed! et voila your DIY cat cave!

Thanks to Maggy Red Ted Art for saying ‘oh blog about that Ali’ – and having the best selection of DIY cat toys!

Comments

Kimmie Taylor says

27/12/2020 at 7:15 pm

This is an adorable idea!! Thank you for sharing and I’m gonna try it too. Have one kitty here that as soon as he sees an empty box he jumps right in! He also likes it if you turn open box upside down and play through the flap. He loves everything I believe that he can play with! Thought I’d share that lol.

- Ali Clifford says
  
  27/12/2020 at 8:00 pm
  
  Ah thanks Kimmie – yes they do love a box don’t they? Or anything I leave on the table – a coat, pile of books… just settles on down!
  
Pearl and Blu says

07/02/2021 at 6:37 am

I found this on the web after browsing a cat cave. I just decided to make one. Gosh she sniffed and settled in it. What a cheap and brilliant idea! Thank you so much

Cass says

27/01/2022 at 7:12 am

Just wanted to say I was looking for some ideas to make a cat cave, found this one, whipped it up in just a few minutes, and it was an immediate hit with my kitty! Thanks so much from me and my sweet fur ball 🙂

- Ali Clifford says
  
  11/02/2022 at 5:29 pm
  
  Oh that’s SUCH a lovely thing to read! thank you so much for taking the time to come back and comment – means a lot to me x