The Cat Dome

I have 5 cats. Some are indoor cats, some are always outside. The problem happens when I go on vacation. I've tried boarding them and I've tried locking them in the house. But neither is a good situation. So I decided to build a big cage to keep them in. And what better design than geodesic!

I went on the internet and searched, and searched, and searched. But there were only a handful of sites. When I was growing up (in the 60s and 70s) geodesic domes were the rage. But they obviously have lost popularity. When I came across Worldflower Garden Domes (www.gardendome.com), I knew I had found the design. I didn't need anything elaborate or big. In fact, the simpler the better. His basic "Icosa-Dome" kit was perfect. Easy to build out of inexpensive, minimal materials.


You can see all the elements here: the door in the front, the green netting, the tarp, the ramp, the plant hangers anchoring the dome to the ground, and even the tunnel into the old 4-level cage system which enters through the back window of my house.	The dome in use, with Mogi up in loft.


Mogi in loft. You can also see the top netting wrapped around the lathe strips and screwed on.	The loft, looking up through the center.

Mogi in the grass, you can see the ramp here.	Side view of the dome, with a good image of the 4 level cage system.

Another view, showing the plant hangers.

When I got my first cats in 1995 (Angus and Mogi) I lived in a small third-floor apartment. There was a balcony off the bedroom. I got the idea to put a cat door in the sliding glass door (opened slightly and embedded a cat door in a plank to fill the gap) so that I could put the litter pan outside on the porch. This would keep the smell and litter out of my apartment and give the cats a chance to go "outside". I screened the balcony in so they wouldn't get the idea to jump.

It worked perfectly. Once they figured out how to go through the door, they spent a lot of time out there basking in the sun, watching the birds, and taking in the fresh air. They enjoyed it, and I liked it cause the litter was outside.

When I moved to a house with a back yard about a year later, I got the idea to build a "cat run" off the back into the yard. I installed the cat door in the bottom of the back wall of the utility room. Then I built a low "run" about 3 feet wide, 10 feet long, 2 feet high with lattice. Inside it on the ground I put a deep layer of pea gravel, and voila - an outside litterbox that cleans itself everytime it rains (I live in Louisiana and it rains a lot here). The only difference was that it wasn't a good place for them to hang out and watch the world. However, I had a nice fenced backyard, and I started letting them out, and eventually Angus became an outside cat.

In the meantime, 4 more cats acquired me - Sabrina, Noah, Toby and Dexter. Also, in the meantime, I moved. This new house was raised about 18" from the ground. I needed to redesign the cat run to work with this house. So I put the existing low run part on the ground along the back of the house just below a back room window. Then I built 3 levels of lattice cages on top of that to bring it up to the level of the window, into which I embedded the cat door. So the cats could go out through the window into the top section, then down through an opening in the floor that leads down into the middle and lower sections, and then down to the ground where the "litter" run section is. This added a few areas for them to hang out and watch the world.

But with 6 cats, it was too small. And I had one cat who would sit in the upper level and not let anyone pass, so it didn't work very well. That's when I realized I needed a bigger cage.

After I built the basic dome structure, I then had to figure out how to cover it. I didn't want chicken wire or lattice. I finally got the idea of netting (like industrial fishnet or batting cage). I found an excellent place - H. Christiansen Co. - on the internet (www.christiansennets.com/sport.html) where I ordered 1" netting. They coated it with UV protection (the green color) to make it last longer in the hot Louisiana sun. I got 2 custom cut pieces - a square one for the top and a long rectangular one to wrap the bottom. It doesn't stretch much, and it is STRONG. During construction I dropped a board and it fell hard and caught on the netting - but it held fast and didn't rip or even snag or fray. It is also EASY TO WORK WITH. It's light, flexible as fine fabric, doesn't tangle, soft on your hands, and comes in large sizes. They also sell screen.

The next thing I had to figure out was how to attach it. I rent my house, so everything I do must be temporary and easily disassembled. I bought the quick release option kit from Garden Domes which lets me easily unbolt the entire dome structure and put it back together. So I didn't want to staple the netting on. I finally figured out 2 systems for the different pieces. The bottom wrap-around piece was attached as follows. First, I screwed 1/4" hex head screws every 3 inches or so along the inside bottom and head-level horizontal pieces. I didn't screw them all the way in, leaving a slight gap between the head and the wood. Then I wrapped the netting around the strut from the outside and hooked it on the screws. I went around the entire dome, alternating hooking it onto the bottom and top struts, pulling it tight, until the entire dome base was wrapped. I attached the ends to the right door strut and the right door jam with the same method. Now for the top net piece. I couldn't use this same method because I couldn't wrap around the struts since the bottom netting was already wrapped, blocking it. So I bought lathe strips and wrapped the bottom edges of the roof netting from below and then screwed through to the struts. I used cable ties to "tighten" the netting.

Next I needed shade and rain protection without totally cutting off the sky. I found a nice heavy duty silver tarp at Home Depot for about $20. It covers 3 of the 5 roof triangles, and is position to shade the morning and evening sun (it's open to the north). I attached it with cable ties.

I now had a completely enclosed, shaded dome. I built a "loft", a carpeted ramp to get to the ground, and a "tunnel" off the loft to get into the existing lattice cage (described above) and ultimately into the house through the cat door in the window. Plus a people-sized door in the dome lets me get in and out easily. Finally, I anchored the whole dome with plant yard hooks that span the bottom connectors.

I put a hose-fed dog waterer inside the dome on the ground, and nice soft earth from my compost pile along one side for "litter", an inside/outside thermometer to be sure it doesn't get too hot (the silver tarp kept it about 10 degrees cooler inside), a plastic chair and a rug. It was done! But was it cat proof?

I put them all inside and closed the door to the house so they were stuck in the dome. Then I waited and watched. Could they escape? Would the netting hold up? Angus is a true escape artist and if there was a hole or a way out, he'd find it. At first they were just curious. They had been watching me build it, but when they got in there, they had to check out all the levels and the ramp and rub on the netting to get their scent on it. At first they tried to push their noses through the netting to get out. But the netting held without hurting them. They clawed at it, and even dug a little around the base. But after 4 days, they were still inside. They also seemed quite content. They were still in their home territory, could each pick their own spot, and could keep an eye on things.

A month later I went on vacation for 2 weeks. I locked all the cats in the dome with extra catnip toys. I arranged for friends and my mom to come by every day to feed and talk to them and make sure everyone's OK. This worked great cause no one needed a key, and I could also ask my neighbor to peek in at them any time she went out to her car or worked in her yard. So they got plenty of attention and I didn't worry about them. It was fabulous. They were relaxed, comfortable, clean and still on their home turf, but not wandering the neighborhood or tearing up my house. And I spent on materials about what I would have to board 6 cats twice. And it doubles as a place for my inside cats to hang out. Mogi (see pictures 2 and 3) stays out there most of the time and comes in for food and occasional attention (she's rather aloof). Dexter likes to sit in the high grass and watch the birds. Plus it saves on litter (I still have a litter box in the house, but they hardly use it now).

Final materials list:
Garden dome kit with quick release option
Netting
2x2s - 5 pressure treated for along ground, rest regular, but I treated them with Thompson's
Misc. plywood and 2x2s for the loft and ramp
hinges for door
1/4" hex head screws for attaching net
lathe strips and screws for attaching net
Tarp
cable ties to "tighten" net and attach tarp
Plant hanger yard hooks to anchor dome

I recently ordered the Star Dome kit and will be building an 18' screened dome for ME next.

If anyone wants more info than this on how I built it, please email me at diana@crescentmusic.com.