Lailas Catio

Our solution for our foster failure (we adopted) cat Laila who was terrified of her own shadow and feared open spaces, let alone open doors. She also frightened easily so to keep her safe, and to keep the many native birds who visit our property safe, we built Laila a catio. The catio made use of a redundant deck area, created a safe place for Laila, a great mood lit outlook for us and added to the plant life surrounding us.

Our new build had a deck, too hot in summer and too cold and wet over winter for any real use. We preferred to sit in the garden or use the gazebo at the back of the property that has an awesome view of Taranaki Maunga. The other issue that we didnt want to drill into or damage the exterior cladding on the house so the catio would need to be free standing and not reliant on support off the house.

The end result thanks to The Junction, New Plymouths waste recycling store, and random junk we found on our travels. Our only new purchases for the catio build – the netting from Catio NZ that is specifically designed for catios, and advice plus plants from Big Jims Garden Centre for the planter boxes.

Catalogue Number: 0001

Date of completion: August 2025