by Sandra Parker

Created on: August 21, 2009

Your cat's physical and mental health is the most important responsibilities a cat owner faces. Since many cats spend the majority of their lives lounging in front of the window, the do not get the proper exercise they need to maintain good health. By building your cat a playhouse, you can help alleviate both boredom and lack of physical activity as well as provide your pet with a great place to ambush you when you walk by.

Websites on the net abound with opportunities to download free plans for building playhouses for your cat. Plans are available in as simple or as complex a design as you feel you can handle. If you think that building your cat a playhouse sounds like a great idea, take a look at these sites to see if you find anything that will tickle your fancy.

www.newwoodworker.com

I was impressed by the pictures of the cat condo shown on this website. New wood worker explains step by step how to build your very own condo just like this one. The one drawback to these plans in that you will need some fairly expensive specialty woodworking tools, like a lathe. But, the good news is that the finished product will make your cat the envy of the neighborhood. There is a base with a hideaway cubby and a basking seat. The other cool design feature is that there are steps to help older, arthritic cats up to the window seat. This is a fantastic design, but definitely not for the novice builder. Also, there are other plans located on this site, but most of them are rather advanced.

www.toolcrib.com

This site boasts having 21 different plans for cat furniture, though only 6 of them are for condos. The other designs are cool, though, like a few cat trees and scratching posts. One plan in particular combined several features into one design. The advantage of this site is that even though there are only a few designs specifically geared toward condos, there are a variety of skill level plans, making it easy for a novice to find a simple plan.

www.freewoodworkingplans.com

If at first you don't succeed, go to this site. You can't go wrong with 9,788 free project plans. Of course, these are not all for cat condos, but quite a few of them are. The coolest feature of this site is that it offers plans for outdoor structures as well as indoor structure, so even if your kitty spends lots of time outdoors, he will be able to get in out of the weather, escape neighborhood dogs and children, and stalk birds from his condo built for a king. There is a plan for every skill level on this site, so peruse until you find one you like and can build.

So, the next time you decide to indulge your favorite feline, don't head off to your neighborhood pet supply house and drop a few (hundred) dollars. Browse these sites and build you own for less.

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