How to Catify Your Apartment - 9 Tips for Having a Cat-Friendly Apartment

Living in a smaller home or an apartment comes with challenges, which expand as you bring cats into the mix. We've compiled everything you need to know regarding what to include to best utilize the space when having a cat in an apartment or smaller home. Is it cruel to keep a cat in a studio apartment? Not as long as you provide the proper feline enrichment.  Follow these steps to create a peaceful & healthy household for you and your cats.  Here we touch on everything, from what to include, handling litter boxes, cat-proofing, how to incorporate cat walls, and how to make sure you get your security deposit back once you move out.

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Why is Catification Important in Apartments?

The limited space that comes with living in an apartment or smaller home can present obstacles. In most cases, indoor cats are already under-stimulated and don't receive the same level of exercise as they would in the wild. According to VCA Hospitals, feline obesity is the leading disease in cats with over 60% of indoor cats in the US considered overweight. This is preventable, and if a cat is constrained to a smaller home or apartment, it’s even more important to utilize the space by creating a way for them to stay active and healthy.  The following steps take you through how to entertain a cat in a small apartment.

9 Tips to Catify Your Apartment

Many people struggle with knowing what to provide a cat in a small apartment. With space constraints and fewer options for litter box areas, these are our top suggestions: 

2. Promote Play & Exercise

Promoting play and exercise is important for any cat home, but in apartments that present a more confined space, it’s essential. According to vets, we should be playing with our cats for at least 10 minutes a day. Doing this raises their heart rate and helps build a bond with you. Here are our top exercise promoting suggestions.

4. Litter Box Solutions

So where to put a litter box in a small apartment? Nobody  wants to eat dinner or sit down on the couch after a hard day's work with a litter box sitting a few feet away. Keep in mind that vets suggest you have one extra litter box than you have cats. So if you have two cats, you need three litter boxes. This means if you’re in an apartment or smaller home, you need to get strategic.

Covered Litter Box - If you go the route of getting a covered box or one with a top entrance point, just be sure it’s tall enough for your cat to comfortably use. If you introduce a new litter box to your cats, you'll still want them to have access to a version they’re used to, to be sure it the new design works for them.

Hidden Litter Box Furniture - This is actually a fun new DIY page we’re in the process of building out. I’m making four different DIY hidden litter boxes for the home, but it isn’t yet complete. This is a place holder for once it is. If you look online, there are plenty of different options to choose from, but since I’ve never bought one, I’m not sure which is best.

Closet/pantry litter - In my last apartment I had a large pantry, which instead of using as a pantry I put several litter boxes in and added a bracket on the door so that it couldn’t shut all the way. This worked very well, but I no longer had a pantry for food, which wasn’t ideal.

5. Appropriate Scratching Outlets

Cats have a natural instinct to scratch. They do it to keep their claws healthy, stretch, and climb. If you don’t offer an appropriate scratching surface, cats will typically find other surfaces in the house, like couches or your favorite chair.

It’s a good idea to buy furniture that can withstand cat claws and possible messes. For couches and chairs, I prefer a canvas material because it holds up well and I haven’t found my cats scratching at it. Some other popular materials are Microfiber and microsuede. We advise staying away from leather and faux-leather because claw marks are very easily visible on those.

Most indoor cats are overweight, so it's important to monitor their calorie intake. The two easiest ways to control calories are by scheduled feeding and by keeping cats from eating each others food. A feeding schedule will also help reduce cats asking for food each time you walk into the kitchen. I feed twice a day, at 7 am and 7 pm.  I have an alarm on my phone set for feeding time, and when it goes off the cats rush into the kitchen because they know it’s time to eat. 

Food Separation Options for Multiple Cats -

If one cat is known for enjoying another cat’s food after theirs is finished, here are some options to keep those calories separated. 

How to Cat-Proof my Apartment

With all catification comes cat safety. While you’re building out the perfect habitat for your cat, be sure to watch out for the following to avoid serious consequences or the spread of germs throughout the apartment. How to make an apartment cat friendly without

Installing Cat Walls in Apartments & Wall Repair

A common misconception is that you’re not able to install cat furniture in a rented space or apartment. Every apartment I’ve lived in has allowed the residents to install a wall-mounted tv and those use much larger bolts that are more difficult to patch up on your way out than wall-mounted cat furniture.

In the past I’ve asked the apartment place if it’s ok to mount my TV if I patch and paint on my way out and they’ve never had an issue with it. I take this as “it’s fine to install anything you would like”. This is because a cat wall installation is a hard thing to explain without it sounding like it’s going to destroy the wall. All drywall can be easily repaired and I know there won't be any sign it was there anyways.

Since I’ve been living in apartments and also know I’m going to be constantly switching cat furniture out on the wall, I start by asking the apartment for a pint of paint for touch-up. In most cases they’ve been able to give me this, but once they only had the color code available.

This will ensure the paint is the same color as the walls. It’s best to get this paint from the apartment. Another option is for them to give you the color code, but it may be a slightly different shade if mixed in a separate batch.