Cattery Design for Efficiency

As you make the move to breeding you will have more volume. Therefore your cattery design is important.

The CFA requirement is 30 cubic feet of space for each cat but more is better! A wall sized walk-in that is 4 feet by 3 feet floor to ceiling can hold two queens comfortably. Remember this is cubic feet – make use of *up*! 

Keep it interesting for your girls with shelves secured to the sides, private hide spots, resting boards and places to climb. While you might not want them on the good bookcase, putting a series of steps or something to climb on can keep the cats ‘busy’ rather than just eating and getting fat. Overweight queens can have more problems with fertility so it’s a point to take strongly.

• Space is only part of the equation. 

• Ventilation can increase the health and decrease respiratory diseases. 

• Lighting is an important consideration. 

• Storing of food as well as feeding and watering your cats is a consideration. 

• Sanitation includes cleaning everything – the litter boxes, the cat’s home, the dishes and bowls and whatever else your cats come into contact with on a regular basis. For reasons of sanitation many people like the stainless steel bowls that wear well and are easy to clean. They can be disinfected much easier than plastic.

An 11X14 area, planned efficiently, can house three queens, two males, a play area for kittens, bathing, grooming and storage area. This includes floor to ceiling walk in areas with electric run throughout.

Keep the cattery design simple and easy to clean. For all the fancy scratching posts many cats find preference to using a length of firewood! Where you have room for your cattery is certainly a consideration. Some use 

• a sun porch, 

• back deck, 

• unused room in their home, 

• storage shed refitted to use, 

• garage or a protected area in the back yard.
  
  In cattery design, weigh heavily considerations such as weather – are fans enough to keep air cool for the cat’s comfort and in the winter do they have a warm area to be?

Remember that although cats can survive quite well in a carport with protection even in cold weather for show and breeding cats you’re asking them to do more than survive. They must thrive and be productive with healthy litters of top babies! There’s little more discouraging than to plan for a litter, spent time and money preparing for them and lose them in a late spring storm because you thought the litter was sheltered and warm enough.

• Have a plan for washing litter boxes and waste disposal.

• Do you really want to soak pans in the kitchen sink or would a deep sink just for that purpose be better?

• Do you have a plan for keeping food clean and dry?

• If you are feeding raw do you have a freezer for the cat food near their area?

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