If you have been struggling with finding creative ways to keep your cats entertained in a smaller space, like an apartment, it may be time to explore cat shelves.
We’ve had numerous ups and downs with cat trees, and constantly struggle with hefty replacement costs and decision fatigue around the next large item that’s going to take up so much space in our living room.
But when it comes to cat shelves, a lot of these questions quickly fade away. And that’s a good thing.
We love practicality, and when it comes to bang for your buck, it’s hard to argue with a cat shelf, at least in our experience. So let’s talk about what makes these items so special for our cats.
Yes, one of the biggest benefits you are going to see from cat shelves is that you suddenly don’t need big condos and trees anymore. By utilizing the space on your walls you create space on your floors for more…stuff.
But really, look around your main living area. Think about the space you have available on the floor, then look at the space your walls takes. It’s honestly a no brained if you can get past the installation process.
Your cat is going to adore a well made cat shelf. Reason being - they love getting up high. Well, most of them do at least. Providing your cat with ample shelving that takes advantages of a walls height is a great way to give your cat more space to live and prosper.
If you’re crammed in a smaller apartment, this can literally double their living area with just a few screws in the wall. And it gets them off the ground, and keeps them entertained and feeling good. They now have room to roam!
If you’re like us, every so often you need to say goodbye to a cat tree. They get old and tired with time, it’s true. Even worse, your cats may reject it after some time. And when you need to throw it out, it comes with a pretty hefty price tag.
But cat shelves cost a fraction of the price and are easy to replace or expand upon. If your cat decides they don’t like one, just get a new one. No need to remodel the apartment, you can swap parts and pieces with relative ease.
This allows you to expand their living area as needed without huge investments, and you can upgrade as needed as well.
Don’t think cat shelves don’t come without their share of issues though. Nothing in a cats life is perfect, and everything comes at a price. Let’s talk about the negatives of wall shelves.
If you mess up on the install or your shelf degrades over time, accidents can happen. Lack of proper anchoring or wall mounts can mean that your cat jumps on their shelf only to rip out a piece of your wall.
And if the shelf really gets its use and begins to degrade, your cat may fall and end up hurt or mentally traumatized.
Yes, your going to need to drill some gnarly holes into the wall if you want a secure cat shelf. Just remember, this needs to hold your cats weight and the velocity they move to and from it.
Proper anchors are going to do wonders for you, but if you’re renting this may affect your security deposit, though there are ways to avoid that.
So if you’re not too concerned with damaging the walls and are seriously considering shelves, it’s time to talk about the installation process, as this is rather important and not as simple as dropping a cat condo on your floor.
We recommend you plan out where your shelves are going to go. Use masking tape to tape out where you want the shelves to go and be sure to view it from multiple angles. It’s easy to miss certain details, so it might be wise to just live with the masking tape in place for a day or two to see if your idea has some pitfalls before it’s too late.
While planning, make sure to pick a good space for your cat to perch and see the room. Make sure you have access to the shelf as well and it’s not too high up or far out of reach. And be extra sure it’s not in a location that’s going to (literally) cause headaches for you (don’t put it right under a chair for example, or you might hit your head a lot).
When it comes time to install, be sure to line up the screw holes with wall studs. Your shelves should ideally be 16 inches in length, as that’s the normal space between wall studs.
In a perfect world, this matches your design ideas perfectly, but in reality this is a rare case. What you really should do though is at least ensure one screw is lined up with a wall stud. This will provide a lot more security for the shelf. Then just get a sturdy wall anchor for the other, and pay attention to weight!
There are numerous cat shelves out there, and while most are great, there’s a few things you should be looking out for.
Make sure the shelf is made of high quality wood. No weird board materials that are going to degrade after touching water. We want real wood, maybe bamboo if possible. You can use “human” shelves as well, just make sure they are wide enough and can support the weight of a cat.
Floating shelves look nice, but might not stand up as nicely. There’s something about the classics that just work. And while it’s not as “modern” looking, it’s easier to install and deal with. Just food for thought.
Buy a shelf that’s too small and your cats never going to get comfortable on it. Make sure it’s wide enough to support them laying down or if they want to be curled up. Go ahead and measure them to see what that size actually is.
In terms of length, 16 inches is great as it will match with wall studs.
It’s easy to pick up three of the same shelves and build a little pathway for your cat. But is that really fun? Buying a few of them with different styles can ensure that your cats have more fun with them. There are tons of different styles for cat shelves - if you can dream it, it’s probably out there. Just look through Amazon to see some great options.
There’s tons of benefits to getting started with a few cat shelves in your home or apartment. From saving space and decluttering, to giving your furry friends a new world to explore, cat shelves are one of the most exciting ways to give back to your cats.
And while nothing is ever perfect, following a few basic ground rules in terms of planning and execution, you can easily get cat shelves set up in your home. Just be sure to mount them properly so they are safe and stable.
We hope this guide helps in your journey to give your cats more space!
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