A Greenhouse for Your Cat

I placed the greenhouse on the side of the house that gets some morning light, where there is room for it in the yard and where an entrance in could be cut in a panel from the house. In the pic you can see the entrance from the bedroom window on the right. It is just big enough for a cat to get through, so too much heat isn't lost.

The window of that room slides sideways. I cut a hole in the screen and reinforced the edges of the hole with some glue and plastic strips. The cats would climb on the screen above, so I made a flap for the window which helps keep the cold out and discourages the cats from jumping on the screen.

The cut hole in the greenhouses panel has some light plastic doorway corners glued on so that it covers the distance between the window sill and greenhouse, plus it covers the sharp edges.

Ramps were put in for my old cat, that later on was useful for the kitten when they were small. The ramps are thin boards with pieces of rough material glued on them for traction, also holes on the top and bottom so zip strips could be put through the holes of the shelves.

This is our newest, Ion using the ramp.

The shelves are the plastic storage shelves that come in pieces. I got two which turned out to be a good thing. I'll explain later. I chose the shelves with holes for ventilation and so I could tie the ramps on.

On the other side I have a chair for me and a large litter pan of water for the cats to play in. For some reason Pearl loves to flap her paws in it, and Lulu will also put stuff in and fish it out.

At first I left the floor as just the bare lawn and the green house was held down with the small metal stakes that came with it. After a while the lawn wore out, and the cats tore it up, then used it for a litter box. It got real hard to take.

Lulu enjoying the weeds and grass, see how clear.

After a near tragedy the floor became cement. There are some places around the edges of the cement that I allow grass and weeds to come in for the cats pleasure. The cement was also angled so water would drain out when I cleaned it.

Pearl next to pretty weeds that grow inside

I don't have big equipment for cement just a bucket, so I mix about a third of the bag at a time. I get the Quick set stuff. I added some cement color to it and then squished some interesting rocks in. The photos don't do it justice. There is a brick with a word and the red is mixed in some places. The cats get everything.

Big Tip

The greenhouse comes with a vent. Just incase the cats could jump up there, I glued some screen around the opening so they couldn't get out. Something I should have also done was ignore that part of the instructions and put that panel in so it would be further away from their high entrance.

One reason I feel this greenhouse is awesome is because it's tougher than it looks.

About once a year this area gets a windstorm from the South, and that's just not normal and it is usually near hurricane strength winds. Trees, signs and many thing get ruined because they just are not used to being blow from that direction.

Usually when the wind, cold or extreme heat picks up around here I get the cats in from the greenhouse and close the window. Good thing I did.

When I was at work, Jim called and said the green house has been thrown over. On the way home I passed what looked like a tornado wall. It was rough out there. When I got home it was still very windy and the greenhouse had literally been rolled around the side of the house and the wind was still pushing on it. We pilled up some support around it so it would not go any further. It was upside down and 30 feet away from it's spot.

Everything that was inside of the greenhouse was shattered and thrown up against the stump.

It was insane, funny and yet I felt my new greenhouse was toast.

The next day we went out, picked up the shelves which were mostly shattered, and with the spare parts I got them back in order.

We then rolled the greenhouse back into it's spot, put the door back on right, and duck taped a couple spots. It's not as beautiful as it first was but it is still functional.

I then cemented the thing down!

Hobbygrower by Palram Enthusiast Greenhouse Kit
6x8'