This project was challenging to build, not because its premise was complicated, but because I wanted to try to create a quality piece of furniture and not “just” another cat bed.  A few months before this build, our Publisher, Debra Roberts, sent a photo of a cute, elevated cat bed with the question, “Next DIY?” Of course, I said “YES”!

I realized a number of months ago that our senior kitty, Yedeed (a Red Abyssinian) was beginning to have difficulty getting up on our bed by himself.  I began searching for pet stairways, and while some were very inexpensive, they were also fairly unattractive.  So, to the drawing board, I went!  I searched in Chewy, Etsy, Amazon, Woodworkers Journal, and virtually anything else to get ideas about what the size should be and the methods of construction.  I ended up building something so very complicated, there was NO WAY I would be able to break it down as a DIY for Savannaghans!  (Photo included of the Beast Stairs).  The good thing about my first staircase is that they are big enough that Ascher (F2, 30#) uses them daily.

Almost all cats love sitting in the window, looking at the birds, getting some sunshine. In many of today's newer homes, windowsills are small to nonexistent at 3.5 inches. Some of our cats can barely fit a single paw on THAT expanse!

I looked online for a sifting pine pellet box and couldn't find a good, large-box solution, so I made my own. I've been using these boxes for more than a year now, and they work very well.

When our original cat tree finally had enough, I began looking for another cat tree. The specific requirements included multiple levels for three cats to access and tall enough to give them an "overview" of the room from a high (and sturdy enough to withstand 30 pounds of F2 bouncing up and down).

We’ve all seen the cat furniture ads, clicked through, only to be astounded by the price. Not only that, but did they really think some of our beasts would fit into a little cube of 16”? After studying the design closely, I determined that with my limited woodworking experience, I could actually make one that Ascher, our 30# F2, could comfortably use. And it could be built with some of the pieces of Maple plywood I had left over from a previous project.

We started making our cat towers and trees because our Savannahs cats grew too large to comfortably and safely maneuver in the trees we'd purchased.