The 5 Finest Catios of 2024, Examined and Reviewed

Cat patios, or catios, are a good way to fulfill your cat’s need to be outdoors with out worrying that they’ll get into hassle or run away. Catios are enclosed areas, typically with perches or different options, the place you may place your cat. In keeping with Jessica Sewell, LVT, a veterinary technician with over 20 years of expertise, “a catio is a secure and straightforward option to give a cat extra territory and supply stimulation, and will help scale back conflicts and behavioral issues with different pets within the family.” 

For a number of cats that want quite a lot of house, you’ll want an extra-large cat patio. Aivituvin has you lined, with a 70-inch tall catio full with six platforms, two resting bins, and a center platform.

Made from high-quality wooden, there’s additionally a water-proof flat asphalt roof to guard your kitties from the weather. The mesh exterior is skinny however sturdy, retaining your cats from escaping the enclosure. If you happen to’d like, you may even mix a number of and create giant enclosures to make use of as outside play areas.

This cat patio is sort of giant however is made with bolstered picket nook strips to maintain it from breaking or falling aside.

Dimension: 31.5 x 31.5 x 70.9 inches

Your cat already loves staring out the window, swatting at each animal it sees. So why not simply get a perch that hangs immediately outdoors the window for them to get a more in-depth look? We examined this window catio with a one-year-old kitty, and it was put in into the cat’s favourite window. Our tester reported it took their cat a couple of day to grasp easy methods to use the cat flap entry to the solarium, however now makes use of the house each single day and has even labored out a couple of alternative ways to perch inside. 

The solarium’s half-circle design protrudes outdoors of the window, giving your cat the power to take a seat “outdoors” with a 180-degree view of the surroundings. It’s sturdy sufficient to carry a 50-pound cat, and is available in all kinds of configurations. There’s a base-level minimal model, however the Solar Room Bundle features a display to maintain out bugs and the cat flap door, which helps you to shut off the catio when it’s time to your cat to come back inside.

We suggest this bundle as a catio minimal. For these apprehensive concerning the colder winter months, you should buy a bungle with a climate enclosure made from plexiglass and wooden. Setting it up isn’t so simple as screwing it collectively, they suggest that you simply use wooden or caulk to safe the edges.

Dimension: 14.5 x 25.5 inches

How We Picked

Testing: We chosen six bestselling and highly-rated catios for real-world testing at dwelling with our very personal cats. Every product was despatched to a volunteer tester’s dwelling, together with an express information on our testing course of and procedures.

Testers noticed and took notes on important points and options throughout the two-week testing interval, together with ease of meeting, how nicely their cats took to the catios, and the general measurement, sturdiness, and worth of the product. They have been additionally requested to share their private opinion, expertise, and goal likes and dislikes concerning the catio and their expertise with the product throughout the testing interval. We additionally needed to know what issues they might change concerning the catio they examined, and if they might personally buy the catio themselves. 

After reviewing suggestions paired with numerical scores throughout completely different classes, we categorized and ranked the catios.

Different Catios We Examined

PawHut Out of doors Cat Home Massive Catio Picket: This catio is pretty primary with its picket body and hen wire partitions, plus a number of staggered-level picket platform perches for cats to climb and lounge on. It may be arrange in opposition to a window to permit cats to come back and go as they please, however there are not any safety anchors. Our greatest gripe with this catio was the laborious setup which our tester lamented undoubtedly wanted at the least two individuals, didn’t include any instruments, and had complicated directions and semi-prepared components. 

Relaxation-Eazzzy Cat Tent: This catio is a good collapsible possibility that might work very well for journey, notably street journeys, because it takes up minimal house and units up in a couple of seconds (though, you would possibly wish to get some stake anchors to ensure it stays safe). It gives 30 sq. ft of protected mash-covered inside house and an inside leash clip for once you wish to depart the entrance window unzipped. Remember that the collapsible design additionally makes for a flimsier body, and hold an eye fixed out for tears within the mesh. 

Kittywalk Out of doors Web Cat Enclosure: After testing extra catios over time, this one didn’t impress us as a lot resulting from its lack of inside options and throughout netting that may catch toe beans and claws. As with the Relaxation-Eazzzy tent, this one is moveable and comes with its personal carrying bag.

Extra We Advocate

Finest Transportable: Outback Jack’s Out of doors Cat Enclosure is a tent-style catio with an attachable mesh tunnel. The principle tent portion offers your cat roughly 30 sq. ft of play house, and the 62-inch tunnel provides extra house and a brief run observe.

Our tester reported this tent-style pull-and-snap catio assembles in underneath a minute—when you get the grasp of it. The tunnel is akin to a collapsible indoor, and it comes compact in a circle and, as soon as launched, pops open right into a full tunnel. Sadly, our tester famous the tunnel’s zipper was defective, in order that they have been unable to connect it to the principle tent. Though there are not any inner options, like platforms, our tester favored that the mesh backside appeared to create a extra genuine outdoors expertise for his or her cats since they may really feel the bottom on their paws. 

It’s price noting that this catio is finest arrange and used as wanted, and our tester mentioned that though the polyester lining is hydrophobic and meant to resist gentle rain, with long-term use outdoors within the parts would find yourself breaking down the fabric. The excellent news is that it may be simply arrange on a wide range of ground surfaces, together with grass, decks, patios, and even indoors. We additionally like that it comes with anchoring stakes and sandbags, so that you received’t get caught in a jam if issues all of a sudden get windy or your cat tries to push on the edges.

Dimension: 34 x 21.5 x 6.5 inches

Finest Expandable: Made from nylon mesh, the Kitty Metropolis Out of doors Mega Package is well-ventilated and ideal for taking part in out on the garden. Our favourite a part of the Mega Package is that it is greater than only a screened-off space to your cat to play outside. It additionally consists of an elevated mattress platform and a number of hiding cubbies (however the cubbies do not need a bolstered or supported ground).

The massive bonus with this catio is that it’s expandable and customizable because of zippered facet portals the place you may connect extension sections, together with tunnels. You don’t have to fret about your sensible cat discovering a method out, the enclosure has two openings that may solely be opened from a zipper on the skin. To maintain it from flying away, included stakes could be positioned into the bottom, giving it a powerful basis.

Constructed over a plastic body, the Mega Package is pretty straightforward to assemble and would not require any instruments, however our tester famous that you simply’ll have to concentrate to particulars to keep away from having to return to repair errors. Additionally they mentioned that becoming the mesh cowl over the plastic body was, at instances, a wrestle because the mesh is designed to be extraordinarily taut. Due to these extras throughout setup, for these on the lookout for a conveyable catio possibility, we aren’t positive how breezy it’s to repeatedly arrange and breakdown. 

Dimension: 33 x 47.2 x 46.7 inches

Finest Indoor Catio: This budget-minded crate-style catio is a handy, short-term indoor catio. Our tester mentioned the setup was easy and solely took 10 minutes, however advisable having two individuals on the job. Our tester actually favored that the catio was collapsible and may very well be wheeled to completely different places. It was examined with their 4.5-year-old cat, Poppy, who was a bit hesitant to completely embrace the catio when positioned inside.

This can be as a result of this catio has a powerful cage/kennel-like really feel that makes some cats uneasy. Our tester additionally talked about that when their cat would begin to work together with the catio, for instance, by leaping onto one of many three platform areas, the construction would shake, inflicting the cat to turn into scared. 

That mentioned, there’s quite a lot of room for customizability with this catio, both by including plush cat beds to the platforms, putting in a tarp hammock, hanging toys from the highest, and even including a scratching put up. We additionally like that it’s spacious sufficient to place a litter field inside, and really feel prefer it’s an awesome possibility to make use of for fostering, socializing, or restoration functions. 

Dimension: 35.8 x 22.4 x 50.6 inches

Different Catios We Examined

PawHut Out of doors Cat Home Massive Catio Picket: This catio is pretty primary with its picket body and hen wire partitions, plus a number of staggered-level picket platform perches for cats to climb and lounge on. It may be arrange in opposition to a window to permit cats to come back and go as they please, however there are not any safety anchors. Our greatest gripe with this catio was the laborious setup which our tester lamented undoubtedly wanted at the least two individuals, didn’t include any instruments, and had complicated directions and semi-prepared components. 

Relaxation-Eazzzy Cat Tent: This catio is a good collapsible possibility that might work very well for journey, notably street journeys, because it takes up minimal house and units up in a couple of seconds (though, you would possibly wish to get some stake anchors to ensure it stays safe). It gives 30 sq. ft of protected mash-covered inside house and an inside leash clip for once you wish to depart the entrance window unzipped. Remember that the collapsible design additionally makes for a flimsier body, and hold an eye fixed out for tears within the mesh. 

Kittywalk Out of doors Web Cat Enclosure: After testing extra catios over time, this one didn’t impress us as a lot resulting from its lack of inside options and throughout netting that may catch toe beans and claws. As with the Relaxation-Eazzzy tent, this one is moveable and comes with its personal carrying bag.

Why Belief The Spruce Pets?

This story was up to date with actual examined outcomes by Ok. Alex Beaven, a lifelong cat proprietor and present butler and tour information to her leash-trained cat, @hellomisterbo. Different tales Alex has written for The Spruce Pets embody The Finest Kitten Meals, Finest Bone Broth for Cats, and Finest Lickable Cat Treats. 

To realize a greater understanding of what cats are on the lookout for of their Catio expertise, The Spruce spoke to veterinary technician Jessica Sewell, LVT, who has labored at VCA Animal Hospitals and the Atlanta Humane Society in addition to stood as Vice Chair of the Persevering with Training Cognizant for the Georgia State Board of Veterinary Drugs.