10 Steps to Make an Easy DIY Cat Tent

Cats love tiny, warm, dark places. But why buy a mini carpeted cat hole when you can make a cat tent with materials found around your house?

What you will need:

• Wire cutters and pliers
• 2 wire hangers
• 1 piece of cardboard (Recommended 15” x 15”)
• Scissors
• Duct tape
• Medium T shirt

Step One

Cut the hooks off the hangers with the wire cutters. Make sure to cut all the way to the base of the hook.

Step Two

Shape the hangers into arches. If it’s too hard to do with your hands, use a pair of pliers to help you. If you have a piece of cardboard with a bend in it, reinforce it with tape to make it more stable.

Step Three

Cross the hangers over each other diagonally as shown in the picture. Reshape them if you need to so they will fit the shape of the cardboard. Tape the center so the hangers will stay on place.

Step Four

Poke the ends of the hangers through the cardboard. If you have a hard time puncturing through, try using scissors. After poking through, bend about 1 inch of the hanger bottom along the side of the cardboard, as shown in the picture. Then put tape over the ends of the hangers on the bottom of the cardboard to keep the ends from poking through the shirt once you put that on.

Step Five

When you slip the shirt on, make sure the hole stays open so the cat won’t have trouble getting in and out. Tug the shirt all the way through and leave the bottom of the shirt hanging past the cardboard. Also, if you don’t want your kitty to chew on the tag, you can cut that off as well.

Step Six

It is recommended to use safety pins to fasten your shirt and shirtsleeves in place. I used tape at first to make sure I would get the shape I wanted and because I didn’t have any safety pins at hand. By pinning, it would be easier to take the shirt on and off for cleaning. Taping was just easier for me.

Step Seven

Find a kitty to test the cat tent. All I had to do to encourage our lovely tester, Tuppence, to enter the kitty tent was to tap my hand by it. Tuppence is deaf so she couldn’t hear me praise her when she got in, but she received quite a few pets!

Throughout the night, Tuppence continued to climb in and out of her kitty tent. She loved it! I also stuck another t-shirt on the inside to make it cozier for her. Small towels or blankets will also work to make the tent more warm and comfy.

There you have it; a nice space for your cat with things you can find in any household! This is perfect for DIY-ers or anyone who loves to recycle and reuse. Plus, Tuppence says this makes for one happy kitty!

What DIY projects have you made for your pets? Share below!