The Cat Whisperer, and Making Cat Perches on Walls
There is a show on which I can't remember the exact name of, but basically the guy is the equivalent of Cesar for cats. He's a hip looking guy with piercings and funky hair. Anyway, he goes into homes and makes suggestions, and one of them is usually to put perches along the walls and up high. And he sometimes suggests a catwalk almost up near the ceiling.
Have any of you catlovers seen the show, and have you ever put in perches like this for your kitties?
The reason I ask is: we are re-doing a room, which is basically going to be a very casual family room (we have a more formal living room, we want something fun). As our family is all animals (seriously) it's going to be totally made with them in mind. I'm wondering if cats would really appreciate carpet-covered shelves along a wall? Or would they just look at it and say, "really?" And not even use them. And we'd be stuck with some weird-looking decor.
Rebecka I've seen it. It's called My Cat From Hell.
http://animal.discovery.com/tv/my-cat-from-hell/
I don't know if I buy it, cats are in a whole different ballpark than dogs. LOL
Calico696 The man is Jackson Galaxy; the show is "My Cat From Hell."
I've watched the show a few times. I can't believe the way some people treat their cats! Seriously, some of this stuff is Cat 101. Or Cats for Dummies: Cats are Not Dogs.
I think the perches and runways are a good idea and I bet the cats would love them. Not at first, you know, since they are cats, LOL. But given time. They do love to look down on things.
Aquarius I recently saw this show and all I could think of was that my Aunt's cat could have used his help... LOL
I don't know about the shelves along the wall, but one of my friends had exposed beams across her house that her cats LOVED to walk across all the time. So, I believe the cats would love it, but you may want to consider something that would go with the decor in case you choose to move.
Have fun.
Coralie I've never seen the show, but I have seen the little cat runways and think they're great, LOL. I can't remember where I saw them, but I think it was a home show. The people were re-doing some of their house, and wanted something special for their furbabies. The cats looked SO happy too
Lori...since '73 I hav e seen the show. The one show I saw he basically took a really bad cat and made it better.
I would make anything that made my furry friends happier!
Christine I've seen the show twice. I have almost always had a cat and currently live with three.
I think it depends on your cats. If they are older (I would say over 10 y.o.), I think they are less likely to use them. Kittens and younger cats would love that. It would probably be best to have the perches situated so the cats can look out the window, it's spring, so that means the window = cat tv. I have had the window perches and the cats did like those and used them a lot in the nice weather.
It would probably be best to try one or two perches that could easily be removed without marring your wall before investing in doing it up. I would watch a few episodes of the show where the guy explains how to set up the flow of the room for the cats.
Lynnada 
cbel 
I already have a catwalk - the tops of my kitchen cabinets which both of them like to go from the counter top to the fridge to the cabinet tops. Sugar seen here in particular will actually stay and sleep there.
They also sit on the stairs top railing, they sit on top of the couch back, they hang out on the kitchen breakfast bar, and lay in every window sill, the higher up the better. I don't know of many cats that don't like a perch here and there.
GC Ok - we're going to go ahead with this. Is a "catwalk" -- or exposed beams -- basically a walkway going across the room, but high up, under the ceiling? Hadn't thought of that, if so.
Coralie - we aren't moving anywhere for a few decades. We're so far into this property in terms of investment, we couldn't afford to! But anything we install will probably not be permanent - just the screw-in type wall shelving, modified with carpet. And maybe a catwalk.
Cats do love high places... even notice they like tables, desks or anything that is above floor height.
Our one cat love our beams (0pen post and beam house) and often climbs and walks around as high as she can get.
Food for thought though... how about one of those very tall cat towers with a ramp walkway off either side.. It will help them access it instead of having to leap from somewhere else to get to it.
Stan 
We were doing a closet make over and I put Jake up high on a shelf to see if he was, as Jackson called them, a tree dweller - Jake was not happy at all and wanted to come down after pacing back and forth a few times - Jake loves to sit high in the fake Christmas tree, I thought he would like the perch - maybe he would have to get used to it. Did anyone else try making a perch? Sorry the picture is not better, it's a picture of a picture as my computer is misbehaving.
jennymc Yes! I have a perch I made from a shelf with ivory carpet covering it, and they love it. We are re-doing a room and when it's all finished being painted (it's taking a while) I'm going to use GC's video link as inspiration. Love it! Since the room is going to be the family room, and our family is made up of four-legged creatures, the perches will be just 'fab.' lol DH cringes... he used to live in Manhattan and have *taste.* ;-)
Yeah I've seen that and I've seen people do variations of it on sites that have "Ikea Hacks".
Some of them look pretty good.
SkyBlueWe built wall steps and a long cat walk in our enclosed porch. Used untreated 6" wide boards (routered the edges because we chose not to carpet) supported with shelf brackets. We have a second one inside the house that is carpeted.
Kitty loves both and we love seeing him up there!
MBC A San Diego couple created nirvana for cats in their home.
they write a book about it called tha cat house. It includes directions for walkways etc
Mary Jane Commenting is no longer available.