Former Feral Cats Live the High Life

A plan that began with simply feeding a feral cat so that she could one day be spayed ended in a couple taking in a whole family of kittens and building them their own skyscraping playground.

Richard Wiggins and his wife Carolyn Radcliff knew that the calico stray had had kittens, but they weren't sure where they were. After ten days of feedings, the mama cat they had named Olive decided she trusted them enough to bring her kittens to them. 

At first, the kittens wanted nothing to do with Richard or Carolyn, and Olive was deemed "semi-feral." But the couple persevered, hoping to find homes for the kittens after they were weaned off their mother and she was spayed.

Olive was successfully trapped and dropped off at One of a Kind Pets to be spayed. The Akron clinic is one of the go-to spay and neuter clinics for trapped feral cats.

The kittens were brought inside the home, and eventually got more used to and fond of human affection. As the weeks passed, the excuses became thinner and thinner until they had to accept that the kittens were home.

Richard and Carolyn had been catless since their previous kitty, Ayla, passed away in 2009 at the age of 19. The kittens got to enjoy some of her hand-me-down toys, but then Richard got an idea from the book, The Cats' House by Bob Walker. The book chronicles a house shared by nine felines, consisting of a cat's dream of over 100 feet of colorful catwalks, floor-to-ceiling staircases and illuminating cat-sized mouse holes.

"We really liked the idea of giving our cats a place where we couldn't go," said Richard.

A computer programmer by trade, Richard works for --as does his librarian wife – and has no carpentry background.

After borrowing power tools from some friends, he purchased the wood from Terry Lumber in Peninsula.

"It's a family operated lumber yard and the people there are really great," said Richard.

Richard started with the pedestal for the tree, which towers at about twice his height. He then attached horizontal platforms to form a circular staircase around the tree, taking climbing cats to the edge of the home's loft. Carpet from Lowe's was added for traction, and a catwalk the length of the loft was installed like a simple bookshelf. The result is a beautiful conversation piece, whether you speak in words or meows.

Richard's creation has got me eyeing my own walls as if I were a cat. I had previously considered purchasing some cat perch "floating" wall shelves such as these offered by The Refined Feline, but at over $100 each, the price stopped me in my tracks.

So, I asked Richard if he had considered commissioning his newly found carpentry skills in the homes of his fellow neighborhood cat lovers.

"No, this was a labor of love," said Richard. "I'm not a carpenter by any means!"

View photos of the catwalk project from beginning to end.