00:00:00:04 - 00:00:12:16 JACKSON
Hey, everybody. Jackson, Galaxy Cat, Daddy, welcome back, my friends to the cat cave.
The first thing is, I'm just going to tell you right off the bat, subscribe to this channel.
I'm not going to give you reasons to subscribe. 00:00:13:01 - 00:00:27:01
Just come on. Do it. Also, don't forget to ring the bell, because that way, every time there's
a new video like this one, you're going to get notifications along with whenever I go live and we
have chats or polls or anything like that. 00:00:27:10 - 00:00:49:10
You will be the first to know. Now, the second thing
I wanted to house keep about is before I start on today's topic, which is some cat ification themed
work if you don't know what cat ification is. first of all, the word means sort of esthetically
creating a home that both you and your cats love environmental enrichment
00:00:49:10 - 00:01:09:14 that works for humans like
paw in finger like that. Today's cat ification topic is one that we hear constantly when we've
solicited questions from the public about it. It almost always hinges on. Well, this is
all great, but I rent my place. 00:01:10:00 - 00:01:22:03
I live in an apartment. I can't do half the things that you're telling me to do. Yet I still want to
create a wonderful place for my cats to be. Even though it's not a permanent thing for them.
00:01:22:03 - 00:01:42:15 So how do I do that? Well, I'm glad
you asked, because that's what today's video is about how to codify in a rented space.
So I mean, pretty much if you're watching this video, you're already looking at it going,
well, I want what's best for my cat and I rent and it's a pain, you know, for my
00:01:42:15 - 00:01:56:16 cats. So tell me what to do. So
you don't need to know that you're dealing with less space, less storage space, probably maybe
sharing the space with others and the fact that you can't hang things on the wall, you can't do
anything permanent, you know, all that stuff. 00:01:56:22 - 00:02:14:22
So let's just get right to solutions. So the first thing that we should consider
is scratching surfaces and with scratching surfaces. The kind of cool thing is you can
be a little stealth about them. You don't necessarily need big, tall scratching posts
in order to make things work. 00:02:14:23 - 00:02:31:16
Now this, of course, depends on the size of your cat, because what you want ideally,
is for your cat to be able to reach up the length of their body, pull down and be able to exercise.
You know these muscles here and really just dig in to to that surface.
00:02:32:00 - 00:02:48:12 Also, think about how your cat likes to scratch,
and many cats are horizontal scratches and you don't even know it. You're just wondering why they
don't use the vertical scratching post you have when really what they want to do is scratch flat,
and those types of scratches are easy to populate your house with.
00:02:48:21 - 00:03:06:17 But also, there's the scratches that are
at an angle more sloppy and triangular again. These can go under things. They
don't have to be out, but really, scratches can go pretty much anywhere. I mean, my ideal spot
is anywhere near where you are. 00:03:06:19 - 00:03:21:01
So a lot of times we're talking about the couch, we're talking about the bed. Those are great areas
to have scratches because your cats are going to want to compliment your scent with theirs.
The next topic we'll talk about is creative climbing.
00:03:21:08 - 00:03:35:17 The first rule of thumb when it
comes to apartment cat ification is use what you got. So a prime example of this is if you happen
to be lucky enough to have a fireplace in your apartment, that means you've also got a mantle.
00:03:35:21 - 00:03:54:15 A mantle then becomes that perfect
built into the wall hub, where other things can be built onto it in order to create what I call the
cat superhighway. If all of this lingo is getting a little bit too much for you, there's a video
circulating right over my head here, which which goes through the basics of cat
00:03:54:15 - 00:04:10:05 ification, so check that one out
when you think about that cat superhighway. So the idea is especially in the the the most socially
significant part of the house, which is usually the living room. You want to see if you can make
something so that your cats can move around the room without ever touching the floor.
00:04:10:13 - 00:04:26:11 So we're looking at shelves that
might have already existed bookcases where your cats can go around up over. Are you going to then
attach the couch to then OK from couch will go to scratching posts that might be higher.
00:04:26:15 - 00:04:47:15 From there, we go on to the bookcase
or down onto the TV console. You see what I'm doing here. I'm creating the cat superhighway
based on nothing being attached to the wall. Now the other part of this that I think is
really important if you if you do have the room, cat trees are just indispensable, so your
00:04:47:15 - 00:05:05:16 cats go up those cat trees. And now we're
looking at where do we go? Those trees act as your onramps to this whole deal here. one more little
hint about creative climbing the. That I got to point out, because it has saved me in a couple of
different apartments that I've lived in. 00:05:05:21 - 00:05:20:18
And that is tension mounted cat climbing poles. So they come in either cat tree
or just a straight up pole that goes up and down. They tension mount to the ceiling and to
the floor. Nothing gets drilled in. 00:05:21:08 - 00:05:39:00
It's just you. Screw it. Screw it, screw it. Now, tension keeps it mounted, right. So that
means that you now have something where again, you can have an on ramp to your superhighway, or
it's just something to climb up and down, but it's nothing that you have to drill into the wall.
00:05:39:00 - 00:05:55:06 So that's just one more little creative hack
to get you through your apartment rental with your cats. And one more little creative hack
that I've actually used a few times, and you might have actually seen me use it on my show
a few different times is ladders. 00:05:55:11 - 00:06:11:14
There are sort of old or antique looking ladders that you can get,
and I've seen them on everything from eBay to, you know, some more of the more ritzy places
that are like, oh, repurposed and, you know, antique pine ladder, those kind of things.
00:06:11:14 - 00:06:22:01 But anyway, so they can be really decorative.
But if you line them up against the wall, there's just that way to climb up on something. And again,
it's your on ramp to the superhighway. So anything that gets you up.
00:06:22:06 - 00:06:36:23 These are all just ways to take the
things that you wouldn't even think about as being lifesavers when it comes to codification. And
that's what they become. So the next thing that we want to talk about is multi functionality.
00:06:37:02 - 00:06:52:00 So if you've kept up with me talking about
codification over the years, then you know, I always talk about blocking off the unders. I don't
see any reason why your cat should get under your bed. It is dangerous if there's an emergency and
you've got to get your cats out of the house. 00:06:52:06 - 00:07:04:05
And it's also one of those things where your cat's going to go under there if they're not feeling all
that secure and you can't get them out again. So they get to call the shots from an environmental
perspective, and we just don't want that. 00:07:04:14 - 00:07:19:05
If you can block off the unders and you're turning those unders into storage space. So
under the beds, sort of, you know, those containers that you can just slide under the bed.
Those are great ways of at least partially blocking off the underside of the bed.
00:07:19:11 - 00:07:36:07 And at the same time, making use of the space.
Here's another example. one of the things when you're dealing with with very limited
closet space, et cetera, you always want to have obviously your cat carrier around, but I believe
you also want to have that out and ready. 00:07:36:07 - 00:07:48:12
If there's an emergency, you want your cat in the carrier you want out of the house before
you can count to ten. Keep your cat carrier out in the open. And even better yet, turn it into
a nice, comfy den or a bed. 00:07:48:12 - 00:07:59:16
You can take the top off it if you need to so that your cat has an extra bed,
but it is still their carrier. You can find a way to merge the utilitarian with the esthetic
and make sure that everybody wins. 00:07:59:16 - 00:08:13:07
In this case, your cat has carrier. They see it as their den, their bed, and you have it out and
ready to go if you guys got a split. We don't want your cat to go into the carrier only when they're
going to the vet or something like that. 00:08:13:07 - 00:08:30:05
We wanted to be there comfortable spot so they go there and feel safe when they go there as opposed
to feel scared because they're going someplace. So it serves a lot of different purposes. Another
thing when we're talking about multi functionality is we start thinking about the places that, well,
you can't do without and you can't do 00:08:30:05 - 00:08:41:19
without a bed. And most of us can't do without a couch or at least a comfy chair.
We can provide spaces for our cats on those spaces to make them feel safe, to raise their confidence,
to raise their mojo. 00:08:41:22 - 00:08:57:23
We do this with the concept that I call Sense Soakers. Sense soakers are, well, they're
just that they're places where your cats can soak scent. So we look at things like cat beds or even
a blanket that becomes theirs or my favorite. 00:08:58:04 - 00:09:10:10
Are these their cat mats? I call them basically cat frisbees because, you know,
you can just get like five or six of them. They're cheap as heck, and you just deal them
out like a deck of cards, man. 00:09:10:20 - 00:09:26:02
Now we've we've not only made sense soakers for your cat that can get moved from place
to place as you get more furniture or replace furniture, but places that
are already important to them couch in bed because they they compliment your scent.
00:09:26:07 - 00:09:42:11 They have specific places on those
surfaces to call their own and to say, Hey, this belongs to cat. Now, speaking of scent soakers,
the one place I really don't want you to skimp is what I call the king of all scent soakers,
which is the litter boxes. 00:09:42:18 - 00:09:59:03
I know that there are plenty of you go, listen, I live in, however many square feet where I have
this many bedrooms or whatever, and that means that I can only have one litter box. Well, if you
have two cats or if you have three cats, you need more than one litter box and when they walk.
00:09:59:09 - 00:10:11:00 A litter box and they can smell their scent,
and this is after you scoop and everything, it could be a clean litter box. Just the same way
as if it were one of these cat beds or mats or whatever they walk by and they go.
00:10:11:01 - 00:10:25:12 That's right. This belongs to me. I feel confident
moving on. You know, if you're going to skimp anywhere, please don't let it be the litter boxes.
Now let's talk about bringing the outside in. I know if you live in an apartment, it's tough.
00:10:25:12 - 00:10:44:14 I mean, you could even live in
an apartment that has a balcony. But in order to turn that into a proper patio,
you've got to put up fencing or something. And oftentimes your landlord might not be
all that happy about that, but you can bring the outside in with some very small things.
00:10:44:14 - 00:10:56:20 The first thing that I can think
about is cat grass. Actually chewing on cat grass is healthy for them. That dose of chlorophyl that
that comes along with it is actually good for them, and it helps with digestion.
00:10:57:02 - 00:11:10:12 one solution that I use and one of my
last apartments was to buy a flat of wheat grass, you know, in the health food stores where they
have the juices and everything that the wheatgrass comes in a flat and it can be just like that.
00:11:10:12 - 00:11:22:19 Well, that's amazing for your cat,
because not only can they can they chew on cat grass, they can also roll around a little bit
or sit in it. If you put it near a window, then they're sitting in the sun in grass.
00:11:23:01 - 00:11:39:18 I see where I'm going with all that,
that spring in the outside in. The second thing that you can do is provide a water element
of some sort. A cat fountain is fantastic running water. The idea of running water,
being able to not just drink from it, but to play a little bit and to watch it and
00:11:39:18 - 00:12:01:15 to watch the light dancing off of water. These are
just ways to bring in a little bit of nature into a natural nature, meaning apartment buildings.
Right? So those are just some basic hints on how to codify and live in an apartment at the same
time or any kind of a rental space. 00:12:02:03 - 00:12:25:03
And I mean, the idea is that, you know, necessity is the mother of invention. And as long as you see
environmental enrichment as a necessity and not a luxury, then you'll find a way. I can't even count
how many people have come to me over the years and said, wow, when I provided a shelf,
when I provided 00:12:25:03 - 00:12:45:10
climbing areas, when I did this or that, my cat just became a greater version of themselves.
That's true. And cats see the the environment from floor to ceiling. So the more that we can provide
them in the vertical world, the best version of themselves is right there for the taking.
00:12:45:18 - 00:13:03:05 So go ahead and take it. I am sure that
that plenty of you guys who were watching this, who live in apartments have thought of things so
shared in the comments. That's what these comments are for. And most importantly, other people who
are moving into apartments who have been living in apartments without any idea of how to
00:13:03:05 - 00:13:16:21 care. If I can see your idea and go, Aha,
I can't believe Jackson, miss this, but I'm going to use it nonetheless.
Hey, man, I'm fine with that. I do not need to be the sole source of
information for all this. 00:13:17:06 - 00:13:36:21