BEST Apartment Hacks for Cats (and their people)! - YouTube

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