How to Make a Wheel Chair for a Cat

If your cat has been recently injured or has undergone a mobility-limiting surgical procedure, building a little wheel chair can help your cat through its recovery process. Cat wheelchairs can either be purchased or made yourself, which can be cheaper and more highly customized for your feline friend. As a result, you can help your cat to recover more quickly and you do not have to spend as much money on a device that you are only going to have to use once.

Things You'll Need

  • 1/2-inch PVC pipe and 90-degree corner fittings
  • Nylon or cotton fabric
  • Axle and wheel set
  • Hack saw
  • Power drill
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Instructions

    • 1

      Select PVC pipe that supports the size and weight of your cat. Most cats under 20 pounds can be supported by standard 1/2 inch PVC pipes. Form a square or rectangle using straight pieces of pipe and 90-degree angle joints. You need three-way angle-joint fittings for the corners, which will allow you to build an axle. Insert shorter PVC pipes, sized to just under the shoulder height of your cat, into the downward joint of the three-way fittings. You can customize the design if your cat needs to rehabilitate injured legs, adjusting the device's height and length so that the cat's body weight is supported but it can reach the ground with both rear and front legs.

    • 2

      Drill small holes for the axles through the vertical pipes from the side, about 1/2 inch up from the end. Make sure the holes on the two front pipes and the two back pipes line up. Poke an axle or dowel rod through all four holes on the back pipes. Attach the wheels to the axle or dowel rod and use epoxy, washers and nuts to hold the wheels in place.

    • 3

      Use short, individual axles or dowels on the front vertical pipes, closest to where the cat's front legs will be placed, and attach freely rotating wheels. These rotating wheels, which can be found at any hardware store, are similar to the front wheels of a grocery cart and freely spin and rotate along the Y-axis. This will allow the cat wheelchair to corner and turn more easily than two fixed axles. Hold the wheels in place by using pipe fittings and epoxy. You will have to make the front pipe pieces shorter than the back ones if the rotating wheels are taller than the rear-axle wheels.

    • 4

      Sew nylon or cotton fabric into a seat, with pockets along all four edges that slide over the PVC pipe. You also can weave a seat using strips of cloth stapled together at the ends where they wrap around the pipe.