Homemade Cat Playpens

Many cats roam freely through the house, but at times you may want your cat safe in an enclosed area, such as when you are having construction done on your house. Or, perhaps you have an infant, and you don't want the family pet around. Build your own cat playpen to keep your pet safe and out of the way during these times. Use PVC pipe as the construction material as it is lightweight, sturdy and easy to assemble. You can make the pen as large or small as you would like.

Things You'll Need

  • 10 PVC pipes, 10 inch-lengths
  • Tape measure
  • PVC pipe cutter
  • 24 corner PVC pipes
  • 40 cross PVC pipes
  • Rubber mallet
  • 8 T-shaped PVC pipes
  • 8 PVC caps
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Instructions

    • 1
      Build a special place for your family pet.

      Measure and cut the straight PVC pipes into equal lengths, depending on how big you would like the playpen to be. For example, if you would like the playpen to be 5-square-feet, cut the pipes so that they are 2 inches shorter than 5 feet. (The corners will add about 2 inches each way.)

    • 2

      Cut the leftover pieces of PVC pipe into 1 1/4-inch lengths. These will be used as connecting pieces for your playpen, and you need 24 of them.

    • 3

      Use a mallet to connect a cross pipe to each side of a straight pipe. Repeat this process four times for each of the four sides of the playpen, making sure that the cross pipes are all facing the same way.

    • 4

      Use the corner PVC pipes to connect the four sides to each other, using the connection pieces described in Step 2 between each corner pipe and T-shaped pipe. Use the mallet to secure.

    • 5

      Add caps to the bottom of each cross pipe, using more connection pieces to complete the first layer of the playpen.

    • 6

      Repeat Steps 3 and 4 to make additional layers on the playpen. Attach each layer to the one beneath it with a connection piece, and secure it by using a mallet. Use T-shaped pipes instead of cross pipes for the top layer, with the bottom of the "T" facing downward.

    • 7

      Cover the bottom of the cat playpen with newspaper, a rug or blankets.