DIY Cat Tent

by jessyratfink

4.3M3.3K654

Intro: DIY Cat Tent

I kept seeing photos of cat tents on Pinterest and being shared on Facebook, but none of them had good instructions! I decided to make a cat tent for Luna and document it so you guys could make one too. :D

This cat tent is super easy to make - you really just need a t-shirt, some wire hangers and a piece of cardboard. As a bonus, it really only takes five minutes, so if your cat ignores it you didn't put too much effort in. ;)

STEP 1: What You'll Need:

  • a cat
  • a medium t-shirt
  • a 15 x 15 inch piece of cardboard (mine was 13x15 and a little wonky)
  • two wire hangers (like these)
  • tape
  • safety pins
  • something to cut the hangers with and help bend them - I used a large pair of pliers. :)

STEP 2: Cut the Hangers

Cut off both squiggly ends. I untwisted mine and then cut, but that's not really necessary. (though it was kinda fun!)

STEP 3: Shape the Hangers + Reinforce the Cardboard If Needed

Shape the hangers so they look like the above - try to make them smooth and pretty uniform. You want two graceful curves that will go from corner to corner of your piece of cardboard.

(Lu did an excellent job of this.)

I also took this time to tape on a couple supports to the cardboard and tape all around the edges for a little more stability. This is really only necessary if you're using a piece of cardboard with a crease in it.

STEP 4: Poke a Hole in Each Corner

You should be able to use the end of the hanger to do this!

Make sure it's at least a half inch in from each edge and not too large.

STEP 5: Tape the Two Hangers Together

Cross the two hangers in the middle and make sure all the ends touch the surface you're working on. Tape them together really well so they don't shift.

Push the ends through the holes you just made in the corners.

STEP 6: Bend the Ends and Tape Them Down

Bend at least an inch on the bottom of each hanger so it sits against the bottom of the cardboard. Tape the ends down flat against the cardboard - make sure you tape it well so it's nice and smooth and won't snag the shirt when you pull it over!

STEP 7: Check and Make Sure Everything's Lined Up

At this point you can bend the wire so that it looks nicer - fiddle around with it and use the pliers if you need to straighten it out a bit. :)

STEP 8: Create the Tent!

Pull the shirt over the tent frame and position it so the neck hole is in the front middle and the bottom of the shirt is trailing behind the tent frame.

Flip the whole thing up so the bottom is facing you and the hole is pointing upwards.

Fold up the excess from the bottom of the shirt and tighten it up so the neck hole is taut and safety pin the bottom in place. Then pull the sleeves tight and safety pin them in place too.

As you can see in the last image, it should be pretty tight over the frame. Keep tucking and safety pinning until it's ready!

(Yes, I know it would make sense to cut it, but I decided to leave it whole and safety pin it instead so it would be easy to remove and wash. :D)

STEP 9: Give It to Your Cat!

I put a paper bag inside as a floor since it's been pretty hot here and a blanket would be waaaaay too warm. I also put a little catnip inside as a bonus.

As you can see, she was pretty stoked. :D

424 Comments

HappyVegan 4 years ago

A quick suggestion to strengthen the connection of the wire to the cardboard is to use grommets. They are super cheap and will help the cardboard last longer. You can get them at any home improvement store and they are only a couple dollars. Thanks so much for this tutorial. I am going to make one for my sisters cats.

jessyratfink 4 years ago

Grommets are a great idea! Clever :D

erinmegan84 1 year ago

What do you use to cut the metal hangers?

graciejofeatherman 3 years ago

I don’t have wire hangers. What can I use instead of wire hangers?

senapederson4 3 years ago

You could honestly just put a shirt over the box and it would be the same! That's what I did haha.

beentheredidntdothat 1 year ago

I was here two years ago thinking about building this but didn't. Now I'm here again doing nothing but thinking about it when I come across senapederson4's genius response to the poor cat whose person doesn't have hangers. So it looks like my hangers will remain hangers a while longer and my cats' box will get an exterior makeover. Genius. Sometimes a little bit of simplicity. Live long and prosper. V

Technoaussie 6 years ago

Great idea. So great I decided to make one! I guess one day she might like it but in the line of preferences my cat picks cardboard boxes every time. Her favourite (so far) is one with 3 flaps glued to the inside and one with a crude stop to prevent it folding inside the box. If you want to know if she's 'home' just tap the sides of the box and get you hand away real quick. The best toy she's ever had. Now what do i do with the T shirt tent?

Queen_Aaliyah 5 years ago

I'm going to make a big one for my for my brothers and sisters so they have a tent and can camp out in the living room or our balaconly or whatever{they are 2 3 and 4}

Knexified 2 years ago

Really neat idea! Very simple! I love it! Just one thing: How long are the hangers in this? I may have something as long as that or a little shorter.

Sdansereau2 2 years ago

Great easy to understand , with good photos ! Thank you . I have always wanted to make this, and I now will for a Xmas present !

WhiteWolf McBride 2 years ago

If you are a bit handier, you can use pop-rivets pushed through the tent floor to hold the wire ends. Take a bit of the hanger wire to a hardware store, and ask one of the staff for pop-rivets with the same diameter centers (aluminum or steel ones) Be sure to get ones at least a half inch, or longer. Then you knock the popper-nails out of them, and push them in from the bottom of the flooring. Then you have a nice long 'socket' for holding the end of the wire!
Also, for the flooring, dollar stores has padded-foam flooring squares, usually 4 to a pack. Nice and firm, but easily washed in the shower/tub, or outside with a garden hose!

jaimsy 2 years ago

This is a nice and easy project. If you don't have wire hangars you could also use plastic tubing, i.e. the sturdy plastic tubing that you would use for irrigation. It bends well and keeps its shape.

mgur2966 2 years ago

it helps me out so much when I'm cleaning up be hind 4 cats in the house

Peregrine9 3 years ago

Wow this is so cool. I love it. THE CATS ARE SOOOOO CUTE!! :)

Angelicalovekaden 3 years ago

OMG thank you. my aunt and uncle has a cat that looks exaclty the same as my profile picture. They are expecting a baby coming in a few months.First I'm going to make this for her. Her name is Burri
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