DIY cat ramp?
August 16, 2024 11:02 AM   Subscribe

We have a cat who might need some help getting up some stairs.

This is Omar. Our big floofy monster is 13 going on 14, and his most recent vet visit turned up what the vet suspects is "maybe the early stages of arthritis" in his hips/back legs. He's still as mobile as he ever was, and he's not showing any visible signs of distress or pain yet. He never was much of a jumper, but he still does small jumps up onto the couch and chairs as usual, and doesn't use his front legs/paws like he's doing a pull-up. The vet says that she noticed some stiffness in his back leg joints when she did an exam that she wants us to keep an eye on. We've had an arthritic cat before, so we know what to look out for, that's not the problem.

The problem is where we live now. As we started to think about his future, we realized we've never lived in a multi-level home before with an aging animal; all our other places have been single-level. This place, however, is a loft. And it has stairs. As near as I can tell, there's no purchasable ramp-type solution for getting a cat up stairs like these, so it feels like we'll have to build something ourselves/have it built.

In my head I'm thinking something like plywood wrapped with sisal, with holes drilled in the bottom and top to wrap sisal around the stairs to secure it; that would give his claws some purchase, and probably wouldn't give the signal "hey this would be OK to pee on!", which is something that he does on carpets on a not-irregular basis.

Each stair run is 12 feet (it doubles back on itself after that landing), and I would probably make the ramp about one foot wide; the stairs are three feet wide, so that gives us humans enough space to use the stairs too. I have two questions based on that:

1. Is that a good concept?
2. Would there be a better material than sisal to use for the traction piece of the puzzle, given that our guy tends to like to pee on carpet?
posted by pdb to Home & Garden (9 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Some cats will also pee on yoga mats, but if yours won't you can get them cheap from Five Below and some dollar stores.

Your concept is the same thing I'd do, though I might use fence boards instead of plywood (solely because I don't have tools to rip plywood myself and while I have heard the store will do it I have never successfully gotten someone to actually come do it).
posted by Lyn Never at 11:13 AM on August 16 [2 favorites]


A ramp like that sounds pretty steep! I wonder how it would work if you put blocks at one edge of the stairs that are half the rise and half the run? Then you'd have a tiny set of stairs that are half as difficult as the regular ones.
posted by fritley at 11:16 AM on August 16 [4 favorites]


Do you think Omar would go for a kitty dumb waiter? Would his humans go for a corkscrew shaped monstrosity in the living area?
posted by oceano at 11:53 AM on August 16 [2 favorites]


Our older big kitty doesn't seem to mind being carried up and down to whatever floor the humans will be on. He has access to boxes and water on both levels. He can still do stairs when properly motivated, but he usually likes being carried up to his dinner.
posted by advicepig at 12:13 PM on August 16 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: @oceano - we've joked about a dumbwaiter, but the way our stairs work it's not super practical - as mentioned the stairs double back on themselves, and there's a wall backing up to the top of the first flight (just out of frame at the top of the linked picture), so we'd really need two of them because of the way the landing is situated. That corkscrew is amazing but also wouldn't work for the same reason.

@advicepig - Omar is a lovely cat who is very content and very tranquil and happy and loving. Until you try to pick him up. He absolutely detests that, and has since he was little. Unless his health changes very dramatically to where he feels better not putting weight on his legs, I don't see him taking very kindly to that as an option.
posted by pdb at 1:10 PM on August 16


There are converters to either purchase or as another potential diy route to consider. Unlike a continuous ramp, they look really unappealing to pee on (I mean, if I were a cat) and the modular design at least lends itself well to washing.
posted by teremala at 1:32 PM on August 16 [2 favorites]


It's hard to tell from the photo, but those stairs do look a little steep. May not feel steep as stairs go, but if you just set a long plank atop the stairs as a ramp, that'd feel like a steep ramp, at least to a person. I think I'd try something inexpensive first, just a couple 1 x 10s with some cheap outdoor carpet stapled down, maybe clamped in place or something non-damaging to your stairs. See if Omar is even willing to use the ramp, before committing to something more permanent.

Also have a good think about which side to put it on, if the frequent stair-climbers are right-handed or left-handed, and whether it'd be better to have handrail assistance on your dominant hand for the ascent or descent.

Instead of the stairs, is there a place in the space to affix a longer, more gently sloping ramp to a wall, even if it has a couple switchbacks, to make for a more gradual ascent for Omar and to avoid obstructing the stairs? I kind of worry about what might happen in a late-night stairway descent if someone was to misstep on the ramp and take a tumble. I think I'd want the "ramp on the stairs" to be elevated well above stair tread level to avoid that.
posted by xedrik at 1:33 PM on August 16


Not sure if you're talking about wrapping sisal the whole length of the ramp, but if so, that might be just like a sisal rug (for me to pee on!) My worry would be that older cats occasionally have issues being able to extend their claws to grab or conversely, not being able to retract them, and getting them stuck.

You can get corrugated mat cleat rubber runner like this that could be cut to size and wouldn't trigger peeing plus would have decent grip.

If the angle of the ramp is a concern, perhaps putting in wood cleats similar to a chicken ramp would give Omar a chance to go slower and rest without losing purchase. My choice would be a 10-inch-wide ramp with cleats and a short sides as a proprioception clue for an older cat that might be apt to stagger a bit. Measure from his front to his back paws and put cleats every (that much) inches. A 10-inch width might be a tad safer for hoomans carrying things. The ramps pictured are overkill-- cleats made of 1'x1' with a sidewall of a 1'x2' would be enough.

Oscar certainly has a floof going on.
posted by BlueHorse at 2:15 PM on August 16 [1 favorite]


Can you afford to try Solensia injections? (I pay about $85/mo for my senior cat). It has made such a huge difference in her willingness/ability to move around, including climbing the stairs in our apartment. You might want to ask your vet if such a thing is reasonable to try with your cat.
posted by Alterscape at 4:00 AM on August 17 [1 favorite]


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