Are Cat Wall Shelves Safe for Your Ragdoll? Expert Safety & Design Tips

First published Jun 4, 2014 @ 08:08

A Floppycats reader wrote me recently and asked me about cat wall shelves, wanting to know: “about how far apart, how high and how wide to be safe for big Ragdolls.  I’ve seen really cute shelves for sale and they are always recommended by “My Cat from Hell” but if I want to make a cat wall, what do I really need to do?”

I didn’t know what to tell her, other than to suggest reaching out to the manufacturer and asking them.  There were too many factors in my opinion to consider:

1. Walls and studs in my walls – where everything was located
2. Cost of shelves and how many I was going to buy
3. Manufacturer’s recommendations

But, she was more wondering, “how far apart for a cat to safely move and how wide, long for a ragdoll to take a good nap and not roll off.  I see all kinds of set ups, including some that go higher than I would be comfortable with.  At my parents’, there is a loft with a railing and our cat used to pull herself along on in.  One day we watched her actually roll right off.  Luckily big enough fall to do that cat turn over thing. She was fine.”

So do you have cat wall shelves?  What did you do and how did you do it?  Do you have photos you can share?  I would be happy to share your set up and your experience in a future blog post.

Below are two videos of our cat wall furniture we got and reviewed from Urban Pethaus.  I just followed the manufacturer’s instructions and eyeballed it as to where I wanted the shelves to go.

If you are interested cat wall shelves you can buy them online:

• THE REFINED FELINE Lotus Leaf Cat Shelf
• THE REFINED FELINE Lotus Leaf Cat Shelf Modern Curved Design Cat Wall Perch