Man spends 20 years creating the ultimate house for cats

"It is when a cat decides to trust you that it feels so amazing"

(Houzz)

Animal lover Peter Cohen has remodelled his house to accommodate 46 metres of cat tunnels, cat staircases and a cat skywalk all custom made for his 14 moggies.

When Mr Cohen moved in to his new home in Goleta, California, in the 1980’s he inherited two cats, tragedly one died and the other was run over. Mr Cohen started to rescue cats in the area and before he knew it there were a dozen kitties living at his home in southern Santa Barbara.

To keep them all occupied Mr Cohen, the co-owner of Trillium Enterprise Custom Builders, had his team create the deluxe built-in fantasy playground for his pets.

Mr Cohen said “We had 18 cats but sadly we have lost four to age and cancer. We currently have 14 cats, with plans to adopt three more next spring. I’m pretty sure I have my partner convinced.”

Mr Cohen lives in the house along with his partner, Manuel Flores, and their roommate Hiroyuki Furumoto. He spends around $100 (£90) per week on cat food.

“I love cats for many reasons”, said Cohen, “but a large reason is the fact that one has to work very hard to gain the trust of a cat, especially a cat that has been traumatized by a human. It is when a cat decides to trust you that it feels so amazing. To have helped restore peace and happiness to such an innocent creature just feels good.”

A house builder by profession Mr Cohen designed the cat dreamland with perches, platforms and a cat-walk along with purr-fectly hidden closets to include 24 litter boxes, which are all fitted with fans to eliminate odour to stop the house from smelling, while loose cat fur is kept to a minimum with mobile vacuum cleaners prowling the floors.

Mr Cohen said that he has spent thousands on creating his catwalk project over the past 20 years, around $40,000 (£34,000) to $50,000 (£43,000) on the walks and tunnels.

The felines, named Coffee Bean, Donut, Nui, Waffle, Secret, Chocolate, Cheesecake, Kuro, Butter, Nutter, Crumple, Rumple, Cookie and Poppy Seed take it in turns to climb up a pole, which is wrapped in rope, and jump along on to nearby platforms or slope down the spiral walkway.

“We think our cats are living fun, interesting, healthy lives with us. Healthy cats are happy cats and we then enjoy their love back to us. They can run around the catwalks at amazing speeds, or they can just hang out on one of the upper walks and enjoy the view” said Mr Cohen.

The house has also been fitted with 25 CCTV security cameras to watch the cats when Mr Cohen is away.

The design for Mr Cohen’s in-door cat dreamland is based on inspiration from a cat friendly home improvement guide written in 1996 by Bob Walker, The Cats' House.

Any cat would be willing to give up one of its nine lives to live in this cat heaven.

Images: Holly Lepere, Houzz