I've never heard of anywhere like that.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum. I don’t live in London, but I have not heard of cat play areas I’m afraid. Could you cat proof or make a run in your garden and put climbing frames for them. My garden is cat proofed and in the summer I put out tunnels and cubes also some toys for them to play with. My boys love nothing more than to sit and watch the birds on my neighbours raised bird table. If you cannot make a run or cat proof your garden. Maybe you could harness train your cat and take him/her for a walk somewhere quiet. I hope this has helped you a little.

Viv xx

 

Thank you! I live in a first floor flat with a communal garden, I've seen a neighbours cat walk about there without running away, but it's very easy for any cat to escape, onto the riverside or road, I'm not sure how they trained their cat not to run away! I'll look into harness training maybe that could work.

many thanks

 

Harness training would be best in your situation for going outside. For indoors google "catification" to get ideas about enriching your flat environment for puss.

 

I've never heard of a play centre for cats and wouldn't have thought there would be much call for them as cats become scared and disorientated in new places, more so if there are other cats there.
My cat is indoor only and i have large cat trees and tunnels and hidey holes, lots of toys and big windows. I play with her many times a day and she's just fine.

 

Hi,

Does anyone know of any cat play areas in London? I'd like to take my cat somewhere enclosed where he can climb and play.

I've heard of cat cafes which would be idea but I don't think they let you bring your own cat.

many thanks!

Alex

Hi there, the Cat Cafes are just for the cats that live in the Cafes, so you couldn't take your dear cat to them. There isn't likely to be any safe cat play areas. If you use a harness and lead, please be extremely sure that there is no way your cat can get out of it (escape). You would also need to make sure your cat is microchipped and preferably vaccinated. Do you have a balcony you could "cat proof?" Your other option would be to enrich your home, with lots of high up shelving for your cat to climb and sit or lay on, a few places to hide, tall scratch posts, treebeds, boxes, catnip toys, dvds or YouTube videos for cats, Da Bird, different beds, laser toys, etc and lots of cats like a good brush daily and a lap to sit on. They particularly like to be able to watch out of windows, so access to closed windows would be great, ideally with a bed in the window. I expect you already know most of this! Have a look at the trees, scratch posts and toys online on Zooplus for example.

 

Okay thanks so much for all your advice! I'll see if I can find someone to help me with a harness, as I couldn't even put a collar on him before. He's had all his vaccines, he just needs to be microchipped. Here he is on his balcony, we're on the first floor so I'm not sure how safe this is but he loves going out there, and then tends to walk out onto a flat roof covering the entrance, visible on the left. I also coach tennis and when I can I take him to the courts, though it's not the most exciting place for him I can imagine. I put his bed by the balcony window and he spends lots of time there. Then h quite often goes completely wild and starts racing around the flat like a maniac! He's only 1 though

 

Okay thanks so much for all your advice! I'll see if I can find someone to help me with a harness, as I couldn't even put a collar on him before. He's had all his vaccines, he just needs to be microchipped. Here he is on his balcony, we're on the first floor so I'm not sure how safe this is but he loves going out there, and then tends to walk out onto a flat roof covering the entrance, visible on the left. I also coach tennis and when I can I take him to the courts, though it's not the most exciting place for him I can imagine. I put his bed by the balcony window and he spends lots of time there. Then h quite often goes completely wild and starts racing around the flat like a maniac! He's only 1 though

We tend to call that zoomy time when our boys do that. They usually do this upstairs and because they are all big cats they sound like a herd of baby elephants. My oldest cat is Tiga and he will be 10 in June. He loves nothing more than doing zoomies lol. I would tend to worry in case your cat would slip off the frame around your balcony, but then I am a worrier, lol. He's a gorgeous cat.

Viv xx

I would cat proof a balcony. if its a ground floor balcony, they can escape. If its above ground floor they can fall. I think Protecta Pet and Secure a cat do balconies.

 

We tend to call that zoomy time when our boys do that. They usually do this upstairs and because they are all big cats they sound like a herd of baby elephants. My oldest cat is Tiga and he will be 10 in June. He loves nothing more than doing zoomies lol. I would tend to worry in case your cat would slip off the frame around your balcony, but then I am a worrier, lol. He’s a gorgeous cat.

Viv xx

 

We tend to call that zoomy time when our boys do that. They usually do this upstairs and because they are all big cats they sound like a herd of baby elephants. My oldest cat is Tiga and he will be 10 in June. He loves nothing more than doing zoomies lol. I would tend to worry in case your cat would slip off the frame around your balcony, but then I am a worrier, lol. He's a gorgeous cat.

Viv xx

Zoomies I love it! I'm glad it's normal Yes I worry too, I will definitely look into balcony protection

 

If you know someone who likes DIY you should maybe copy one of these from protectapet.com. My husband did something like this for a lady who lost her cat because she jumped over the balcony. She found her again a few days later, and asked hubby if he would make one for her.
https://protectapet.com/cat-balcony/

Viv xx

 

If you know someone who likes DIY you should maybe copy one of these from protectapet.com. My husband did something like this for a lady who lost her cat because she jumped over the balcony. She found her again a few days later, and asked hubby if he would make one for her.
https://protectapet.com/cat-balcony/

Viv xx

Excellent idea. Better safe than sorry. I've heard many harnesses aren't safe, so cats escape and maybe ask SbanR where hers was bought and her experience with them @Alexandra Groszek ?
What a lovely cat you have there. Please send more photos and let us know how your cat gets on, if you can? :Cat

 

It's just a simple mesh harness - comfortable but definitely NOT escape proof. My priority, when I bought it, was to find a harness that was small enough to fit Ollie who was only 4 months old at the time

 

I think chillminx said there aren't any escape proof harness/leads. I personally wouldn't risk using one near any roads at all. It's just not worth the risk.

 

Yes it's all here, roads, river, construction sites, helicopter landing...! The mesh protection idea is great, thank you, I'll have to check if we'd be permitted to add that to our balcony.
I'm still trying to understand why an enclosed cat play area in a park wouldn't be safe, if it had net/mesh protection as well, no bushes or shrubs just trees and climbing frames with platforms, is it more dangerous for cats than a dog play area for dogs? Unless those aren't safe either.. But I suppose ultimately if the cat is trained it will experience more freedom in a way with no need to keep him enclosed.

I'm sure there must be flat owners who feel similarly, since there's no front door cat flap option?

Here are a few more photos of Stanley

 

Hi @Alexandra Groszek - I agree with MisMiloKitty and Vivien, I would definitely want to be cat proofing the balcony. A cat can easily jump from a 1st Floor balcony and be gone in a flash. And if Stanley (great name!) were to land awkwardly (which can happen) he could injure a leg or hurt his back. It's not worth the risk.

If you are planning to try harness-and-leash training, I recommend you use only a "cat walking jacket" which IME are the only type that are hard to escape from. (Though one of my cats, a regular Houdini, did once manage to escape from one! Luckily we were in a friend's garden at the time and I managed to catch my cat before he went far).

These are the two UK companies that make the cat walking jackets:

Happy House Cats :

http://www.happyhousecats.co.uk/cat-walking-jackets-uk/

Mynwood:

https://www.mynwoodcatjackets.co.uk/

(note, both types are made to measure, so they fit well, and if your cat is still growing you will need to replace it as he grows).

Enclosed shared outdoor public play areas for cats would't work, as cats are very territorial creatures who for the most part do not like seeing strange cats in their territory. Taking your cat to an enclosed tennis court where he is the only cat is OK, but as you imply, there is not much for him to explore on a tennis court.

When I lived in a big city, in a 4th floor apartment I used to take my cats to a friend's house. She lived in a quiet part of the city and had a large enclosed garden. My cats used to spend a couple of hours wandering around exploring whilst I followed, holding fast to the leash. The cats loved the garden!

I recommend if you do decide take Stanley outdoors, you should always take a carrier with you, in case of emergencies. It is no fun trying to carry home a wriggling, frightened cat in your arms I can tell you!

 

Thanks so much @chillminx inx ! I will definitely look into these.
Once I have a walking jacket/harness I can take him into the garden and small park here, and work on training him. I'll keep you updated with the progress!