The Catio; 454 square feet all for cats

 
By Sara Schaefer  
Published: October 6, 2015

OLNEY, Ill. (WTHI) – You’ve probably heard the expression “the crazy cat lady.” Well one Wabash Valley woman is no stranger to the nickname. But her love for cats is part of a bigger picture. The importance of family.

31-year-old Misti Ferguson lives in the small town of Olney, Illinois. Her quiet neighborhood is a perfect fit as her nearby loved ones are top priority.“Well if you don’t have family you don’t have anything a nd god blessed me with a wonderful family”

But humans aren’t the only members of Ferguson’s family. She also has five cats. And their shenanigans aren’t unnoticed in that quiet neighborhood. That’s because their home is called a catio.
“My favorite thing is to be able to sit there and watch them and they run around and chase squirrels that get right outside of their reach up above them and things like that. It’s just fun to see them so happy,” Ferguson said.

It’s a 454 square foot enclosure and it’s all for the cats. In bad weather or just to lounge, they have a three story cat condo inside it- heated, air conditioned and insulated.When asked: “So, why go to all this extreme for your cats?” Ferguson said: “Well they’re like family so why not?”

After the cats started going outside their litter box, Ferguson toilet trained them. And it worked but eventually they went back to the bad habit. A love for cats runs in the family. So Ferguson and her mother built the catio together.“She’s my only child and I love her very much. I’d do anything for her,” Margie Ferguson said.

So although Misti Ferguson is no stranger to nicknames.“Well I mean when you have a catio in the back of your house that sticks up over your fence it’s pretty expected people are going to say things.”
All that really matters is family.

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