I moved into an apartment with a balcony last year and wanted to enclose it so my cat could be outside safely with me. I couldn't find a pre-made catio that was small enough for my space, but big enough so that I could still enjoy the balcony. I am on the fourth floor, so getting on a ladder to install anchors on the bottom of the balcony above was not a good idea. I spend a long time searching for options within my budget and landed on Maker Pipe to make a frame I could put netting around.

I used 3/4" EMT, 4 90˚ connectors, 2 T-connectors, 4 45˚ connectors, and 4 adjustable angle connectors to build a frame and add bracing. I spray painted everything before assembling, but ended up scratching a lot of the paint during assembly.

The frame is wrapped in 3/4" stainless steel reinforced cat netting from CatNets, which is anchored with a combination of zip ties and paracord (folding the netting around the EMT conduit, then weaving paracord in the mesh to secure the free end to the main panel, making a pocket for the conduit).

I miscalculated the amount of conduit I needed, so I had leftovers to make an elevated bed for my cat to use to look over the balcony railings. I was inspired by the elevated dog bed kit, but didn't use it. I got a replacement cover for that style of bed off Chewy, 4 more 90˚ connectors, and used 2 leftover adjustable angle connectors to make something like the bed kit, but with extra long legs, two of which I threw a brace between. It's plenty sturdy for a 12 pound cat.

All together, I can now let Ranger out on the balcony without worrying about him jumping the railing and still fit a hammock stand out there.