Give Rescue Cats a Safe Future

The Kitty City Project building cost is estimated at $43,000 US based on the costing other major building projects here on Koh Lanta.   We did not include costing for project management or for other professional services such as legal fees and architect/engineering services.

Lanta Animal Welfare needs a new cathouse as we have outgrown our current one. It is too small and termite damage is destroying the structure, allowing cats to roam onto nearby roads. This also constitutes a potential entry point for disease, heightening the need for rapid action. We also need to improve our adoption process and feel that more socializing with the cats would increase adoptions. We have designed the new cat compound with a 'meet and greet' area for visitors and potential adopters to give us not only a new cat compound, but also to facilitate our adoption processing. 

Over the past few months we have been working at designing the new Kitty City.  It is going to be built in an area that is 19m x 14m. It will contain a cathouse that is 18 m x 3 m, an atrium open area, a kitten room, a storage room and a cat meal/grooming prep room.

The cathouse will have ample space to house our maximum cat capacity of 50, but have room for 60 cats. Within the cathouse, each cat will have it’s own ‘place’ for sleeping. The floor will be tiered or multi-level, with ceramic floors and running gutters. There will be sun-lights and ventilation for air rotation in the ceiling. The side of the cathouse opening into the Kitty City area will be wire mesh floor to ceiling sliding doors. The cathouse will also contain a ‘cat toilet area’ with a rear door access to allow it to be easily cleaned. The building will also have a storage room and a small preparation room where cat meals, and grooming can take place. The large mesh doors will be open most of the time to allow the cats to freely roam in the Kitty City atrium area.

 The entrance to the atrium area will be through a double gate entrance to prevent the cats from leaving the area. For added security, the area will also have an overhanging roof to further ensure that that the cats remain in the area. The use of wire mesh is to ensure the area is airy and open. The floor will be made of gravel stones and cement slabs for ease of cleaning and drainage in rainy season. The area will have many cat perches and shorter trees for climbing.

The atrium area will also contain a set of stadium large tiered steps. This is where Lanta Animal Welfare visitors can socialize with the cats, meet with LAW staff, wait for tours and other information/education presentations. We are also hoping to a local Thai food concession within the area for drinks and snacks. This could be the beginning of a future Cat Café, if the concession stand is successful. 

We are also going to document our Kitty City Project so it can be used as a model cat compound by other animal rescue centres. Many centres only care for dogs or cats due to the difficulties and challenges of caring for both. We want to share our experience so animal shelter and rescue centres can follow our model and care for both dogs and cats.

Our new Kitty City will not add much cost to our operations. The benefits focus on cat health and safety, as well as on facilitating our cat adoptions. With the cat in a security area we will be mitigating the risk of them getting out on the street and injured in traffic.   The will have a new cat house that is modern, airy, open and have a safe environment to socialize with their potential future families as they climb the trees, snooze in their beds, and observe the goings-on from the perches.

When we decided to begin our Kitty City Project and source funding we knew that the estimate of $43,000 was a reasonable ball-park figure based on our design and previous building experience. We are now in the process of engaging a builder and having a formal budget prepared along with detailed blueprint drawings so we could better support, explain and justify our funding goals.