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Miss Saira
I started this site as a direct result of volunteering with my local animal shelter. When I starting volunteering in the cat rooms, I saw that someone had made pvc pipe frame cat hammocks. The hammock frames had been in use for awhile; some were damaged, they were various sizes, and there weren’t a lot of hammock covers to use. They were also fairly large, so they wouldn’t fit in the smaller kennels.
I designed some smaller hammocks to fit into most of the cat kennels, and designed a standard large hammock. Using my basic sewing skills, made simple patterns for the hammock covers, in both small and large sizes, made largely from “up-cycled” fabric. There was some feedback about which materials worked and the challenge of sometimes being able to distinguish between the hammock cover sizes. I narrowed down the best fabrics and designed some simple tags that indicated size.
Giving the Gift of Comfort
Hammocks are great as place for kitties to rest comfortably and to add a little more vertical space to their area. Another use of a hammock is to give the kitties a place to hide.
I’ll never forget a little orange kitty who was new in adoption and scared in his new environment. When I walked by his kennel, he went to the corner and tried really hard to get under his litter box. I found a small hammock and slid on a long hammock cover, so he would have some privacy. I placed it in his kennel, and he made a mad dash for it. Once safe inside, he decided to come to the front of his kennel to say hi to me. He knew he had a safe place to go in case things got scary, and that made him feel a little better about being in an unfamiliar place.
I also designed a clip-on hanging hammock, but they didn’t really work with the cat kennels typically used at our shelter. But they did work great for a critter that makes a rare appearance at the shelter – a ferret.
I can certainly make hammock frames and covers for our shelter, but I figure there are lots of people out there interested in making a shelter animal’s stay a little more comfortable. So I made downloadable pdf step-by-step instructions, with specific measurements, on making hammock frames – small and large, covers for both, simple tags, and hanging hammocks, so others can be inspired and customize them to their specific shelter and space, giving the gift of comfort to their critters. (Go to PDF Instructions page to download them.)
I am also fine tuning instructions for cat and dog bedding and a few different styles of ferret hammocks and bedding. I will post them as soon as the instructions and measurements are finalized.
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