The CPW shelter is looking pretty sharp now, with fresh new cages throughout!

The cages in the main lounge, New Entrants, and Timids were originally built in 2007 and had started to wear out, with the wire on the cage door degrading and woodwork needing regular attention.

We say “cages” but they’re really apartments, each 1m deep and wide and 3m high, with four levels that cats can move between, with multiple beds and blankets. The 20 new plywood cages have the same design, but in more durable materials for hygiene and a longer life. After tendering for the work, we engaged DRD, who built the West Wing for us. The components were built offsite and installed in the shelter in August. 

It was really important to us that our cats weren’t upset by the construction work, so managing their wellbeing was a critical part of our planning. To allow the cages to be installed, we moved some cats to collapsible cages upstairs in the staff area upstairs in the West Wing, and some to the isolation wing. Five higher-needs cats were kindly boarded with Team Lead Julie, and two others with volunteers.

We were lucky to have Team Lead Delwyn’s experience in setting up temporary shelters in emergency situations to help us manage this. The space upstairs was designed for use as extra accommodation if needed, so it was good to see how well it worked.