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Hi readers,
As cat lovers, I’m guessing we’ve all had a stage where we made pillow forts for our felines. Feline Business Brief’s newsroom cats, Ethel and Morag, were especially fond of forts when they first arrived from the cat rescue centre.
This week, we’re looking at a more elevated (literally) form of cat furniture: Catification: fitting out living spaces according to feline needs.
While everyone has heard of Barkitecture, the Catification market is catching up quickly, driven by indoor living, increasing numbers of multi-cat households, and cat parents who don’t necessarily want a big, fur-collecting cat tower in their living room.
In the news
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Catification: The growing market for high-end feline interiors
When it comes to pet-focused lifestyle adjustments, most people have heard of dog-friendly interior design, also known as '“barkitecture”. Dog wash stations in the bathroom, custom cabinets for dog beds and feeding stations, and even entire dog lounge rooms, for example.
In contrast, cats have long had to make do with clunky cat towers, beige scratching posts, and flimsy perches. It doesn’t help that cats can lose interest in these items (which also never go with your furniture).
Enter catification.
Catification is designing your home to be a stimulating, enriching environment for cats and incorporating their natural instincts, while blending stylishly with human decor. This trend began several years ago and continues to grow rapidly as the number of cat parents surges.
“When I started building CatScapes, I noticed a huge gap in the market: cat furniture that was either highly functional but unattractive, or beautiful but impractical for how cats actually move,” cat furniture brand CatScapes wrong in an Instagram post.
How does catification look? It can take many forms:
catwalks built into staircases
window perches integrated into wall cavities
vertical climbing walls treated like art installations
cat “highways” added to kitchens
loft-level resting areas installed above door frames
entire spare rooms transformed into feline zones
Catification’s key principles:
Verticality: Cats live in a much more 3D world that us and feel safe when perched up high. Catification addresses this by using walls for climbing shelves and perches.
Complement, don’t clash: Furniture is chosen for its design and materials, ensuring it complements the existing home decor rather than clashing with it.
Address natural instincts Designs cater to a cat's need for scratching, climbing, hunting, scratching, lounging in the sun, and finding hiding spots.
Quality materials Use of high-quality, durable materials like solid wood, metal frames, and sisal rope ensures longevity.
What’s driving Catification?
Several factors are driving this fast-growing market:
Rising cat parenthood rates: The number of cat households in the USA grew by 23% last year to 49 million, according to American Pet Products Association (APPA).
Growth of multi-cat households: Multi-cat households are increasing, which increases the risk of inter-cat tensions. Catification seeks to allow each cat separate spaces to make their own. According to APPA, U.S. homes with two or more cats rose by 8% last year, and homes with three-plus cats rose by 36%.
Increasingly indoors: In the US, UK, Japan and much of Europe, safety concerns, urbanisation, and changing attitudes mean cats spend more time indoors. This means the home needs to be a source of enrichment.
Urban living constraints: For cat parents living in flats or smaller homes, space is at a premium. Vertical, modular, multi-functional cat furniture and built-in interiors meet their needs better than standalone pieces.
Growing awareness of cat welfare and behaviour: Cats need stimulation. They also have unique spatial needs: verticality, privacy, perches, rest zones, and scent-safe surfaces. Catification incorporates these needs into product design, while poor design can lead to stress.
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The rise of Catified designers
A handful of brands are leading this shift, offering furniture that caters to cats and satisfies human design taste:
Cat Therapy / Hayley Williams Hayley Williams, known as the "Cat Shelf Lady," provides virtual cat wall design services.
MiaCara Specialises in designer "fur-niture" made from fine materials that fit into contemporary interiors.
The Refined Feline Range of elegant solutions, including the "Lotus Cat Tower" and "Lotus Branch Cat Shelf."
Mau Pets Modern cat furniture that uses high-quality materials and looks like an intentional part of home decor.
CatScapes Furniture-grade cat shelves and components for vertical cat playgrounds, focusing on feline ergonomics and aesthetics.
The Cat People Offers full catification design services, creating seamless, integrated vertical spaces and catios that match a home's existing decor.
Catastrophic Creations Modular cat wall furniture systems that allow cat parents to build complex, enriching "cat superhighways".
Hauspanther: Founded by Kate Benjamin, co-author of the book Catification, this company is a key source for information on stylish cat products and design tips to help individuals catify their own homes.
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How big is the catification market?
While catification is an expanding market, it’s not easy to find growth forecasts for this still-emerging segment.
Overall, the global pet furniture market (this includes beds, sofas, trees, houses, etc. for cats and dogs) was valued at US$1.74 billion in 2023, according to Grand View Research.
This market is project to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.9% from 2024 to reach US$2.44 billion by 2030. Cats make up around 35% of the market.
Top catio
While researching this article, Feline Business Brief browsed our fair share of social media posts on #catification. But the winner is definitely @CatioGuy’s epic catio.
Check out this video of an epic cat chase (complete with surf-rock soundtrack).
Thanks for reading! Here's a friendly feline face for you. 😺
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