About Catios of Texas

I build and design Catios this is my main work in live now. Just to tell you a little history about me. Starting around 10 and 11 my family moved here after my dad got out of the Airforce as a pilot. He bought some land with nothing on it. So, first house I worked on was our home. Nobody slacked when I was a kid and pretty much no days off.

We are Catios of Texas

We built a home, cow barns, and lots of fencing. We built a roof truss business and big buildings to store diesel loads of lumber. During the winter we built houses, so our employees had work. We did a lot of building. We also made our own trailers. We did all our equipment repairs and was one thing I did not like. Having to pull engines and transmissions was not my goal in life. Back then it was normal in the county you did just about everything.

We had cows, chickens, Pigs, Goats and turkeys over the last almost 50 years. Now we just have cows.

At one point I moved to Florida. I got a aluminum construction license, If you have been to Florida and seen the big cages they build over pools I built them and other aluminum refurbishing.

I also passed the general contractor test that would allow me to build anything up to 3 stories tall. I can tell you that it was a hard test. Stack of books up to my knee and then the test lasted for 2 days. 9 hours each day. I passed.

Vision

To see cats get outside. Enjoy life to the fullest. We take them in so give them a life. We are the protectors of the earth and all its animals. So let them out even if it is a small space.
They will thank you.

Mission

Now with so many urban cities, cats cannot be let out just to run. There is so many problems with that. From killing birds, to fights, cars, and diseases. I want to see people treat cats with a little more decency.

Why does Catios of Texas specialize in building custom catios?

I will say it simple. I know what I’m doing. I do this for a living, If you have a problem you can call me. You know that when I walk off your property it is right. It will last. I will be more than you expected. I like building and designing Catios. It’s now in my blood. I plan to do this the rest of my life. Handshakes are still something to me.

I don’t ever even think about taking advantage of anyone. I will stay on the phone with a scammer just so they don’t have time to call other people. Lolol Its like a charity for all. Unless you plan on bringing a prince in from Nigeria. In that case I am sorry. Lol

Meet the Team Behind COT

We build catios, but let’s be real—our real bosses are the cats. Whether they’re inspecting our work or judging our every move, we’re here to serve and make their outdoor dreams come true!

Todd

That guy is a jerk, I would fire him if I could but he keeps showing up. Lololol That me if you did not get the joke. We have a good team and we all like helping cats.

Dottie

She is the real backbone of our team. She handles our online social media, she handles all email, making videos and ads for us. She might be the one that has pointed out that Catios are a real thing and now you know how cool they are. So the first person you talk on line might be her. We have been working together for over 14 years on projects.

Josh

He is our web and Seo guy. At 24 years old he is really advanced on his skills. If anyone need a web site and some Seo tell me. You might have to get in line for him but you will be happy you did. He has been working with me for over 2 years now.

Rumi

I am lucky to have him helping me now. He as taken off a year from teaching and move back to Denton. We went to High school together, so I trust him and he shows up to help me. I have know him for about 35 years now.

Ivan

We have gone back about 13 years now. Working on projects. No he is in the Navy and does not have a lot of time but still helps us out.

Lynn

That is my dad. He is still very active and help me in my shop all the time. Everyone is happy that we have his knowledge.

This is the story everyone asks me about.

People always ask how I got started in the Catio business.

I left Florida because of the recession and came back home to Texas. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I did some remolding and a little handyman work. Paid the bills but I was looking for a niche that I could get into to start a business.

I had a friend that had 4 cats. They told me that the cats always wanted to go outside and it was a fight at the door. I told them let’s make an area on a window that they can go out and sit. I did not know that Catios even existed.

So, I got some scrap wood, and I had some chicken wire and made this Catio below. It was kind of a piece of trash, but it worked like a charm. All for of the cats would get in it. They put a bird feeder out and they watched it all day. 2 cats want to be in it all the time.

The problem was that I did not think the market was ready. I tend to get into business to early. So, I waited 5 years. When covid hit I was into my 4th year of waiting. I decided to start building Catios. I am one of those creative people with skills to build. I have an imagination that I can see things in my head and build them in my head. If I could do anything I would build Catios and oil paint art. For the rest of my life. I am trying to learn pool I will say I really suck at it. Never been good at it but I like it because of the math in it. Now that I’m about to be 56 I’m going to take time to learn it. And darts I suck at them also. I can play bocce and I can tell you from having a lot of outdoor games in the past at my house it is the one game everyone loved over all others. I also really like it.

I never finished college. I can start on my 3rd year but I got into business. I am a big believer in knowledge and have never stopped learning. I know a lot of things that people do not care about lolol. I have learned to kind of keep my mouth shut. So I tell odd facts. Lol

You will also see my Catios are different than everyone else. I have my style. I know how to build things to make things last. Since I am older, I have had time to watch things get old. So, I know what happens. One thing I just have studied in my head over the last 45 years.

So don’t tell a lot. I got in the business I did not know anyone that made them. I did not call other people’s business to try and steel ideas off them. I just did it with my skills. It takes 10 to 15 cages to really start knowing and having all the tools needed. And really because every cage is different you must have a lot of tools. Plus know how to use them. If you build your own. At least get a level, and a square.

On top of the tools you have, or you think you will need. I have a 6 inch, 2-ft, 4-ft, 6 ft and 8t levels and many line levels. Lots of squares of all types and sizes, and get a crap load of pencils.

I generally build myself. I control quality that way. When you do this, you learn to build smart also. You can not just hurry. Quality drops, mistakes happen, lots of things need to be done before others that might not be intuitive. I do a lot of things for reasons that are kinda only known to me. One day I will teach someone or maybe I will write a book. I will have a podcast soon. So, enjoy it

I will try to help anyone to build a Catio. I have a lot of trade secrets. I average almost one call from someone trying to find out how I bid, how I build, how I do things so they can maybe start, most people just want to steel knowledge but you have to build to learn. There are just to many things that happen. And you don’t want to be taking things down to redo them.

So don’t tell a lot. I got in the business I did not know anyone that made them. I did not call other people’s business to try and steel ideas off them. I just did it with my skills. It takes 10 to 15 cages to really start knowing and having all the tools needed. And really because every cage is different you must have a lot of tools. Plus know how to use them. If you build your own. At least get a level, and a square. On top of the tools you have, or you think you will need. I have a 6 inch, 2-ft, 4-ft, 6 ft and 8t levels and many line levels. Lots of squares of all types and sizes, and get a crap load of pencils.

I generally build myself. I control quality that way. When you do this, you learn to build smart also. You can not just hurry. Quality drops, mistakes happen, lots of things need to be done before others that might not be intuitive. I do a lot of things for reasons that are kinda only known to me. One day I will teach someone or maybe I will write a book. I will have a podcast soon. So, enjoy it

I also no longer have pets. Since I might go somewhere to build a Catio for a month or 2. I am not fit to have any. It would be mean to put dogs or cats up for such a long time. One day I will again. Right now, I have a pet rock. I can tell it’s always excited to see me when I get home. Lolol I find it looking out a window a lot so I put it on the porch. Its called Rocky.

One other thing is I spend a lot of time studying cats and listing to books about them. One of my favorite books is “How to decode your cat” this is a really good book that will help you head off problems with cats. How to train them.

I will tell you this. For me I have built and done a world of things in my life. From here to the end, I am designing Catios and building them. I enjoy it. And you know if you like what you do you never work. I also go out of my way to get your Catio to blend in and to be unique. I want cats to get outside. We have kept them In for to long and let dogs get out. I am glade times are changing. SO….. let your cats out some way or another and make it were the will not get hurt or lost. I have lost a cat before and it is heartbreaking.