I will admit: I had never been to a Tractor Supply store before! I was amazed at the pet food, treats, collars, bowls, grooming, toys, everything! They carry the specific allergy-friendly food we feed to Cooper, and tons of fun household goods. But! That’s not what this post is about… As part of Tractor Supply’s Pet Appreciation Week, which runs September 17 – 21, we were tasked to use a $25 gift card to buy supplies to create something that could be used by our local shelter! I love a good DIY challenge, so off we go!
We spent a few days debating on possible DIYs and went to the store with a handful of ideas. Of course, we were thinking all dog, but once we started brainstorming – and chatting about the project with Ernest, the Tractor Supply employee who helped us figure it all out – we ended up with a cat DIY! Ultimately, we made a piece-of-cake DIY kitty condo. It has two tiers and a toy!
Here are our supplies: 3 BPA free, food-grade buckets (they’re 2 for $7!) and a moving blanket ($7). We also bought an assortment of nuts/bolts/washers because we didn’t have them in stock and some Velcro. Oh! And they were collecting donations of chews for the shelter at the same time, so we added a big bone to our list and came in only $0.26 over! Here, Cooper checks out the supplies:
Beginning to end, this two-tiered kitty condo took about 20ish minutes. So easy!
Here’s how to DIY:
- Set up the two bottom buckets to see how you want them aligned. On one bucket, use a pen to mark where the screws will connect the two buckets (you’ll need two, one for the front and one for the back, see below). Secure the bucket and drill the two holes. (Hint: If your drill is small enough, clamp the two buckets together and drill through both at the same time.)
- Align the two buckets. Depending on the size of the holes you may be able to push a pen through the set of holes you drilled in step one to mark the second bucket where you will need to drill. They holes need to line up! Drill holes.
- Use screws, washers, and nuts to secure the two bottom buckets together. You want to use the shortest screws possible so that no sharp pieces are sticking out.
- Set the third bucket on top, eyeball where you want the next four holes to go, and mark the two bottom buckets with your pen (two holes per bucket, one in the front and one in the back). Drill into each hole, set the third bucket on top, and secure together using screws.
- Drill a hole into the rim of the top bucket for the toy, and drop the rope toy through. If you have a cat, be very careful at this step. Chances are she’ll take it as an invitation to play and attack your workspace!
- Next, cut the moving blanket into three equal-sized pieces, and place each one folded into a bucket.
- Test on a kitty!
One note: I realized that the surface of the tops are too smooth for her to climb up and on, so I’m thinking I’ll exchange the Velcro that I didn’t use for a mat or liner to affix to the top of the buckets so that it’s climbing-friendly. Otherwise, it was a piece of cake with very few tools – just a drill and a screwdriver – required.
What do you think? Does this seem like a DIY you’d tackle? For the time investment and the low cost, I feel like you could knock a few of these out for a shelter or rescue in a weekend!
Also, btw, if you’re as Pinterest obsessed as I am, Tractor Supply has an awesome board!
This post is sponsored by Tractor Supply Company and the Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Tractor Supply Company, but OMD! only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Tractor Supply Company is not responsible for the content of this article.
