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AssetID : 22128464
Headline : Cat Lover's House Has Meow Factor
Caption : A Santa Barbara, California home builder has transformed part of his home into a fantasy feline adventure-land. . .
Peter Cohen, co-owner of Trillium Enterprises, has augmented specially designed odourless closets - complete with 22 litter boxes for his 14 rescued cats - with catwalks, spiral staircases, tunnels, perches and all manner cool kitty accessories . . . perfect for nine fine lives.
Cat lover Cohen purchased the Goleta, California house in 1988. The property came with two outdoor cats After one was killed and the other badly injured, both, hit by cars, he and his partner decided to adopt a new cat from the local shelter - as company to his injured pet.
From that point, they just kept adopting cats - a couple every few years. They currently only adopt from shelters and try to take cats other people do not want ( most often black cats, cats with bent tails etc). They have had as many as 18 but currently have 14 feline housemates - having lost 4 cats this year to age and disease.
Peter's purrrfect pussycat pad started out with the installation of the catwalks in 1995. He admits he has spent something like $40,000- $50,000 on just the catwalks alone. No expense was spared for his feline friends - even though they could technically have been done cheaper.
He says: "The catwalks are for the cats but they’re also for me. They’re architecturally interesting to me – the colors and we always try to do something interesting with the shapes.
"Our house was built for us AND our cats. The catwalks are fun for the cats, giving them lots of places to explore, hang out, etc. The catwalks are architecturally interesting for us. I am a general contractor and wanted to create an environment that was good for both cats and humans. The fact that the litter boxes are in ventilated closets helps keep odours out of the house.
"We always have new catwalks on the drawing boards and will add them as time/money allow.
"If I could ask people to donate to ResQcats (http://www.resqcats.org) that would be awesome. They are a local private shelter that we have adopted from many times. They try to help the cats/kittens that need the most help and go to great lengths to get the medical care needed. Helping them pay for that work would be greatJ.

Credit: Lepere Studios
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