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One man’s DIY creative outlet becomes two cats’ leaping, hiding, snuggling, and spying pet paradise.
After loving 19 cats, 11 dogs, and a canary, Tracey married someone allergic to all those creatures. Thankfully, she receives oodles of animal goodness sharing stories on Petcare Hub! When not traveling, teaching yoga, or doing voiceover projects, she's an editorial strategist and developer for print, digital, and multimedia platforms.
In 2020, touring comedian Drennon Davis wasn't able to perform at all during the pandemic, so he was constantly looking for new ways to occupy himself. His home at the time was a massive artspace in a Los Angeles warehouse.
When he learned one of his friends was a foster mom to a litter of orphaned and abandoned kittens, it didn't take much persuasion for Davis to adopt both Newt and Frog, two fluffy orange brothers. "I'd always been looking for an orange cat," Davis tells Petcare Hub. "And because they were so bonded, I thought it would be good for them to have company while I'm working."
Like many of us during quarantine, Davis racked up massive stacks of cardboard boxes from all his deliveries. He didn't want to just throw everything away. So to channel his creativity and take advantage of high ceilings in his warehouse home, he let his imagination run wild, crafting a multi-dimensional 'cat city' for Newt and Frog. Forget expensive cat toys, he says—everyone knows cats love boxes!
"I thought, 'Why not just build them something cool' and slowly but surely attacked it until it was a legit city, with condominiums, roads, bridges, trees, and clouds—all of it!" he says. There's also 'Kitty Hall', a jail, a farm, a TV lounge, various hidey holes, and high-in-the sky catwalks for Newt and Frog to prowl at will. Davis' says his favorite location is one of the first upcycled cardboard structures he built: a bakery space called 'Biscuit Boys', 'cause these kitties love to knead!
He also began leash training his frisky feline friends to become adventure cats. "From a very early age I've been taking them to the park and going on hikes," he says.
Davis is convinced that Newt and Frog are good for his mental health by giving him someone to care about other than himself. He also believes that adopting them rescued him as much as it did them. "They had lost their mom and were displaced, and I was kind of displaced in a lot of ways," he says. "From the start, we just had a strong bond."
