Cat Camp Is the Tent for Adventure Kitties Who Don’t Actually Go Outside
My kitties probably aren’t going camping. I’d love it if White Fang and Dorian Gray were Instagram stars who could buddy up with a dog, throw on a Catagonia vest, and take on the great outdoors. But we own one cat who yowls and one who curls up into a frightened furball during a walk down the block to the vet, much less a trip to some woody campground or fire escape.
Like all cats, however, they love an enclosed space that makes them feel protected and secure. Plus, why shouldn’t they be allowed to play-act the joy of sleeping out in nature? And so we tried out Cat Camp, the tent for the feline set.
Features: Cat Camp doesn’t just look like a scaled-down version of a tent for humans. It is one. “We use all the same materials you would find in a normal tent,” the company says. Two fiberglass poles clip together in the middle to form an X; they bend to pull the tiny tent into a dome shape. A rain fly clips onto the poles and fits over the structure to protect your darling pets from inclement weather.
The zip-up door features a mesh window so cat campers can get fresh air while the door is closed, as well as a tie-back for keeping the door open so your kitties can come and go as they please. There’s also a cute back window that can be opened or zipped closed.
One feature that’s unique to the downsized tent for pets: a clip-in microfiber fleece for them to lay on. Crucially, the microfiber layer is removable and machine washable (in case of accidents) and the bottom is made of a non-absorbent lining.
Setup: The main challenge of Cat Camp is those poles. Like your own camping tent, it uses poles that break down into segments for storage. Setting up the tent requires assembling the segments into two long poles. Both side of each pole lock into stainless steel connectors that attached the poles to the base. It’s a little tricky and requires a little dexterity to keep the segments of Cat Camp’s poles together in a line when you’re assembling the basic structure. But after that snaps together, the rest of assembly is a breeze.
Will they use it? Given that we’re talking about particular creatures who would rather play with the box than the toy, every cat tech review must be flagged with “your results may vary.” That said, our two sibling cats love the tent. We laid treats inside as an inducement for White and Gray to put their tentative toes into the tent, but it didn’t take much more. Within hours one had taken up residence inside the comfy canvas cabin. The other followed suit shortly thereafter. My wife and kept constant tabs on the tent hoping for the elusive sight of both cats snuggled inside, which, at long last, happened.
Footprint and Storage: Fully assembled, Cat Camp occupies about 21.5 inches square. In a tight room, this is a non-negligible amount of floorspace to devote to a hideaway for kitties who probably already have a cat tree and other emphera scattered around your home. Placing it in our tight New York apartment was a process of trial and error that resulted in accidentally kicking the tent a handful of times. In a bigger room, though, Cat Camp could occupy an out-of-the-way corner that affords a feline a strategic view.
The tent breaks down small, too. Like its human-sized counterparts, Cat Camp uses poles that fold down to fit inside a compact cylindrical drawstring bag.
Aesthetic: Downsized versions of everyday items are, as a general rule, adorable. That does double for a freaking tent for a cat. Depending on one’s level of disposable income and Instagram fever, the argument could be made that $60 is absolutely worth it for something this damn cute. I mean, seriously:
Could You Actually Take It Camping? There’s no reason you couldn’t, aside from your cat’s utter terror at the thought. Cat Camp officially markets its enclosure as a tent for indoor kitties, but it’s made from tough materials that could endure a night outdoors in lousy weather. Whether your cats could endure a night in a national park? Well, that’s another matter.
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