If you’d like to see the latest catios we’ve added, we’re posting them on our Facebook page at South Shore Catios. As of August 31, 2026 there were 39 catios on our page. We hope you find them inspirational!
If you are on the South Shore of Nova Scotia and have a catio, we’d love to hear from you. Please message us via the Facebook page.
Catio tour update: although ticket sales were down, donations were up. $919 was raised this year to help feral cats. Many thanks to the hosts, visitors and people who shared our posts! We truly appreciate your support.
(Photo from a colony we worked on this past summer: mom has been adopted, Harry and his sister Hermione are up for adoption through Saltwater Whiskers Cat Rescue. )
The 2026 Catio Tour will take place on Sunday, August 30, 2026.
This year, eight catios will be featured on the tour! Information about the participating catios and their general locations is available on our website. You’re welcome to visit whichever catios interest you, in any order you choose. Please keep travel time in mind, as some catios are located farther apart. A general tour map is available here, and specific addresses will be emailed to ticket holders after purchase.
New this year: We’ve added an extra hour to the tour! All catios will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased:
All ticket sales from this year’s Catio Tour will be donated to the Nova Scotia Humane Society in support of its Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program for feral cats in Lunenburg County.
We hope you’ll join us for a fun afternoon exploring inspiring outdoor spaces for cats while helping improve the lives of community cats in our region.
The Catio Tour is a self-guided event. You can start anywhere on the map that works for you and see the catios you want to see. I posted the map so you can be conscious of the time needed to drive from one to another.
The catios are in:
Bridgewater One and Bridgewater Two
Crouses Settlement
Dayspring
Lower Branch
Pentz
Spectacle Lakes
And there is a catio builder (Custom Catio Co.) in Conquerall Mills who has opened their personal catio for you to have a look and to discuss building your next catio.
I will post about each one before the tour on our Facebook event page to help you plan your tour.
A catio tour is an opportunity for you to see catios up close and to ask the owners about everything from how to keep the bugs out, cost, anything they would do differently, how the cats use the space, etc. It is one thing to look at photos online and another to see catios in person. Hopefully you will get lots of ideas from what you see. Please do take lots of photos. Please do ask questions.
Plan ahead!
We have posted information on each catio and a map of the communities they are located. The exact addresses will be emailed when you buy your tickets.
Please be aware you may not make it to all the catios even though we have tried to keep them all within 10-20 minutes drive of each other. You will have 4 hours. In the past some people have been at their first catio right at the opening time. This is likely a wise strategy!
A few ground rules:
Please respect the time frame and do not visit before or after. These catio owners have generously volunteered their time and opened their properties to you.
Leave dogs at home or in the car (if not a hot day). Cats may be out in the catios.
You may be able to go inside some catios but please ask if you can as we do not want any cats to escape.
Catio used by: Melange, Daisy, and Loki
Built by: homeowner
Crouses Settlement has a network of almost invisible tunnels that weaves through the woods, landing at small catio stops along the way.
“We just celebrated our one year anniversary in our new home. When we landed with our three fur babies, Melange, Daisy, and Loki, last July Herman got right to work on their new outside world. To say that their previous outside world was extravagant is an understatement, so this was no small task, and has only just begun. His dream, and mine, is to have our ‘kids’ join us and be an integrated part of our new home by having a wonderful new world to explore. We hope you enjoy this first part, but be sure to come back next year when there will be even more to see!”
Catio used by: Teddy, Beni and Otto
Built by: homeowner
One of the smaller catios on the tour, the catio was built by a father-daughter team. It was originally designed for two older cats to use; now it meets the needs of three much younger cats. The entrance is through a window.
“We moved to NS nine years ago from Ontario and had a catio there. Our two cats at the time – Smokey and Chai – loved the outdoors but were indoor cats. We had a mulch ground cover in our old catio but soon realized the cats were dragging bits in with them through the cat door. When we moved here, we decided to keep it a bit cleaner with a wood floor. Smokey and Chai have since passed on but there are three new cats – Teddy, Beni and Otto – who enjoy it just as much.”
Catio used by: Glow, Eddie and Moon
Built by: homeowner
Bridgewater 2 is right down on the ground so the cats must feel like they truly are outside!
“Our cats Nixx and Flash enjoyed going outdoors. Nixx was a ferocious hunter and our home has tons of wildlife around. So I built a little catio at first that connected directly to our home. It was very small though and we couldn’t access it very easily on the outside. Nixx as a Manx cat suffered from heriditary health issues and eventually lost her bladder control. My wife became pregnant and so we turned their love for outside into a much larger project that evolved into Nixx’s catio: a fully insulated house and outdoor yard for her to live her best life. It serves all our cats for day visits (we carry our current cats out and back in) now and as a shrine to remember our beloved Nixx and our cat Flash.”
Catio used by: Oliver, Thomas, Lily, Violet, Walter and Willow
Built by: homeowner
Pentz has a wrap-around the house tunnel and another high in the sky that fetches up at a catio at the edge of the woods.
“We began the catio project in 2022 and over the past 4 years we have built our catio in 3 phases. The first phase brought the cats safely from the basement window into a cozy cat and human friendly enclosure which is outfitted with a tree, shelves and a loveseat. From there a Phase 2 tunnel was added to allow the cats to check out the side and front of the house. Phase 3 incorporated a second tunnel which led to an enclosure which allows the cats to get down on the ground and view much more of their territory up close and personal.We have recently included an area to allow catnip plants to grow which is enclosed but will permit the cats to nibble the tips of the plants as they grow into larger bushes and hopefully over winter. We also renovated the roof of Phase1 to make it better able to tolerate winter snow and ice.
Phase 4 is in the the planning stage and could possibly include a third tunnel and a third enclosure on the ground large enough for cat-style sprinting and exploring on the side of the house or it could be on the front of the house and include a cat and human cabana that’s bug proof and relaxing.
Oliver, Thomas, Lily, Violet, Walter and Willow (our newest addition to the family) love the opportunity to be outdoors and have thoroughly inspected and approved each addition and improvement.”
Catio used by: Taylor, Dug, Vincent & Yoshi
Built by: homeowner
This is the only catio on the tour which opens up from a sliding glass door. It is medium-sized catio which is enjoyed by cats and humans alike.
“I built the catio because I have two formerly outdoor cats that love the outdoors, but also were almost killed so this was a good compromise. One at our last house that lasted seven years without maintenance and hoping that this one will get me twice that.
So far so good! We built this a year and a half ago and it’s still going strong. Made it through that crazy winter last year and now we’re getting another summer of enjoyment. Our 4 cats love it year round, as we have the cat door insert in the sliding glass door so we are able to keep the main door closed when it’s cold or raining, but if they want to be “wild” can adventure out there in the elements as it has the roof. The screen along the walls also lets us enjoy it as a screened porch, which is lovely, and has become our favourite place to read in the evenings bug free.”
