Coffee Table Pet Cage

Don't you hate it when you have to get rid of a large piece in your house - like a sofa or bed - and you just don't know what to do with it? The regular trash collector won't take it and, if you don't have a truck, you're stuck with it. If you happen to have a coffee table that you don't need, but you have no way to haul it away, turn it into a pet cage. It's a simple matter to make a coffee table pet cage and you'll no longer have to worry about trashing it.

The best coffee table to use for a cage is a wooden table. The table should have four separate legs which are squared. If the table has a glass top it will need to be removed. If the table has a wooden top, you won't have to make a floor for the cage but, if you remove a glass top, you'll later have to create a floor.

Use stiff-wire screening as the sides for the cage. This type of wire is strong enough to hold most pets yet easy to manipulate. It has small holes so almost any animal can be contained with it. Turn the coffee table upside-down and you'll be ready to "build" the walls.

To begin, measure from the bottom to the top of one leg of the coffee table. Cut the screen to that measurement for the height. Using staples, attach the end of the screen to the side of one leg. Staple the screen from one end of the leg to the other, spacing them no more than a couple of inches apart.

Take the screen to the next leg, staple it all the way down the leg, and continue in this manner, until you reach the area where you began. Then, go back and staple the bottom part of the screen to the coffee table itself. If you're using a table with a glass top, remove the glass, and replace it with thick cardboard or thin wood. Add the screen and you're ready to house a pet.

Some pets, like rabbits, won't necessarily require a top on the cage. If a top is needed you can use a piece of wood, cardboard, Plexiglas, or a similar choice. Or, use another piece of the same screen, and wire it on. Leave one area not wired, bend it back, then bend it back in position. Use ties, Velcro, or other closures to complete. To use, undo the closures and bend the screen backwards. But the most important step of all: don't forget to secure the closures once the animal is in the cage!