C&C Alternatives Looking to make a cage that is more sturdy and cat proof than C&C

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(Not my cage. Found these in the gallery)

I used closet shelves for my lid and then ended up covering the top of my lid with boat window vinyl to stop my cats from putting their arms in. The front of my cage has two plexiglass viewing windows replacing the two middle grids as well so it limits what the cats can reach but still allows some ventilation. Another thing you can do is add some window screen to the lid so there is even more ventilation.

I'm thinking of making something out of wood, like a stand or something, but now to cat proof it after seems to be the problem.

One of my cats is more of a hunter than the other. Now that the top is covered by the vinyl she isn't as obsessed with trying to get them from the sides but I keep the pigs away from the fronts so their whole kitchen is basically blocked off from the cats. At night they sleep in their loft and since the lid is solid they are secure from the cats. You might need to do the sides in a small galvanized cage wire and do away with the grids. If the cats are really bad and I was building from scratch I would do tiny wire (like 1/2" x 1" or smaller cage wire) for the tops and sides and do plexiglass for the front so you can see them better. Tiny wire kinda boxes them in and you can't observe them as well. A wood top might be kinda heavy if the cage is really big.

The wire is actually strong enough that you wouldn't need wood framing unless you want it for aesthetic reasons.