catio

C3A1T1I1O1
UK/ˈkæt.i.əʊ/Canada, US/ˈkæt.i.oʊ/Canada, US[ˈkæɾ.i.oʊ]Australia/ˈkæt.i.əʉ/

noun

An outdoor enclosure for cats.

Scrabble 7

Meanings

nouncatio (plural catios)

plural catios

  1. An outdoor enclosure for cats.

    And we have a catio of sorts, a small screened porch built by the previous owner for humans.

    2010 June 21, Teresa Mears, “Do your kitties need a 'catio'?”, in MSN Money
    4 more examples

    So some cat owners who would never dream of letting their pets roam free outside have come up with a creative compromise: an enclosed space — usually in the form of a screened-in porch or deck — that allows them to share the great outdoors. Please don’t call it a cage. They prefer the term “catio.”

    2010 June 16, Jennifer A. Kingson, “‘Catios’ Bring Cats Outdoors”, in The New York Times

    She made a “fence” of them for Varmint inside the wrought iron white fence that bordered the patio so that it was his “catio.”

    2010, Sue Tatem, Mones, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 35

    They're happy to hang out on what we call their “catio” all day, lazing on the couch while glowering at chipmunks and letting the sun warm the downy fur on their bellies.

    2012 May 1, Jen Lancaster, Jeneration X: One Reluctant Adult's Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development; Or, Why It's Never Too Late for Her Dumb Ass to Learn Why Froot Loops Are Not for Dinner, New American Library, →ISBN

    Behaviorally, catios help cats organically cross their own challenge line; like any Catification project, catios should be scalable and filled with everything from scent soakers (for comfort, both physical and territorial) to superhighway elements that can change over time to accomodate the cat's curiousity and maturation.

    2014, Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin, Catification, Designing a Happy and Stylish Home for Your Cat (and You!), page 227

Origin

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

catio. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catio

MLA

“catio.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catio. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “catio,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catio.

Source: catio on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.