Published May 15, 2026
Image Credit: https://bestfriends.widen.net/s/lxsw75dk2n/the-cat-carpenter_hz_no-gfx_260042
On any given day, visitors to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary’s Cat World might spot several felines sitting on adorable little Adirondack-style chairs, where they lounge, nap and catch rays on the glassed-in porches.
These stylish cat-size Adirondack chairs – with the characteristic wood planks and slant, topped by a towel or blanket on the seat for comfort padding – are the creation of Best Friends volunteer Curtis McIff. People around the sanctuary are calling them “Catdirondack” chairs. Cute!
In a Best Friends video, we see several cats seated on Curtis’ chairs and sunning themselves in a room with window walls.
Image Credit: https://bestfriends.widen.net/s/lxsw75dk2n/the-cat-carpenter_hz_no-gfx_260042
“I take dogs on car rides quite a bit, and when we drive through there and I see a cat sunning itself on one of my chairs – yeah, I smile a little bit,” he tells the camera.
Curtis has made about 100 of these Catdirondack chairs – about 16 inches tall and 14 inches wide – over the past few years in his home woodworking shop, where he enjoys his retirement hobby. He started by making a few chairs for his own cats, and the chairs were a big hit.
“It was extremely unexpected when I built them for my cats,” says Curtis, 58, a retired salesman, in an interview with Cats.com. “The cats ran right to them and jumped into them in the courtyard.”
Making the chairs – most of which are painted brown, purple, red, green, or yellow – as a gift for the shelter cats seemed like the next step, Curtis says, and his wife, Mindie, encouraged it. He now has donated about 80 Catdirondack chairs to Best Friends, where the shelter cats awaiting adoption showed the same enthusiasm for his cat furniture.
Image Credit: https://bestfriends.widen.net/s/lxsw75dk2n/the-cat-carpenter_hz_no-gfx_260042
“As soon as we put them down, they started walking on them and laying on them,” says Curtis, who also does some repair work for people with wooden furniture, which dries out and cracks in the hot and dry Utah climate. “It seems like every time I give them a chair, the cats are on it within five minutes. It’s like it’s a perfect size.”
Curtis made his first three Catdirondack chairs around 2017 for his three cats: Clyde, Bonnie, and Edgar, all of whom have since crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge. Now, the family’s four cats: July, August, McIff and McTank – enjoy their dad’s cat furniture.
Unfortunately, you cannot order one of Curtis’ chairs for your own cats. I asked in hopes of doing so.
The McIffs’ dedication to Best Friends goes back about two decades, when Curtis and Mindy moved from Salt Lake City to Kanab, just so that they could be near the sanctuary and volunteer. Curtis spends all day Tuesdays and Thursdays volunteering at Best Friends, where he usually works with the dogs. Curtis has no background in carpentry, but he wanted a retirement hobby, so he took up woodworking in a free-standing shed on the property at his house, which some people call “Best Friends East.”
“It’s much better than sitting in my recliner yelling at the TV,” he jokes. “For me, it’s a hobby. I’m not looking for a job; I don’t want a job. I just enjoy doing it.”
Image Credit: https://bestfriends.widen.net/s/lxsw75dk2n/the-cat-carpenter_hz_no-gfx_260042
Curtis’ passion for creating Catdirondack chairs has many layers to it besides keeping busy in retirement, he says
“I really enjoy the way the cats use them and enjoy them,” he says. “It’s just as much therapeutic for me. Anything to keep me from watching TV and just being depressed about the state of the world; I can go down and actually do something positive.”
The emotional boost he gets from helping animals is very impactful, Curtis says.
“It makes my life so much better to be doing something positive than to be worrying about what I can’t do,” he says. “I try to share that with as many people as I can. It does make other people happy as well. I want to keep doing it as long as possible.”
Curtis’ chairs have gained him many appreciative admirers, not just among the cat population but also the staff at Best Friends.
“The furniture that Curtis created is beloved by the cats in our care. They just love to take naps in the sun on the chairs or curl up with their kitty friends on the day beds. Curtis really helped to make our cat areas comfortable and Best Friends is so grateful for his contributions,” said Kira Ikeda, senior manager, visitor and community engagement, Best Friends Animal Society. “Curtis is a great example that there are so many ways to volunteer and improve the lives of homeless pets until they find loving families of their own.”
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Interview, press release, and Cats.com
