An ingenious scientist created a homemade ladder so his beloved cat can travel freely in and out of his house after his landlord banned him from having a catflap.
Tariq Khoyratty, 26, made the 7m ladder, which is 15cm wide, for less than £25 from four 6ft decking planks and strips of wood.
His girlfriend Nikki Wheeler, 26, came up with the idea after their estate agent banned them from fitting a catflap to their 17th century Grade II listed cottage’s back doors.
Since building and installing it on Saturday, October 8, their five-month-old ginger tom cat called Nelson has been constantly running up and down wooden structure.
It is attached to the couple’s first floor bedroom window with an easily detachable elastic bungee cord.
Tariq, who is currently studying a PhD in Immunology at Oxford University, said: “We were a little apprehensive at first as to whether he’d use the ladder so we made a small practice one which we propped against the downstairs window.
“Once he was used to that we coaxed him onto the larger ladder with treats and he took too it very quickly.
“He now uses it as his main access route in and out of the house. This is perfect for us as he’s now free to come and go as he pleases without one of us having to act as a doorman.
“Our main concern was that Nelson might slip off the ladder, he has been known to fall off the back of the sofa, which is why I installed the rungs.”
Tariq has lived in the £500,000 three-bed property, in Oxford, Oxfordshire, for the past two years.
The ladder’s presence went unnoticed by neighbours because of their sheltered garden but it created an internet storm when a friend tweeted about it on Tuesday (11/10).
The picture of Nelson going down the ladder has since been retweeted more than 1,200 times and liked by more than 2,500 people.
Describing the reaction Tariq said: “I initially shared the picture with a few friends, their reaction was mixed.
“We were very surprised to see the level of interest generated on twitter. Clearly other cat owners are more appreciative of this sort of thing.
“There was very little planning involved. I’m very pleased with the ladder, its a simple solution to a problem that I’m sure many renters in the UK have.”
