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One thing that the coronavirus has shown us for sure is that there are lots of creative people out there who just needed some free time (and a bit of boredom) to get their hands dirty doing some DIY projects.

We’re seeing some cat owners pass the time during the quarantine by building cardboard tanks for their adorable cats. Some of these are incredibly detailed and show a lot of love for crafting! To brighten up your day and inspire you for some DIY projects, Bored Panda has collected the very best cat tank pics. Scroll down, enjoy, and don’t forget to upvote your fave photos.

Bored Panda spoke with two people who built cardboard tanks for their cats: Garry Stevenson who owns Mittens and Anna B., the owner of Topsy and Turvy. Scroll down for both interviews.

#1

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ƒιѕн
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

M1 Abrams. By far the closest to realistic, def took some time, possibly mobile.

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#2

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Lockdown + boxes = cat tank.

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Kat Rogers
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

UUUH~OH... WE NEED TO BUY MORE LARGE ITEMS ONLINE! WHYYY?! BECAUSE WE'RE OOOUT OF KITTY BUILDING MATERIALS!!

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#3

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Took me all afternoon but I regret nothing!

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"Someone in my Facebook newsfeed had shared a picture of a cat in a tank a while back," Garry revealed. The idea had been stuck in his head for a while and he was planning to build a tank for his cat once he had the time. It took him around 3 hours to craft "at a leisurely pace" and Garry pointed out that his cat loves boxes and cardboard.

Garry told us that his cat is a 2-year-old female named Mittens. "She is mostly calm and collected, apart from when we all go to bed, then she runs about the house like a maniac," he told Bored Panda. "She also takes a toy to the top of the stairs around 1 AM every night and howls which is both annoying and cute."

We also wanted to know how the quarantine has affected Garry and his family. "I work from home anyway as a graphic designer, my wife is a carer with a Scottish charity, so it’s business as usual for us. We do have two kids around all day every day, but they’re pretty good at amusing themselves and can video chat with their friends. Overall, we can’t complain, others aren’t so lucky."

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#4

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Lieutenants catto reporting for duty! Target acquired! Proceed! 

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I’ve reached the “built a tank for the cat” stage of quarantine.

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The British Veterinary Association (BVA) recommends that pet owners keep their cats indoors to prevent the spread of the virus, especially if someone in the household shows symptoms of Covid-19. However, the president of the BVA Daniella Dos Santos told the BBC that all pet owners should “practice good hygiene” because “an animal’s fur could carry the virus for a time” if the pet came into contact with someone who’s ill.

Even if you’re not building cardboard tanks for your cat, there are other ways to keep it happy and feeling meowsome. USA Today writes that it’s very important that your pet eats well during the lockdown, so make sure you’re stocked up with cat food and snacks.

But food isn’t everything—your cat needs to have fun, too! If you don’t have any cat toys, give it some empty cardboard boxes to play with. You never know, it could be the first step on your journey to build your cat its very own tank and make it feel like a meowrine!

#7

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We built our cat a tank out of leftover cardboard.

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Kat Rogers
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OOOH NOOO, KITTY... DON'T FIRE THE GUN WHILE IT'S FACING YOUUU!

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#8

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We made the cat a tank today. I think she likes it.‬

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Apart from awesome crafting activities, the quarantine has had another positive result: animal adoptions are way up in the US. Vox reports that animal shelters all over the US were overwhelmed with applications to adopt cats (and doggos, too).

“We put a call out for fosters on March 13, when everything kind of was really starting to hit full steam,” Katy Hansen, communications director for the Animal Care Centers of New York City, told Vox. “All we knew was that we needed to get as many animals out as possible because we didn’t know how this would affect our staff. We thought we would get 50 applications. We got 5,000.”

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Hansen expected the opposite; she thought that people would leave their animals at shelters instead of adopting them. Meanwhile, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals saw a 500 percent increase in applications to foster pets in New York and Los Angeles since March 15.

#11

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Essential mouse killer reporting for duty.

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Kat Rogers
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

THANK GOD.FOR AMAZON PRIME... FREE SHIPPING, FREE MOVIES, AAAND BOOOXES~ GLORIOUS EMPTY BOXES!!

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#12

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Every cat needs a tank to defend their castle. I can't tell you how frustrating this was to build.

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#13

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Quarantine day 11: my mom build a tank for our cats.

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#16

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The cat tank is coming along nicely...however General McTubs jacked me up for not having added a co-axial gun and some grenade launcher type system.

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#18

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Bored Panda spoke with Anna about how she built a cat tank for two cats Topsy and Turvy. "As any cat owner knows, with owning cats we tend to hang on to boxes for a while. Topsy in particular is very insistent on being able to examine any packages we bring in and testing out how good they are for sitting in after being opened," she told us.
"We’ve started keeping various boxes in the different rooms of our apartment for them since they’re preferred over their actual cat beds. I’d seen the 'cat tank' meme online several times on social media. One evening, after finishing a role of paper towels (and finally having a potential gun for the cannon) I thought, 'why not?!' It took me about two hours one evening to build. Some of that was looking up different images for tanks, so whatever I ended up with was recognizable. Some of that was also finding enough package tape to use."
Anna revealed that after her success with building the tank, she's now turning her attention towards a new project: crafting a cat-Dalek. "The Dalek is taking a lot longer, I’ve spent about three hours so far and only managed the angled base section. I estimate it will take me another 6 to 8 hours including painting to finish."
She and her husband adopted Topsy and Turvy from a foster rescue group in October 2016. "We think they’re about five years old now, and their birthday is sometime in July. They’re litter mates, brother and sister. They are definitely spoiled, both by ourselves and my mother. They get their own Christmas presents every year. Before the coronavirus, Topsy would sit on our front door mat every afternoon waiting for me to come home from work. That meant it was dinner time! He’s also the one to wake me up in the morning if I hit the snooze button too many times on the alarm. Breakfast cannot be delayed," Anna went into detail about how wholesome life with the brother-sister cat duo is like.
"Turvy is our squishy love-bug. She is keen on grooming both my husband and I; we obviously don’t do very good jobs staying clean as humans. She also has mild feline asthma/allergies and has become quite adept at hiding when she detects us getting out her medicine," Anna told Bored Panda. She revealed that when she originally started the Instagram page, it was hers, but then she realized that most of what she posted were pictures of her cats. So she converted it to their page and became their social media meownager because she has "opposable thumbs and they don't."
Anna also told us what life during the lockdown is like in Illinois. "With the ability to work remotely from home, it’s not been as huge a shift as it has for other people we know. Thankfully, we’ve also both managed to stay employed. I have family in the medical profession in the UK, so we’re well aware of the necessity of social distancing and reducing the potential to spread the coronavirus."
Topsy and Turvy's owner said that lots of things like social interactions, going to the movies or even to the local parks are out of the question. She also hasn't been able to visit her parents. "I was supposed to go out to see my parents, my mum had several surgeries last year so this would’ve been the time to go see her now she’d recovered some. Obviously that’s on hold, so just lots of talking over Skype or email."

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#19

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Day 43: The cat is not as nearly as impressed as I am.

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#20

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Inspired by another post to make my cat her own tank

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#21

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When you have a lot of time on your hands + many boxes + a curious adorable cat = The Thorminator.

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#23

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I'm ready to beat the virus, and you? Have you your own tank?

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#25

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Kat Rogers
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

COULD YOU HELP ME... THIS WALL IS IN THE WAY OF MY TANK~ MOVE IT! PURRTY PLEASE.

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#26

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Dom has been seeing others make tanks for their cats so he had to try his hand at it. I’d say he did a pretty good job!

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#27

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Made my cat a tank, not as good as others I’d seen. And we had to bribe him to get the photo.

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#28

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Finally our cat in a tank. Took her about a week.

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#33

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Today we made a cardboard cat tank out of Boh boxes. She looks thrilled!

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#34

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“We ride at dawn ... !”

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#35

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You know you need a hobby when you spend the evening building a cat tank.

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#36

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Private Pru ready for duty!

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#39

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#41

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#42

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My humans built me a tank, one step closer to world domination!

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#43

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Detective Rosa Diaz makes taking out crime personal in her cat tank.

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#44

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#48

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He’s got ya in his sights.

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