Written by Celestine, an architectural designer, founder of MieMie’s Corner, and pet parent to Zaza and Song.
Can cats use dog ramps? In my home, the answer was an immediate yes. Zaza and Song both started using our furniture-style dog ramp without any training. Over the next six months, they climbed it, scratched it, slept on it and eventually discovered several uses I had never planned.I originally brought two dog ramp samples home for one simple reason: I wanted to test the fabrics. I expected to take some product notes. I did not expect my cats to appoint themselves as pet testers—and then become more creative with the product than I was.
Our At-Home Test at a Glance
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Testing period: More than six months
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Pet testers: Zaza, 22 lb; Song, 11 lb
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Observed use: Climbing, scratching, sleeping and resting
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Fabric result: No visible scratches, snags, loose threads or texture changes
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Grip result: No slipping observed while walking up or down
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Additional test: The fabric remained intact after deliberate scraping with scissors
What Was I Actually Testing?
I developed six colors for this furniture-style dog ramp: yellow, deep blue, beige, gray, olive green and pink. The blue is difficult to describe. It looks less like an ordinary navy blue and more like the color of the deep ocean.
The first four colors—yellow, deep ocean blue, beige and gray—can be seen on our 3-in-1 dog ramp and ottoman product page. They use a wave-textured chenille fabric that I found after speaking with more than a dozen suppliers and looking through more samples than I can count. It costs around three to five times more than many ordinary fabrics used on pet products, but it combines the durability I wanted with the appearance of real furniture upholstery.
That balance has always mattered to me. My goal is not simply to make equipment for pets. I want to create furniture-grade pet furniture that belongs naturally in the spaces people and animals share. The original idea behind MieMie’s Corner has always been to share our warm, cozy corners with the pets we love.
The other two samples were olive green and pink, both much less common in pet furniture. The olive green fabric has a larger, light-catching texture that reminds me of ripples moving across water. The pink fabric is soft, fluffy and warm, like a cute but luxurious winter coat. Honestly, their unusual appearance is one of the reasons I love them so much.
After more than six months of regular use, both fabrics still have no visible scratches, snags, loose threads or noticeable texture changes. Our cats have climbed on them, slept on them and scratched them repeatedly. We even deliberately scraped the fabric with scissors during testing, and it remained intact. The cats also walked up and down without slipping.
The fabrics are expensive, but this is exactly where that extra cost goes. I could probably spend the rest of this article discussing all six colors, their textures and the interior styles they suit, so I will save that for another post about pet-friendly fabrics and interior styling. For now, let us meet the two testers who took over my samples.
Wait—Did My Cats Just Volunteer as Pet Testers?
The first pet tester is Zaza, our blue-gray British Shorthair. Zaza is the gentlest and most affectionate cat in our family. He is also the largest and chubbiest.
Sorry, Zaza. I mean no offense.
Zaza weighs around 22 pounds, or 10 kilograms, which is close to the weight of some small dogs. When I first placed the dog ramp next to the sofa—one of the practical setups I discuss in how to place a dog ramp without cluttering your home—I had not even opened it yet. Before I could do anything, he had already jumped onto the closed ottoman and claimed it as his own. Apparently, no invitation was required. He looked perfectly comfortable, as though I had brought the sample home specifically for him.
By the way, the scratch marks on our sofa are painfully obvious in that photo. It was only a quick, slightly blurry snapshot, yet the damage is still easy to see. Sigh. Every sofa in our home has suffered the same fate. At this point, I honestly wish I could replace all of them with this scratch-resistant fabric. Living with cats has made me realize that resistance to claw marks is not a small decorative feature. For pet furniture, it is essential.
Our second pet tester is Song, a Scottish Fold. Song is probably the smartest cat in our family. She is very independent and has strong opinions about how the rest of us should behave. She rarely listens to us. Instead, she prefers to give instructions.
During summer, if she wants my dad to turn on the air conditioner, she gently bites his toes and then walks toward the remote control. The message is clear: please follow me and solve this problem immediately.
Song also takes family meals very seriously. Although her dining area is already in our dining room, she still expects someone to stand beside her while she eats. If we ignore her, she climbs onto a chair or the table and meows until one of us gives in. Simply eating in the same room does not meet her standard. Someone must be right beside her.
She is a cat with rituals, a strong sense of family and very clear personal standards. Therefore, when Song willingly uses something, I know she genuinely likes it.
As soon as I opened the dog ramp, Song walked over to investigate. First, she scratched the raised surface with her paws. Then she climbed onto the ramp and scratched it again. This reaction made perfect sense to me.
The ramp surface uses a 6 mm raised ribbed fabric backed with a non-slip rubber layer. Its ridges are even more pronounced than those on the sisal scratching boards we have at home, giving her paws a strong grip. Even after Song scratched it repeatedly, the fabric remained unchanged.
In the photo, Song takes up only around one-quarter of the open ramp. She weighs approximately 11 pounds, or 5 kilograms—exactly half of Zaza’s weight. For an average cat, the width of this dog ramp is more than enough. That is not particularly surprising, of course. If the ramp is wide enough for a large dog, how could it not have enough room for a cat?
The more meaningful discovery was that Song understood how to use it immediately. I did not guide her, place treats on the ramp or train her to walk up. She inspected the texture with her paws and then climbed onto it by herself.
Song is now ten years old, so her joints are something I think about more and more. A retrospective veterinary study of Scottish Fold cats documented skeletal symptoms including lameness, stiff movement and reluctance to jump. The researchers linked these findings to defective cartilage maturation and fu
nction, with the severity and age of onset varying between cats [1].
Over the past year, I have noticed that Song sometimes hesitates before jumping onto our kitchen counter, which is around 90 cm high. She loves drinking water directly from the tap, so the counter remains one of her favorite places. Whenever I see her hesitate, I try to lift her up.
Unfortunately, Song is proud and stubborn. The moment she realizes that I am about to help, the hesitation disappears from her face. She suddenly looks very determined and jumps onto the counter by herself, almost as though she needs to prove that she can still do it.
That is Song.
She currently has no obvious difficulty reaching the sofa or bed. Still, now that we have a pet ramp at home—and she genuinely enjoys using it—she has another way to reach lower furniture without jumping every time. Fewer jumps mean less repeated impact and pressure on her joints. A ramp does not replace veterinary care, of course, but it can give an older cat a gentler route onto the furniture she uses every day.
Wait—Can a Dog Ramp Become a Cat Bed Too?
After watching Zaza and Song use the ramp, I discovered another possibility that I had never expected. The MieMie’s Corner pet ramp includes open spaces underneath its two removable ramp panels. Both panels lift off completely rather than remaining hinged to the frame. Once removed, they leave two fully open compartments. The structure remains stable, the cats can enter or leave whenever they want, and there is nothing hanging above them.
Zaza and Song quickly decided that these spaces were also cat beds. They genuinely love sleeping inside them.
I think the open compartments remind them of cardboard boxes—just more comfortable and more like real furniture. The triangular sides create a partially sheltered feeling without closing them in completely. They can curl up inside and feel hidden, but all they need to do is lift their heads to observe everything happening around them. They have privacy without losing control of their surroundings.
For curious little hunters who like to hide, watch and remain ready for anything, what could be better?
Because the ramp has two removable panels, I can change the setup depending on how the cats want to use it. Sometimes I remove the upper panel and keep the lower ramp section in place, giving them an easy route into the open upper sleeping nook. At other times, I remove both panels. With both compartments open, the entire piece looks a little like a two-level cat bunk bed. One cat can sleep in the upper section while the other rests below.
In winter, I place a thick, fluffy cat bed inside to keep them warm. During summer, I replace it with a cooling mat. The product originally had three functions: a dog ramp, an ottoman and hidden storage. My cats looked at those three functions and apparently decided that the list was still incomplete.
Are My Cats More Creative Than I Am?
Since I brought these two dog ramp samples home, Zaza and Song have spent far less time playing in ordinary cardboard boxes. They prefer sleeping inside the open compartments, where they can rest, watch the room and climb out whenever they like. Unlike cardboard, the ramp does not leave little pieces of paper all over the floor, and after more than six months of climbing and scratching, its upholstery still shows no visible damage.
I originally focused on the ramp angle, width, stability, traction, storage and how the overall shape would fit into a home. Zaza saw an ottoman that clearly belonged to him. Song saw a textured pathway she could climb and investigate. Together, they discovered a sheltered resting space, a lookout point and a two-level cat bed.
I brought these samples home to test two fabrics. Instead, Zaza and Song reminded me why I wanted to design pet furniture in the first place. Maybe my cats are more creative than I am, but that is exactly what MieMie’s Corner is about: creating warm little corners that people and pets can truly share.
Reference
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Malik, R., Allan, G. S., Howlett, C. R., Thompson, D. E., James, G., McWhirter, C., & Kendall, K. (1999). Osteochondrodysplasia in Scottish Fold cats. Australian Veterinary Journal, 77(2), 85–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-0813.1999.tb11672.x
