Cat beds may just be the purrfect thing for the family felines

By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on October 16, 2024.

Herald photo by Justin Seward Brad Kronlund displays his Custom Cat Cribs business at the Handmade Market on the weekend at the Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre.

Cats have the opportunity to have a comfortable, artistic looking bed thanks to one local business.

Brad Kronlund is the owner and creator of Custom Cat Cribs and was at the Lethbridge Handmade Market at the Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre.

Kronlund initially started the concept in his parents garage at 15 years old with simple cat trees ,and then slowly added artistic themes to them and in 2020 it spread through social media and got him to where he is now.

“I had made a little cardboard tunnel system for my cats,” said Kronlund.

“My dad had seen it and then he suggested I make cat trees because he knew I liked cats. And then so .. I had made (a) little proto-type one, posted it on Kijiji, and there’s like weirdly a lot of demand for them.”

Kronlund looks for the artistic theme and quality when building the cribs.

“We make a big point to make sure ours are very sturdy and they’re not going to fall apart after a few months and then of course we want to make them eye catching and colourful,” said Kronlund.

The elite models tend to have a theme to them which is anything from an enchanted forest and spooky to jungle.

“So those ones are really fun to just come up with a concept and then it’s a lot of just sitting and visualizing,” said Kronlund.

“So that’s how I like to put the artistic side into it.”

Comfort and accessibility is important for the cats.

“So it’s easy for them to navigate the tree and it’s a comfortable place for them to hang out all day,” said Kronlund.

Custom Cat Cribs have been shipped anywhere from North America to China.

“We have lots of happy cats around North America,” said Kronlund.

He often hears how soft the cribs are, that people have never seen the concept before and comment about the craftsmanship.

Custom Cat Cribs has been operating in Lethbridge for 10 years.