Susan Gottlieb visits with her cat Shadow, who walks through a cat run that surrounds their home in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Anyone handy with a saw and a staple gun can build a simple version of an outdoor fun park for felines, devised by Susan and Dan Gottlieb of Beverly Hills.

The open-air cat run wanders up, down and around the house. Viewing platforms wind up to the roof for bird-watching and sunbathing. Playpens at ground level invite games and snoozes.

Since the Gottliebs moved to their home in 1985, they wanted each cat to enjoy the outdoors as much as they do. But that would have been too dangerous for the animals, which could have wandered off or been attacked by predators.

In 2000, after one of their cats escaped from the house and was killed by a coyote, the couple hired a carpenter to build an enclosed run. At first, it was a small area, accessed through one door. When the couple realized how much the cats enjoyed their protected outdoor existence, the design was expanded. Now five cat doors lead from the house into the run.

The Gottliebs, who own the G2 nature and wildlife gallery in the Venice section of Los Angeles, had the path made of redwood planks and wire fencing sold in 4-foot-wide rolls. They shaped the fencing into a tunnel and stapled it to the sides of the wood platform. Sections are carpeted with rubberized matting typically used as kitchen drawer lining

Spike, Shadow, Cleopatra and Angel seem content now that they have the run of the house, indoors and out. But the Gottliebs say they might add an extension, to allow the cats to go down the hill to observe other four-footed creatures wandering there.

“The great thing about this kind of run is that it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to build,” Susan says. “People can start very small, like we did.”