Cat proofing a garden

samsie

when i got my kittens i kept them in as house cats but once they were nearly a year they showed signs they wanted to venture out.i fenced my garden.. meshed my garden..did guard duty..wandered the streets in the rain with a carrier if they did escape...now ive realised if they want to go out they will always find away..they go out every day now and pop back for a meal or cuddle..ive trained them to return at night and then they are kept in till morning.they dont wander far only a few houses near me and a lot of neighbours watch out for them...i have pet ins now incase of an accident which i hope will never happen..but they enjoy the outside world so much ive had to let them have the freedom.

silvertabbies999

I cat proofed my garden this year. It is a square roughly 30 feet by 25 feet with a wooden fence 6ft high already in place.
All I did was run netting over brackets so there is a foot or so overhang all the way around. The cats have never attempted to jump up nor has any outside cat came in so far.
I originally used metal building restraint brackets from B&Q but they looked ugly and out of place so I just bought the hanging basket brackets from Wilko's and placed them every six feet or so. The netting also came from Wilko's - the plastic green netting - from memory about 4 pounds eacjh for a 15m long and about 18 inches wide. So the whole thing didnt cost much at all. The netting just sits on the brackets - no angle, just flat. It does not look out of place and is below the level of the top of the fence so neighbours cannot even see the net or brackets.

I think the hanging basket type brackets are much nicer and blend in well.
If anyone wants to see photos of mine let me know.

Rob

patchwork_cat

If I ever get around to cat proofing this is the type I would opt for http://www.katzecure.com/ it is the rolling pole style and I reckon you get make a similar version fairly inexpensively if you were handy.

pigeonpie

depends on the cat. My burmese escapologist (RIP) would have managed to climb over the inward leaning fencing so I had to roof his cat run.
A friend of mine's cat however has a cat tree in her 45 degree-inwards fenced garden and he's not got out once, even when sitting on the cat tree and watching birds in a neighbouring field.

j3ss13

i have just had mesh and brackets put all around my garden as i have neighbours that keep hurting my cats. one has been shot, two have been poisoned with acid, resulting in their faces being burnt and their fleshing 'melting' and the last incident was when they swung my one cat around by her tail. it broke in two places and she had to have her tail amputated. we did not think she was going to survive at all. to be honest the mesh worked for most of our cats (we have 8) but the 2 smallest were still able to pull themselves over the mesh. we have now resorted to building a wooden and mesh building off the back of our house so that the cats can get fresh air but cannot get out and get hurt. this has worked the best and gives us peace of mind. we have had a few 'arguments' amongst the cats but 3 weeks later they are settling down and are far more relaxed. this is the best thing that we ever did but did cost quite a bit. i was constantly outside making sure they didn't get over the mesh but now life is simpler with them

j3ss13

the police were not interested, neither were the rspca. there are 2 families who we suspect but we do not have enough proof. if i ever do get that proof i have a load of people waiting to go around but i have other ways of getting my own back (legally) but it will hurt them just as much

patchwork_cat

j3ss13 wrote: »

the police were not interested, neither were the rspca. there are 2 families who we suspect but we do not have enough proof. if i ever do get that proof i have a load of people waiting to go around but i have other ways of getting my own back (legally) but it will hurt them just as much

Ohhh share. How appalling what they have done.