Living in a busy neighborhood or near a highway can make cat-owners nervous. It only takes one escape for your cat to disappear forever. We can’t keep an eye on the cat all the time, and need to know he is secure in the yard. Having a fence to keep them in could be the best option in keeping your kitty safe.
Young and healthy cats can jump eight feet easily, well over your average yard fence. A cat with claws can climb a tall fence of chain link or wood. Cats are creative climbers, making it difficult to find a way that they won’t slip through your grasp and out into the world. So how do you cat-proof the yard?
Ideally, you’d put in an ornamental fence too high for the cat to climb. However, if the fence is already in, and you don’t want to install a new one, there are several ways you can cat-proof your fence to keep them in the yard. Of course, the first option would be to run razor wire and electric cable over the top of your fence, but if your Mr. Kitty is a climber and will find a way to get up there, you have to settle for milder methods.
If your fence is tall enough to keep a cat in, but is made of climbable chain link or wood, a sheet of hard plastic installed at the top prevents the cat from climbing to the top. He can’t sink his claws into the hard plastic, or fit his little paws through holes in chain link.
If your fence is short enough a cat can jump it, you’ll have to build something at the top that warns him that it would be dangerous to jump. A band of mesh two feet wide held up by poles at a 45 degree angle going into the yard makes the cat nervous. He can’t see a clear way to land on the top of the fence. Also, the netting is loose, so if the cat reaches the top, he doesn’t feel as if the netting supports his weight, and will be tempted to give up.
There is always the option of a roller bar fence. You can string PVC pipe on sturdy rope on the top of the fence, so the pipe will spin. When the leaping cat hits the pipe, his paws will spin off the rolling pipe and he will fall back to the yard safely.
The goal in all the fence-top solutions is to convince the cat he can’t safely jump or climb, or repel him when he leaps, all without harming him. With a little hard work, it can be done and you and Fluffy can be at ease.
