Fences - Cats - DIY

A friend of mine has one of these fences that's about 178cm (5'10") tall:

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She wants to stop her cats getting out, and other cats getting in. I know full well that there are numerous commercially available products that will stop cats (along with other animals) climbing fences. I'm sure they do work, but they're all fairly pricey, particularly if attempting to cover a significant length of fencing. I'm now thinking about trying a home-rigged set up. I'm considering getting a whole heap of empty 2 Litre plastic softdrink bottles (Soda bottles to any USA readers), then cutting off the base and neck of the bottles, then cutting them lengthwise, then siliconing them to the tops of the fence so the sides of the bottles "curve downwards" from the top of the fence. I'm thinking this curved plastic will be too smooth and slippery for a cat to get any grip with it's claws. I have no problem with spending some time getting this to work, but I want to keep the cost down, so spending lots of $$$ isn't happening. Again, I am aware of many commercially available products.

I was wondering if anyone has attempted anything like this, and if they can offer any advice. Thanks.

To any cat "lovers" out there, my friend isn't getting rid of her cats, nor is she trapping/baiting any of the cats in her suburb.

Reply to
Gas Bag
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It will not work on a cat in-heat.

Reply to
recyclebinned

Good luck with that.

Easier would be 6' sections of plastic drain pipe.

Anyway, even an inspired kitty cannot jump six feet in the air. Is there anyway you can slickify the fence?

A few years ago, an asshole neighbor of the Ernest Hemingway home in Key West bitched about the Hemingway cats getting out and bothering her, in spite of a six-foot concrete block fence surrounding the Hemingway property. Then the feds got involved.

"Make the fence higher" said the federal agency that looks out for the welfare of display animals, like found in a circus.

"We can't" said the trustees of the property. "This is a federal historic site and modifications are prohibited."

"Then get rid of the cats," said some pompous federal bureaucrat.

"We can't," said the trustees. "It's part of Hemingway's will that the cats go with the donation of the property. If the cats go, the estate reverts to Hemingway's heirs."

In the end, I think they disposed of the aggravated neighbor.

Reply to
HeyBub

You mean like keeping a cat as a pet?

Reply to
Bert

On the TV show, "Cats from Hell" or something like that, they pointed out that you can, at the top of a balcony rail, put a "fence" part jetting in at 45 degrees for about 18", I think. This was to keep a cat on its owner's balcony and not allow it to crawl over to the neighbor's balcony. He said cats won't crawl upside down and around it. I'm skeptical.

Reply to
Art Todesco

It should work. That's the basic premise of all the "cat fence" products. I had more or less that setup all along my perimeter fence and since installing it my cats have not been able to get out.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Cats will not - but you just created a "jungle gym" for every squirrel in the neighbourhood. A six to 10 inch 45 degree slope in at the top of a six foot fence will stop all but the most determined cat.

Done at both sides it stops travel in both directions. And makes a runway at the top for whatever makes it half way. And for all the local squirrels.

Reply to
clare

LOL, what else is inside the yard ?

"animal proof" the fence where the fence is only the boundary indicator and not likely to be at fault...

How close to the fence are any plants ?

How accessible is the roof of the house to the fence ? (cats love climbing and jumping)

Nothing you do to the fence will keep out other cats who jump in from outside beyond the control of the fence and cat keeper...

Sounds like this cat lady needs to build a kennel in her yard where the cats can go inside and outside of the house but when outside are completely enclosed in a caged off area... That is the ONLY possible solution that will prevent escape of her cats and block ingress of strange cats...

Reply to
Evan

... Cat containment stuff snipped...

The great Evan has spoken.

We may now close this thread.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Derby's Law of Usenet: When the Great Evan has spoken, the thread is closed.

Christ>

The great Evan has spoken.

We may now close this thread.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

It's actually pretty easy. Our cats have never been off our property, except to go to the vets, of course.

Reply to
krw

Zoos have practical experience with enclosures for cats and other climbing animals. Why not inquire there?

Reply to
Don Phillipson

How will an enclosure in the back yard prevent ingress of strange cats into the yard?

BTW...what's a "strange cat"?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I have four cats and an 18' by 50' backyard with a 4' chain link fence. I extended the fence with 4' of some fencing from Home Despot and have the top foot bend in at a 45 degree angle. It does a reasonably good job of keeping my cats in the yard but does not stop other critters from entering. I leave a door open when my cats aren't there so the other critters can get out.

We have possums and raccoons in the neighborhood even though this is New York City. Raccons are a pain in the ass but possums are pretty cool. And of course we have feral cats but we've neutered most of them and we sort of try to take care of them as much as we can. They have nice styrofoam houses lined with straw for the winter and are well fed.

Once in a while some critter actually forces its way out through the fencing, leaving a hole that my cats can use. That just happened last week; one of the bolder ones was trying to get at a squirrel in a tree next door and was halfway through a small hole when I grabbed him.

It works pretty well though, but over time almost any fence will develop a weakness. I use the Loc8tor for that - each of my cats has a collar with a Loc8tor tag and I can track them for a short distance. One cat still has out priviliges (I took him off the street in front of my house and he likes to visit his old friends once in a while). I can track him pretty well with the Loc8tor so I know that it's effective enough for the job.

There is always a risk in letting cats out of the house though. I know many folks think that it's cruel to keep cats inside all the time, and they have a point. My cats love going into the yard. But I keep it as safe as possible yet there is always some risk.

One of my neighbors had six cats and one was allowed to roam the neighborhood since he wasn't happy otherwise. It was sort of cute, he'd be sitting on the air conditioner waiting to be let in most mornings as I'm heading off to work. He didn't come home just three days ago, and when we were asking around we found out that a black cat had been hit by a car a few days ago. So he won't be sitting on the A/C anymore.

Cats that are outside will die sooner or later (not very insightful I know since we all will die). But the odds of something bad happening go up rather quickly once they are out of the house. The fencing makes it a tolerable risk.

Reply to
dgk

I'm not agruing at all, just passing along my experience.

We've had more than a few cats over the years, 2 of which were free to roam (FTR) the neighborhood. The first one was someone else's FTR cat that simply decided he liked us better. We ended up taking care of him for over 5 years until he passed away from some kind of poisoning. As far as we know, he was about 12 at the time and as far as we know he was a FTR cat for his entire life.

Our current cat is 9 and has been a FTR cat since we adopted her as a kitten. She comes in the house for a "walk through" every now and then, and spent more time inside this winter than any other year, but for the most part, she's happy to be outside and sleep in the garage. We were on vacation last week and you could tell how much she missed us. She slept with us the first night we were home, which is something that hasn't happened in the summer for many years. Since that night, she's been back outside all day and night.

You mentioned "cute". The cute thing that our cat does is walk with us when we walk the dogs. As we leave the house with the dogs, she'll come out of the garage, or out from under a bush or car, and follow us through the neighborhood. The neighbors love it!

Sometimes my wife likes to take our younger dog on longer walks, out of the neighborhood and near busier streets. When this happens, we try to locate the cat and bring her inside until my wife is out of sight so that the cat won't follow her. When we can't find the cat, my wife will keep checking as she walks and return home if the cat has followed her. The she'll toss the cat inside and head back out.

As far as longevity, the last indoor cats we had lived to be about 18 years old. We raised them from newborns, feeding them with eye droppers until they could take care of themselves. That's older than our previous FTR cat lived, but obvioulsy I don't know about our current cat yet. 18 does seem like like a long time for an FTR cat to survive.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I had one that thought he was a dog.

Reply to
krw

...

Only one of my indoor cats made it past 16, so 18 is quite good. It depends on the area to some degree. I had friends who were living in West Virginia on a pretty open meadow, and all the cats wandered around. There were real predators and the roads were dirt so no one drove fast. Of course there were real roads nearby but the cats pretty much stayed in the meadow, which I guess is much more interesting for them than concrete and asphalt.

I'd let all my cats roam in that circumstance, but living in NYC they're lucky that they aren't stuck in an apartment 15 floors above the street.

Reply to
dgk

Oops, that as "NO real predators".

Reply to
dgk

Last night I watched my cat stalk something in the woods for about 10 minutes until it must have flown/scampered away.

After 10 minutes of crouching down and stealthily walking towards the woods, she just sat up and started cleaning herself, like "Yep, that's all I came out here for. Hunting something? No, not me. Just walked over here to lick my paws, yep, that's all."

Liar!

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Not long ago I saw a study reporting that feral cats (and I presume tame ones) catch their prey every third pounce. Just imagine, only three leaps away from a snack (lizard, bird, frog, grasshopper, mouse, mole, moth, baby anything, and thousands of specific prey - not including opossums).

Reply to
HeyBub

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