It is increasingly common for responsible pet owners to keep their cats indoors to protect them from traffic accidents or attacks by other cats or dogs. If a cat has never been exposed to the outdoors, then it may be content to live indoors, but it could be a boring and lonely life. There is a simple protection system for cats in your garden fence so that your pet can enjoy a fuller life, playing and hiding, observing birds and insects.
There are many reasons to keep your pet indoors or to prevent it from leaving the safety of your yard. The average age of an indoor cat is 16 years old, and some live to be 21 years old. Compare this to the average outdoor cat age of just 2-3 years, and you can see why some pet owners are reluctant to allow their cat outside. Also, neighbors may be upset that cats use their yard as a toilet and damage young plants. If bitten by another cat, your beloved pet may be infected with the feline HIV virus. There is no preventive treatment or vaccine for this deadly disease. In addition, dogs can kill or maim cats, and they can be seriously injured or killed if they are hit by a car.
If your yard is surrounded by a six foot tall wooden fence, you can make the fence cat-proof by adding a plastic mesh trellis to the top. It is important that the trellis is set at an angle that points towards the interior of the garden, to prevent the cat from jumping over the fence and climbing over it. To climb a fence, a cat will jump halfway and climb to the top using its claws to grab onto. You will then balance on the top edge before deciding whether to walk or jump the other side. When looking into a jack-proof fence from the ground, you will see that access to the top of the fence is blocked. He may make a few attempts to climb the trellis, but when he realizes that he cannot go around the trellis, he will jump back to where he started. This method of cat protection in a garden fence also has the advantage of keeping stray cats out of your garden, so your pet is safe from fighting and infectious diseases.
Most garden centers sell plastic mesh trellises for climbing plants in 50 cm widths. You will need enough trellis to run along the top of your fence, some metal brackets bent at 45 degrees to hold the trellis, fence staples, and cable ties. These items can be purchased at good DIY stores or construction dealers.
After installing the trellis, supervise your cat to make sure there are no weak spots where it can escape. Then sit back and enjoy pottery in the garden with your feline friend!
