Anyone cat proofed their garden?

[sweetkitty]

I have two beautiful babies 8 months now. Haven’t let them out and not sure I want to. Although we live in a quiet cul de sac there’s a horrible road very close where drivers regularly bomb up and down in excess of 70mph. I’d like them to get a wee bit of freedom if only they would scale the fence and just stay in the garden.

So had anyone cat proofed their garden? I’ve seen elaborate fences costing lots, don’t have £600+ and DH is useless at DIY

[Ineedabiscuit]

Ive just adopted 2 ragdolls ages 5and 8 and have small patio terraced garden . I’ve let them out but realising I need to reinforce the fences as my boy is trying to climb so I’m investigating different ways of cat proofing so I can leave them out without supervision.
One part of me thinks I need to bite the bullet and get a company yo install something but I think I could do it myself quite myself by employing a handyman quite a bit cheaper.
Mine are not very agile and are older but your kittens are probably much more into jumping and climbing up everything so different but I understand why you are nervous .

I d let them out when you are in the garden doing things so they get used to being with you at the same time and gradually take it from there . Always remembering to give them a treat after calling them in side. Also let them out just before their meal times .
Let’s hear from others their ideas...

[viccat]

Yes, I have mine done, by Sanctuary SOS. It was expensive but it's totally worth it for me.

A friend has done a DIY version, I think theirs ended up costing about £150. You can technically get suitable brackets and netting from a DIY store, the netting has to be soft/flexible enough so the cats can't climb it (not chicken wire!). And then a good handyman to fit it (even if you just get someone to attach the brackets to your fence/walls, you can then attach the netting to the brackets with bag ties or similar). You will need to have solid fences, ideally 6ft high and also cat proof any low outbuildings like the shed etc. Alternatively you could look into building a catio for them, again a good handyman should be able to construct it.

[minkies11]

My neighbours adopted 2 cats and after seeing they had zero road sense decided to put up a Catio. They paid about £700 and have it attached to the patio doors in the back garden - it's brilliant! Their cats love it ( you can add climbing frames etc inside) Much safer, looks good with a bit of honeysuckle growing over it - unintentional but really works
Their cats wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes as had no clue how to deal with cars. Some just don't and you can never tell which cats do and which don't.

[Makeroomforthemushrooms]

Yes. It was expensive but well worth it. As a previous poster said, you could get a good handyman to install a DIY version to save money. Make sure the mesh fencing is sitting in a shallow trench to avoid escapes underneath it.

[sweetkitty]

I quite like the idea of a catio, we have a large patio area with walls on two sides, I also have rabbits and they could run about when the cats aren’t out.

I also have the added problem ofmad neighbours who have already had issue with fences, apparently I only own theback fence so would have to put up new fencing so I could attach the netting to it 😩

[thecatneuterer]

I know someone who did it. They ended up catching a burglar who found he could get into the garden easily enough but then couldn't escape .

[Makeroomforthemushrooms]

Have a look at Protectapet as an example. They also sell a freestanding version which doesn’t need to be attached to existing fencing. They will help you work out what works best for your set up if you call them.

[viccat]

Sanctuary SOS quote was a fair bit less than Protectapet for me... Mine is also freestanding on the side where the fence belongs to my neighbour.

[sweetkitty]

I think I had better start saving lol