Cat proofing - does it work and is a garden enough?

[astridforty]

Not brave enough for AIBU but really need some opinions on Astrid Cats 1 and 2.

17 year old lady cat, rescued as a kitten and 8 year old big chunky hunting fighting pedigree. Both have been free ranging with cat flap, come and go as they please, although older one tends to stay at home now.

We moved in early December and they’ve been inside since. It’s a new build estate and other than our little street of 4 houses, it’s under very active construction. Diggers, mud, fencing up and down during day, properties open then locked overnight. It feels too risky for them to go out until it’s all complete - maybe 12 months.

At the back, there’s a big but flat boring garden but - and I didn’t fully appreciate this until we saw the finished house, our rear fence is 6 ft but has an additional 6ft wall on the other side. I’m worried that if they did climb, they would be injured/ trapped if they went over.

Has anyone successfully cat proofed a garden and if so, is it enough for previously free roaming beasties? I’ve been quoted £1,200 for supply and fit of cat fencing .

@astridforty would you be happy sharing a picture? Would love to see as I’ve been considering this lately too. Glad it’s worked out well!

I’d love to see a picture too.

Hi, OP.

We did ours ourselves in the end. Six feet panels, brackets and lots of rolls of chicken wire fence strips & wire.

We wanted to stop cats coming in, and to stop our cats getting out.

It's a work in progress - seems to be working - but we've not spent more than £130 yet, using materials from Wilko where possible.

We already had the panels up though and own the necessary tools.

Sorry I've no idea how I missed your massive update. Good luck 👍

A photo would be good to see if it’s what I imagine it to be!

I’ll sort some photos in the daylight tomorrow. You’ll have to excuse the boring square new build garden.

They’ve both been outside today, I’ve kept a close eye and no escape attempts so far.

I did my own with brackets and inward slanted chicken wire but it's not beautiful! It does work though. I really think someone who does fencing/ joinery could knock something up quite easily once they look at existing systems.

We looked at both Katzecure and Protectapt but our small garden won awards with its design and both options would have just ruined it. We have a vet friend who told us about a company who puts a radio wave wire round the garden. Not electric- would never do that, just a very mild pulse like a tens machine. The cats wear special collars when they go out and the company trains them on the system. Works a treat apparently.

Glad you’ve gone ahead and are happy with the result. I have a catio. I don’t think it’s an expense you ever regret.

Apart from the cat poo/ neighbours issue if you look up the number of cats killed in road accidents each year it's horrific, and that's just the bodies found, not the disappeared cats.