Anyone escaped proofed their garden?

[leotardrock]

We have 2 new rescue cats after my old boy of 14 years went missing.
We went to great lengths to try & find him but never did!

Anyway that has made me do nervous about letting the new cats out, terrified of them getting lost or run over!

I want them to be able to go outside, so thinking of cat proofing the garden so they can't get out with some forward leaning mesh wire on top of the fence.

Has anyone successfully managed to do this? If so what did you use?

Fgs! Escape proofed!

Our garden is dog-proof but our cat laughs in the face of this and scales a 10 foot fence whenever he pleases.
If your cats are remotely athletic, it will take some seriously tall fences to prevent them climbing/jumping out.

So these were the ones I saw online!
Not thinking of buying these particularly but getting DH to build something similar!

Glitter I'm sure they are plotting already! She thinks she's going to do what! 🤣

We had ours done by Santuary SOS about 5 years ago. They worked it into the trees and bushes around the perimeter on the one side as well and it's held up brilliantly. Was a large investment but being able to have ours come and go freely and never ever worry is so worth it! Strongly recommend these folks (we shopped around and it wasn't just due to price). You can find them on Facebook for pictures and reviews.

Finding brilliant thank you! Had a look - that's amazing!

No because I share communal gardens but there is a small outside area netted for my cats that goes out from one of my windows. (No-one else minds this). Its a good solution for us so they can get some sun and grass but my cats are older spayed females so roaming isn't really on their agenda. One is lazy, the other (who is older and has a fused ankle) is actually very athletic but she's a mummy's girl and has no desire to go anywhere - the one time she got out of the netted area she immediately started crying to come back in. If you have cats that wish to roam you probably need something sturdier.

Thanks iloveeverykingofcat. They are mother & son, she's always looking for the highest place she can get to & she was straight up onto next doors shed- he's lazier but also wants to follow mum so they were both up there very quickly!
They both came down & backbut I was a nervous wreck!

I bet you were! That's how Zara did the total dislocation of her ankle, by falling off a high platform (she was younger then). The repair was very successful and she can run and jump absolutely fine, but it definitely needed the surgery. I saw the x-ray and the bones were nowhere near each other. Thank God we had insurance.

I've actually found some packs on Amazon! If I can persuade DH that he has nothing better to do at the weekend I might order! 🤣

Post pics if you do it. I like seeing different solutions for different properties

It’s worth doing, I lost mine on the road in Nov 2019 and I’ll never forgive myself for not cat proofing.

Yes, we used the secure-a-cat system which looks very similar to the picture you posted. It's been very successful, our rescue cat hasn't escaped in the 5 years we've had her. The peace of mind is great after losing our last cat on the main road outside.

Will do! It's not a big garden!
We have raised beds round 1 side which obviously makes it easier for them to get up!

I'd actually made my old boy a hole in the fence so he could come & go without climbing up! ☹️

Ours had a cat flap in the fence. No climbing over the fence and jumping down for my baby boy. Not like next doors poor cats. Who now have a flap in the gate and are still here.

@Fluffycloudland77 I've lost a young male to free-roaming too. I don't know if it was a car or something else but he was in an accident that paralysed his back legs, had the surgery but didn't work. Couldn't put him through anymore. It was terrible and I do feel guilty about it (I was young and he was the first cat I had, though I already had Zara, who is now nearly 12, as a kitten when I lost him). But on the other hand, he was one of those males that had to roam despite being neutered. It was hardwired into him and any attempts to keep him in just resulted in neurosis, hovering obsessively by doors, pacing etc. Which is why, lovely as he was, I now prefer to keep girls.

Same here Ilove. Our cat that died on the road would never have been happy being confined in the garden. Hence our next cat we got from a rescue and got a small female. She's perfectly happy not to roam.

Well it's ordered! Will update when it's up!
And share the pictures as they break through on day 2! 🤣

Our neighbours have high fences and another 18" (or a bit more) of overhanging chicken wire to keep their cats in. It seems to be very effective - our cat managed to get in a few days back but he was completely stumped when it came to getting out again.

We are going to block off our small patio with free-standing purrfect fencing with a heavy-duty gate.
purrfectfence.co.uk/
Just waiting for it to be fitted by a handyman we know. Squeezing us in soon I hope...
It is expensive but we have a busy road and want him safe. I do think we will have to make our patio more cat 'fun' as otherwise, he may peer through the fence longingly at the grass and shrubs, etc. Don't want it to be a prison yard!
He is an indoor cat until fence fitted. Then escorted visits until sure fence is working. Then catflap.

My 8 month kitten (who I'm trying to keep as a house cat because of a high number of dogs nearby) has made it outside and under/over a fence into the front garden. I'm terrified she'll get attacked by a dog and really don't want her out doors. One of my neighbours has a jack russell who is well able to jump my front garden wall (he has in the past and has a reputation for being vicious towards cats) I've also got a large number of dobermans/labradors/terriers/St Bernards in the houses around me - so it is dangerous for her and she's such a gentle, playful, trusting little soul she'd probably go up to them out of curiosity and they'd attack her! Any ideas what to do ?

Can you block off an area with cat fencing? If not, maybe a catio from the back door?

Dinky I was thinking that too.
Etsy has quite a lot of 'catio furniture' ladders & wooden cat trees.

My brother has a unit with a court yard and at the top of his fence he has rollers. That is long round bars that when touched roll and this keeps his cat in. When the cat goes to jump over it touches the roll bar and falls off. The fence has to be high enough that the cat has to use it's front paws to pull up and can't just jump over.

We're nearly done! Unfortunately I ordered the wrong kit & didn't order enough mesh so I'm waiting for another 5 metre to arrive! 🤦‍♀️
So the poor cats are in for another weekend!