How can I keep my cat inside when the doors are open?

[Needabitmore]

Hi all, hope you can help me find a solution to this.
We are thinking about getting a ragdoll kitten soon. We've had cats before but they were outdoor cats so don't have any experience with indoor cats. I have been thinking/ researching about what differences there are and what we need to do before we can get our kitten.

One thing I can't find a solution is to how to keep the cat indoors when we open the back doors. We spend most of our time at home in the kitchen/ dinner which has 6m wide sliding doors opening to the back garden. I thought about netting but it's such a big area and my husband is not keen. I thought maybe chicken wiring over the fence. Anyone tried that?

DH would like another outdoor cat but he travels a lot and I can't deal with their thoughtful presents anymore, our last one brought one in almost weekly. I love ragdolls but I cannot get one if I can't keep it safe. Any suggestion?

I forgot to add, the protection is by way of light weight metal trellis style guard fencing on top of existing fence. Looks fine.

@MandyMotherOfBrian I just had a quick look the the rollers. What a clever idea! Have you got them in your garden?

@Toddlerteaplease I think those would be great for the windows if not for the doors. May I please have your discount code?
We are too far to collect the catio but thank you for the offer.

@BroughttoyoubyBerocca I've added your suggestion to the list of things to look at later, thank you.

We cat proofed our garden with materials from ProtectaPet. We installed it all ourselves which made it so much cheaper - there is no way we could have afforded the professional installation fees. We took it with us when we moved house so have installed it on two gardens now. Our current garden is tricky - split level, several gates etc but we made it work. Personally I think the rollers look more attractive than the brackets and netting but one of our cars jumped straight over them.

Just want to say thank you to everyone. I really thought I had to give up the idea of getting a ragdoll this morning as I couldn't find a solution. You gave me lots of great ideas. 🥰

@abbysalias I like the look of the rollers but if they don't work we will be paying for the netting on top... Maybe it's safer to go for the netting from get go.

@Needabitmore yes. I'll let you have it when I get home. Make sure you get the correct site.

@Needabitmore
Protectapet video of installation. (My cats would make absolute mince meat of that within minutes!)

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/b3yd86s5Aho6w9ZY/?mibextid=UalRPS

Thank you for the link @Alphabet1spaghetti2 . It's really hard to guess what ours will be like. We may have to try a few things to find out what works best.

Apologies if I'm being a bit thick. I do have cats, always have. But what defines an indoor cat exactly. I thought all cats like to go outside. Isn't that natural for them.

Not all cats. Mine refuses to go outside so she’s an indoor cat.

Some cats aren’t supposed to go outside like ragdolls due to the fact they are supposed to be a bit dumb and therefore at more chance of getting hurt or stolen

Rollers keep coyotes out in America. But depends if your cat turns out to be a climber or not.

So Ragdolls are a bit stupid and unlikely to find their way home?
I had no idea. I just assumed all cats were savvy

Why can't a ragdoll go outside (if it wants to)?

I think the ragdoll experts here are saying they want to go outside which is why they are trying to find ways of locking them in. But the breed is a bit daft and will get lost.
I'm going to Google its homing instincts now

Apparently they are a bit daft. Not street savvy. And prone to stomach issues so if they go eating dodgy whilst out and about could be problematic. Also, crap at fighting.
So would be advisable to keep them confined in garden. Awful thought to keep a cat indoors. That upsets me

I haven't had a cat for years after the last one got run over. We have dogs now, but if I ever have a cat again it will only be with a catio.

And the reason these cats are this way is because they've been bred they're not a natural breed. It's humans messing around as per

@Needabitmore

My ragdoll has outside access. It’s limited to 2 gardens by the fact she can’t scale a fence higher than 3 foot and is too precious to squeeze under gates🤣 Before next door changed their gate, she could get out front but she on,y ever sat on next doors doorstep! They aren’t generally adventurous cats and Dcat can’t catch anything more than a moth!

Dcat is a rescue and the rescue did want us to give her outdoor access and she does love it. Sits in the garden and tries unsuccessfully to chase other cats away.

They are the most amazing cats, the breed is awesome.

I do think it's very cruel to keep cats locked inside. But I do understand this particular breed may need to kept close to home.
I hope OP will find a way to allow cat access to her garden.

I have a very outdoor cat who I keep inside after getting fed up as he is the village bully.

I thought he'd be a nightmare as previously he travelled a lot. Actually he adapted within a couple of days and is really happy with it.

Suspect I will let him out in the summer but it's changed my ideas on it being cruel to keep them in, it's been easy, just needed a bit of cat furniture fo stimulation.

I did seriously consider catproofing our little back garden but its surrounded by overhanging trees and the like, also our half-shed is a perfect hopping point to over the (not our) fence. So now we have a fully outdoor Maine Coon kitten and they don't have the greatest rep for being sensible. I'm just hoping he learns road sense! The moggies would also get very annoyed if we shut them in after years of freedom especially since the ginger menace won't leave them alone and it's their escape route

On Flat Cats-like mesh, I made my own with velcro from the local haberdashery and plastic-coated mesh when we first got the moggies in the middle of a hot summer. I've had this for 10 years+ now and it does had a disadvantage or two which may also apply to the product.

1. black mould if you have condensation issues. Difficult to clean off the hook side.
2. cat hair in the hooks. Looks a mess after a while. Inevitable if you have cats that brush up against the mesh.
3. Sticky side coming off the window frame when it heats up and glue starts to melt. We ended up with a layer of glue that was nigh impossible to clean off prior to putting on new velcro. Some of it I superglued in place for an emergency fix and that was even worse! I've now gone for a completely different way, and bought and glued on a lot of tiny neodymium magnets from Amazon to keep the ground floor mesh up, though these days we only use it as flyscreen and it wouldn't keep a cat from knocking it off. They just use it as a giant catflap!! Upstairs we still have the velcro.