Catio or cat proofing

[Buffypaws]

So I am buying a cute bungalow (as splitting with time-wasting male) with a small enclosed garden which I thought would be easy enough to catproof. Ex always eager to stick his oar in says cat proofing will be tricky and more maintenance than a catio.
does anyone have any experiences/advice on considering both?

If you would like to share your tales, I’m interested to know what you decided to do and why and how it all turned out? TIA!

We have a catio for our Siamese as we live near a very busy road and have a very large garden . Added to which a friend catproofed their garden fence and one of their cats could get out over the top but then couldn’t get back in

I've seen cat proofing from professional companies that look fab - the DIY ones perhaps not as good (or secure looking!). A catio if you fancy doing a DIY would be my pick, you can make them quite snazzy and somewhere you want to sit too! Its basically a fancy little screened porch if decorated right 😃

Congrats on the cute bungalow and cats!!

I follow katzecure on insta and they do some lovely installations. They use rollers like they do for coyotes in America.

One of mine can get out of the ‘cat proof’ garden so I’ve stopped trying to keep him in there! He goes out first as the littlest one tries to copy him and usually ends up hurting herself, so I let him go out and then let her out once he’s gone out of sight! Old lady cat is perfectly happy to stay put in the garden and relax all day.

We spent a lot of money on cat proofing our garden before realising how challenged Elton actually is but it does give us peace of mind and the company did an excellent job. The only thing to beat in mind is birds can find it tricky to make a sharp exit if you have a hunting cat!

Thanks everyone. It sounds like a catio might be more secure… I suppose I could still let them into the garden under my supervision.

I had a look at Katzecure but the installation costs were 😱

I also worry with cat proofing if a fox could get in and not out?

Do you know how they get out?

He jumps on the SKINNIEST windowsill (it’s about 4cm and he isn’t a small boy!) and then leaps over the fence. Little cat wouldn’t try it if she didn’t watch him first as she’s a bit thick, so she’s safe as long as he’s already fucked off over the fence 😂

I have Katzecure. It was expensive (installed by them) but worth it. I only have a small garden (approx 7mtr x 6mtr) so a decent sized catio would have taken up a lot of the garden anyway. And looks less prison like than the mesh in such a small space. I actually think the garden looks nicer with it up than before :) No more maintenance than a catio, and my cat gets maximum outdoor space to play in.

Only minor negative is twice I have had a neighborhood cat get in - and of course not be able to get out. Two different cats - they've not made the same mistake twice!

How small is your garden? Could you screen it all in. Very popular in Florida over outside pools.

This is the thing! They look huge but it's all fluff and the bastards can apparently shapeshift anywhere they please!

It's like 12 by 4 metres at a guess - that is a rather interesting idea. Sort of like an all over catio.

Someone on fb just covered her garden with a big net but apparently that's a stupid idea...

Why is it stupid? (Puts flameproof overalls on just in case...)

Apparently birds will get stuck in it and it will collapse
im not sure I’m convinced

How big are these birds?

We had chicken wire installed leaning in at a 45 degree angle atop our 6ft or so fences in a 10m2 garden. It did the job for our dozy Burmese cats who weren't that fussed about getting out, and were always supervised anyway, but a "proper" cat would have escaped. If it is absolutely essential that that the cat is confined, I'd go for a catio.

I have ragdolls so not exactly Poirot and Marple
I have asked sanctuary sos for a quote so will see what they think of the space…

My husband built our catio , but I know a few people who’ve used Safecat uk and been very happy .

Sanctuary SOS were who we used - they were brilliant and actually the mesh netting isn't very noticeable because of how well they put it up but as I said earlier it can disorientate birds in a small garden