On Sat, 21 Jul 2012 23:00:03 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"dgk" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:26:38 -0700 (PDT), Jane
wrote:

Congrats. Rita wants a little backyard with a fence that will keep her
in the backyard.

and you know this how? Has Rita told you this?

I thought the thread was about what Rita wanted. From my experience,
cats like to be able to go outside and lay in the sun. Or, given the
temperature lately, on the damp ground under some nice plant supplying
shade. Since all four of my cats love doing this, I think it likely
that Rita would as well. They don't agree on anything else!

The funny thing is that I really owe my first two cats (RB) for me
even owning a little house. I've written about this before. I used to
have an apartment where a stray beam of sunlight made its way in
sometime in the afternoon (no southern exposure so no direct sunlight
most of the time). The cats would try to lay down when that bit of sun
did make it in.

So, when a friend needed to sell a small house, I bought it, mostly so
Nico and Busky could have sunny windows and an actual safe backyard.
They want the yard but we want to keep them safe. The price was also
very reasonable and a personal mortgage made it possible. I do not
think that I could afford to buy a house now, but interest rates are
very low.

How then to keep them from leaving the backyard? My solution was
something like CatFenceIn. I put up a fence that curved in at the top
and makes it pretty difficult for them to leave. Not perfect, but no
cat has left in 10 years or so. They also have the Loc8tor on their
collars so I can find them - that comes in very handy this time of
year with the backdoor open and the yard pretty well overgrown.

If you're thinking of getting a new place, Rita might very well like a
little yard. I always thought the best idea would be a house built
around a yard, so the cats really couldn't get anywhere else. But
available funds make that a less-than-likely option for me and
probably most people.