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Fences - Cats - DIY



 
 
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  #11  
Old August 13th 12, 04:50 AM posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house,rec.pets.cats.community
[email protected]
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Posts: 2
Default Fences - Cats - DIY

On Sun, 12 Aug 2012 10:35:12 -0700, Oren wrote:

On Sun, 12 Aug 2012 05:17:36 -0700 (PDT), Gas Bag
wrote:

She wants to stop her cats getting out, and other cats getting in.


What she wants to do goes against nature. Cats do what cats do.


It's actually pretty easy. Our cats have never been off our property, except
to go to the vets, of course.
  #12  
Old August 13th 12, 11:54 AM posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house,rec.pets.cats.community
Don Phillipson
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Posts: 1
Default Fences - Cats - DIY

"Gas Bag" wrote in message
...

She wants to stop her cats getting out, and other cats getting in. I
know full well that there are numerous commercially available products
that will stop cats (along with other animals) climbing fences.


Zoos have practical experience with enclosures for cats and
other climbing animals. Why not inquire there?

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)


  #13  
Old August 13th 12, 01:12 PM posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house,rec.pets.cats.community
DerbyDad03
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Posts: 3
Default Fences - Cats - DIY

On Aug 12, 4:56*pm, Evan wrote:
On Aug 12, 8:17*am, Gas Bag wrote:





A friend of mine has one of these fences that's about 178cm (5'10")
tall:


http://stratco.com.au/products/fenci...bour/good_neig...


She wants to stop her cats getting out, and other cats getting in. *I
know full well that there are numerous commercially available products
that will stop cats (along with other animals) climbing fences. *I'm
sure they do work, but they're all fairly pricey, particularly if
attempting to cover a significant length of fencing. *I'm now thinking
about trying a home-rigged set up. *I'm considering getting a whole
heap of empty 2 Litre plastic softdrink bottles (Soda bottles to any
USA readers), then cutting off the base and neck of the bottles, then
cutting them lengthwise, then siliconing them to the tops of the fence
so the sides of the bottles "curve downwards" from the top of the
fence. *I'm thinking this curved plastic will be too smooth and
slippery for a cat to get any grip with it's claws. *I have no problem
with spending some time getting this to work, but I want to keep the
cost down, so spending lots of $$$ isn't happening. *Again, I am aware
of many commercially available products.


I was wondering if anyone has attempted anything like this, and if
they can offer any advice. *Thanks.


To any cat "lovers" out there, my friend isn't getting rid of her
cats, nor is she trapping/baiting any of the cats in her suburb.


LOL, what else is inside the yard ?

"animal proof" the fence where the fence is only the
boundary indicator and not likely to be at fault...

How close to the fence are any plants ?

How accessible is the roof of the house to the fence ?
(cats love climbing and jumping)

Nothing you do to the fence will keep out other cats who
jump in from outside beyond the control of the fence
and cat keeper...

Sounds like this cat lady needs to build a kennel
in her yard where the cats can go inside and outside
of the house but when outside are completely enclosed
in a caged off area... *That is the ONLY possible
solution that will prevent escape of her cats and block
ingress of strange cats...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


How will an enclosure in the back yard prevent ingress of strange cats
into the yard?

BTW...what's a "strange cat"?
  #14  
Old August 13th 12, 03:00 PM posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house,rec.pets.cats.community
dgk
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,268
Default Fences - Cats - DIY

On Sun, 12 Aug 2012 05:17:36 -0700 (PDT), Gas Bag
wrote:

A friend of mine has one of these fences that's about 178cm (5'10")
tall:

http://stratco.com.au/products/fenci..._neighbour.asp

She wants to stop her cats getting out, and other cats getting in. I
know full well that there are numerous commercially available products
that will stop cats (along with other animals) climbing fences. I'm
sure they do work, but they're all fairly pricey, particularly if
attempting to cover a significant length of fencing. I'm now thinking
about trying a home-rigged set up. I'm considering getting a whole
heap of empty 2 Litre plastic softdrink bottles (Soda bottles to any
USA readers), then cutting off the base and neck of the bottles, then
cutting them lengthwise, then siliconing them to the tops of the fence
so the sides of the bottles "curve downwards" from the top of the
fence. I'm thinking this curved plastic will be too smooth and
slippery for a cat to get any grip with it's claws. I have no problem
with spending some time getting this to work, but I want to keep the
cost down, so spending lots of $$$ isn't happening. Again, I am aware
of many commercially available products.

I was wondering if anyone has attempted anything like this, and if
they can offer any advice. Thanks.

To any cat "lovers" out there, my friend isn't getting rid of her
cats, nor is she trapping/baiting any of the cats in her suburb.


I have four cats and an 18' by 50' backyard with a 4' chain link
fence. I extended the fence with 4' of some fencing from Home Despot
and have the top foot bend in at a 45 degree angle. It does a
reasonably good job of keeping my cats in the yard but does not stop
other critters from entering. I leave a door open when my cats aren't
there so the other critters can get out.

We have possums and raccoons in the neighborhood even though this is
New York City. Raccons are a pain in the ass but possums are pretty
cool. And of course we have feral cats but we've neutered most of them
and we sort of try to take care of them as much as we can. They have
nice styrofoam houses lined with straw for the winter and are well
fed.

Once in a while some critter actually forces its way out through the
fencing, leaving a hole that my cats can use. That just happened last
week; one of the bolder ones was trying to get at a squirrel in a tree
next door and was halfway through a small hole when I grabbed him.

It works pretty well though, but over time almost any fence will
develop a weakness. I use the Loc8tor for that - each of my cats has a
collar with a Loc8tor tag and I can track them for a short distance.
One cat still has out priviliges (I took him off the street in front
of my house and he likes to visit his old friends once in a while). I
can track him pretty well with the Loc8tor so I know that it's
effective enough for the job.

There is always a risk in letting cats out of the house though. I know
many folks think that it's cruel to keep cats inside all the time, and
they have a point. My cats love going into the yard. But I keep it as
safe as possible yet there is always some risk.

One of my neighbors had six cats and one was allowed to roam the
neighborhood since he wasn't happy otherwise. It was sort of cute,
he'd be sitting on the air conditioner waiting to be let in most
mornings as I'm heading off to work. He didn't come home just three
days ago, and when we were asking around we found out that a black cat
had been hit by a car a few days ago. So he won't be sitting on the
A/C anymore.

Cats that are outside will die sooner or later (not very insightful I
know since we all will die). But the odds of something bad happening
go up rather quickly once they are out of the house. The fencing makes
it a tolerable risk.
  #15  
Old August 13th 12, 03:34 PM posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house,rec.pets.cats.community
DerbyDad03
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Posts: 3
Default Fences - Cats - DIY

On Aug 13, 10:00*am, dgk wrote:

Cats that are outside will die sooner or later (not very insightful I
know since we all will die). But the odds of something bad happening
go up rather quickly once they are out of the house. The fencing makes
it a tolerable risk.- Hide quoted text -


I'm not agruing at all, just passing along my experience.

We've had more than a few cats over the years, 2 of which were free to
roam (FTR) the neighborhood. The first one was someone else's FTR cat
that simply decided he liked us better. We ended up taking care of him
for over 5 years until he passed away from some kind of poisoning. As
far as we know, he was about 12 at the time and as far as we know he
was a FTR cat for his entire life.

Our current cat is 9 and has been a FTR cat since we adopted her as a
kitten. She comes in the house for a "walk through" every now and
then, and spent more time inside this winter than any other year, but
for the most part, she's happy to be outside and sleep in the garage.
We were on vacation last week and you could tell how much she missed
us. She slept with us the first night we were home, which is something
that hasn't happened in the summer for many years. Since that night,
she's been back outside all day and night.

You mentioned "cute". The cute thing that our cat does is walk with us
when we walk the dogs. As we leave the house with the dogs, she'll
come out of the garage, or out from under a bush or car, and follow us
through the neighborhood. The neighbors love it!

Sometimes my wife likes to take our younger dog on longer walks, out
of the neighborhood and near busier streets. When this happens, we try
to locate the cat and bring her inside until my wife is out of sight
so that the cat won't follow her. When we can't find the cat, my wife
will keep checking as she walks and return home if the cat has
followed her. The she'll toss the cat inside and head back out.

As far as longevity, the last indoor cats we had lived to be about 18
years old. We raised them from newborns, feeding them with eye
droppers until they could take care of themselves. That's older than
our previous FTR cat lived, but obvioulsy I don't know about our
current cat yet. 18 does seem like like a long time for an FTR cat to
survive.
  #16  
Old August 13th 12, 11:41 PM posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house,rec.pets.cats.community
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Fences - Cats - DIY

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 05:12:35 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Aug 12, 4:56*pm, Evan wrote:
On Aug 12, 8:17*am, Gas Bag wrote:





A friend of mine has one of these fences that's about 178cm (5'10")
tall:


http://stratco.com.au/products/fenci...bour/good_neig...


She wants to stop her cats getting out, and other cats getting in. *I
know full well that there are numerous commercially available products
that will stop cats (along with other animals) climbing fences. *I'm
sure they do work, but they're all fairly pricey, particularly if
attempting to cover a significant length of fencing. *I'm now thinking
about trying a home-rigged set up. *I'm considering getting a whole
heap of empty 2 Litre plastic softdrink bottles (Soda bottles to any
USA readers), then cutting off the base and neck of the bottles, then
cutting them lengthwise, then siliconing them to the tops of the fence
so the sides of the bottles "curve downwards" from the top of the
fence. *I'm thinking this curved plastic will be too smooth and
slippery for a cat to get any grip with it's claws. *I have no problem
with spending some time getting this to work, but I want to keep the
cost down, so spending lots of $$$ isn't happening. *Again, I am aware
of many commercially available products.


I was wondering if anyone has attempted anything like this, and if
they can offer any advice. *Thanks.


To any cat "lovers" out there, my friend isn't getting rid of her
cats, nor is she trapping/baiting any of the cats in her suburb.


LOL, what else is inside the yard ?

"animal proof" the fence where the fence is only the
boundary indicator and not likely to be at fault...

How close to the fence are any plants ?

How accessible is the roof of the house to the fence ?
(cats love climbing and jumping)

Nothing you do to the fence will keep out other cats who
jump in from outside beyond the control of the fence
and cat keeper...

Sounds like this cat lady needs to build a kennel
in her yard where the cats can go inside and outside
of the house but when outside are completely enclosed
in a caged off area... *That is the ONLY possible
solution that will prevent escape of her cats and block
ingress of strange cats...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


How will an enclosure in the back yard prevent ingress of strange cats
into the yard?

BTW...what's a "strange cat"?


I had one that thought he was a dog.
  #17  
Old August 14th 12, 01:14 PM posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house,rec.pets.cats.community
dgk
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,268
Default Fences - Cats - DIY

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:34:36 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Aug 13, 10:00*am, dgk wrote:

Cats that are outside will die sooner or later (not very insightful I
know since we all will die). But the odds of something bad happening
go up rather quickly once they are out of the house. The fencing makes
it a tolerable risk.- Hide quoted text -


I'm not agruing at all, just passing along my experience.

....

As far as longevity, the last indoor cats we had lived to be about 18
years old. We raised them from newborns, feeding them with eye
droppers until they could take care of themselves. That's older than
our previous FTR cat lived, but obvioulsy I don't know about our
current cat yet. 18 does seem like like a long time for an FTR cat to
survive.


Only one of my indoor cats made it past 16, so 18 is quite good. It
depends on the area to some degree. I had friends who were living in
West Virginia on a pretty open meadow, and all the cats wandered
around. There were real predators and the roads were dirt so no one
drove fast. Of course there were real roads nearby but the cats pretty
much stayed in the meadow, which I guess is much more interesting for
them than concrete and asphalt.

I'd let all my cats roam in that circumstance, but living in NYC
they're lucky that they aren't stuck in an apartment 15 floors above
the street.
  #18  
Old August 15th 12, 01:56 PM posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house,rec.pets.cats.community
dgk
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,268
Default Fences - Cats - DIY

On Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:14:59 -0400, dgk wrote:

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:34:36 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Aug 13, 10:00*am, dgk wrote:

Cats that are outside will die sooner or later (not very insightful I
know since we all will die). But the odds of something bad happening
go up rather quickly once they are out of the house. The fencing makes
it a tolerable risk.- Hide quoted text -


I'm not agruing at all, just passing along my experience.

...

As far as longevity, the last indoor cats we had lived to be about 18
years old. We raised them from newborns, feeding them with eye
droppers until they could take care of themselves. That's older than
our previous FTR cat lived, but obvioulsy I don't know about our
current cat yet. 18 does seem like like a long time for an FTR cat to
survive.


Only one of my indoor cats made it past 16, so 18 is quite good. It
depends on the area to some degree. I had friends who were living in
West Virginia on a pretty open meadow, and all the cats wandered
around. There were real predators and the roads were dirt so no one
drove fast. Of course there were real roads nearby but the cats pretty
much stayed in the meadow, which I guess is much more interesting for
them than concrete and asphalt.

I'd let all my cats roam in that circumstance, but living in NYC
they're lucky that they aren't stuck in an apartment 15 floors above
the street.



Oops, that as "NO real predators".
  #19  
Old August 15th 12, 05:35 PM posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house,rec.pets.cats.community
DerbyDad03
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3
Default Fences - Cats - DIY

On Aug 15, 8:56*am, dgk wrote:
On Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:14:59 -0400, dgk wrote:
On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:34:36 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:


On Aug 13, 10:00*am, dgk wrote:


Cats that are outside will die sooner or later (not very insightful I
know since we all will die). But the odds of something bad happening
go up rather quickly once they are out of the house. The fencing makes
it a tolerable risk.- Hide quoted text -


I'm not agruing at all, just passing along my experience.

...


As far as longevity, the last indoor cats we had lived to be about 18
years old. We raised them from newborns, feeding them with eye
droppers until they could take care of themselves. That's older than
our previous FTR cat lived, but obvioulsy I don't know about our
current cat yet. 18 does seem like like a long time for an FTR cat to
survive.


Only one of my indoor cats made it past 16, so 18 is quite good. It
depends on the area to some degree. I had friends who were living in
West Virginia on a pretty open meadow, and all the cats wandered
around. There were real predators and the roads were dirt so no one
drove fast. Of course there were real roads nearby but the cats pretty
much stayed in the meadow, which I guess is much more interesting for
them than concrete and asphalt.


I'd let all my cats roam in that circumstance, but living in NYC
they're lucky that they aren't stuck in an apartment 15 floors above
the street.


Oops, that as "NO real predators".- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Last night I watched my cat stalk something in the woods for about 10
minutes until it must have flown/scampered away.

After 10 minutes of crouching down and stealthily walking towards the
woods, she just sat up and started cleaning herself, like "Yep, that's
all I came out here for. Hunting something? No, not me. Just walked
over here to lick my paws, yep, that's all."

Liar!
  #20  
Old August 15th 12, 09:06 PM posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house,rec.pets.cats.community
HeyBub[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3
Default Fences - Cats - DIY

DerbyDad03 wrote:

Last night I watched my cat stalk something in the woods for about 10
minutes until it must have flown/scampered away.

After 10 minutes of crouching down and stealthily walking towards the
woods, she just sat up and started cleaning herself, like "Yep, that's
all I came out here for. Hunting something? No, not me. Just walked
over here to lick my paws, yep, that's all."


Not long ago I saw a study reporting that feral cats (and I presume tame
ones) catch their prey every third pounce. Just imagine, only three leaps
away from a snack (lizard, bird, frog, grasshopper, mouse, mole, moth, baby
anything, and thousands of specific prey - not including opossums).


 




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