Balcony Cat

I need some prayers. My Cat Lightning took a tumble out of our 6th floor balcony today. I brought him to the vet and he had x-rays etc... Luckily he came out pretty much unscathed, the only thing that happened is his tail is broken now.

Oh no, the poor little guy.
Sending lots of healing vibes his way.

Prayers for a complete recovery. How scary for you both.

How frightening! I am so glad Lightning is okay

vibes for Lightning. Can you secure the balcony with netting, or use one of those portable cat enclosures out there to prevent it from happening again?

Im not a cat, but I imagine if I was, and did something that caused me to fall 6 stories, I sure wouldnt try doing it again hehe.

sending lots of good healing vibes!
your both are so lucky that's all it was is his tail. one lucky cat!

i hope your cat gets better, and i hope you find a way to secure the balcondy so it doesn't happen again to your kitty. like another poster said, netting, etc. better yet, don't let your cat out on your balcony....of course unless it is totally enclosed.

I brought Lightning home Saturday, and was told to contact the vet if he was lethargic & colouring of his nose / gums changed. Sunday at around noon his nose & gums were pretty pale, so I took him back to them so they could monitor him. He had some more blood work & tests etc. The news I heard in the evening from the vet was that he was very alert all evening watching everything that was happening around him, and he had no problems eating and drinking.

I have looked into some stuff to secure the balcony. I found a 7' by 14' mesh netting from Home Depot. I am planning on installing some eye screws run a cord up the length of the mesh netting looping it into the eye screws. We have some window boxes (what Lightning jumped into). I need to be able to have access to those so I am going to devise a way (probably with carabineers) to do a quick release for the bottom section.

It should keep the cats in and keep the pigeons out.

Glad to hear the poor guy is doing ok! That's my nightmare too, as we let our cats out on the balcony everyday. That netting souonds like a great idea.

I'm glad everything turned out okay. My cat fell off my second floor balcony about 18 months ago and I have tried to think of some way of securing the balcony. Can you explain further your netting plan - am having trouble visualizing what you have in mind. Thanks.

Here is what my netting plan is,

My Balcony is divided into two sections. The top section is 3.4 meters wide by 1.4 meters tall (from the top of the railing). The second section is a small opening (0.07 m by 3.4 m) that runs along the bottom under the main frame.

Materials:

7' by 14' mesh from Home Depot ($21.99 CAD). There isn't a link at the home depot site but this is the same stuff. http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/c...cat_nets/33102
12 - 24 eye screws
8 - 12 mini caribeners
15 meters of cord (haven't decided what to use yet, I was thinking of a very strong fishing line)
1 dowel 3.4 meters long
1 pack of zip ties
1 masonry drill bit (sized for the eye screws) & 1 Drill

Top section of the balcony:
I am going to drill some holes into the brick / concrete up the sides and top of the balcony. Into those holes I am putting eye screws (the screws that have a circle loop at the end of it). Along the sides and top I am going to run a cord through the meshing also into the eye screws. Towards the bottom where we want it to have access to our window boxes I am planning on using mini carabiners to hold the cord / meshing in place. At the bottom I am going to weave the dowl along the lenght of the bottom into the mesh. I am thinking about screwing some of the eye screws into the dowl, so I can clip them into place with the caribeaners.

Bottom section of the balcony:
I am going to cut a section of mesh off (7' = 2+ meters, so that is longer than what I need.) I am going to drill holes into the brick / concrete again along the side and bottom of the balcony. Installing eye screws into these holes. In the same fasion as above weave the cord through the mesh & eye screws. Then I will use zip ties to fasten it to the base of the railing.

Here are a few places where I got the ideas from.
http://www.anandr.com.au/pet_enclosure_netting.htm
http://www.feralcat.com/fence.html

It sounds like you have a great plan in place to build your enclosed balcony. Sending lots of good vibes for Lightning

I'm so glad Lightning is going to be ok!

Originally Posted by I am furniture

I brought Lightning home Saturday, and was told to contact the vet if he was lethargic & colouring of his nose / gums changed. Sunday at around noon his nose & gums were pretty pale, so I took him back to them so they could monitor him. He had some more blood work & tests etc. The news I heard in the evening from the vet was that he was very alert all evening watching everything that was happening around him, and he had no problems eating and drinking.

I have looked into some stuff to secure the balcony. I found a 7' by 14' mesh netting from Home Depot. I am planning on installing some eye screws run a cord up the length of the mesh netting looping it into the eye screws. We have some window boxes (what Lightning jumped into). I need to be able to have access to those so I am going to devise a way (probably with carabineers) to do a quick release for the bottom section.

It should keep the cats in and keep the pigeons out.

Click to expand...

Glad to hear that your cat is going to be okay! And glad to hear that you are going to secure the balcony. I hope the cats stay inside until you can get the netting up! Continued good vibes for your cat's recovery!

I have all the materials for the net now. Going to install it with my Dad on Sunday. I'll provide some more details & post some pictures when I am done.

Wow, I am so glad your cat is ok. Wish I had read the post a month ago. We moved recently from a house to an apartment complex. Had 2 cats. Let them out on balcony and they LOVED it. Had been indoor cats only. Well you have probably guessed, one jumped/fell off second story balcony. Have never found him. Went to local shelter, put up flyers, alerted neighbors. There is a wooded area behind the apartments and have searched everywhere. No Gizmo. It is heartbreaking George has since been banned from the balcony and he loved it so much. Think I'll check on the netting.

Originally Posted by cincocatz

Wow, I am so glad your cat is ok. Wish I had read the post a month ago. We moved recently from a house to an apartment complex. Had 2 cats. Let them out on balcony and they LOVED it. Had been indoor cats only. Well you have probably guessed, one jumped/fell off second story balcony. Have never found him. Went to local shelter, put up flyers, alerted neighbors. There is a wooded area behind the apartments and have searched everywhere. No Gizmo. It is heartbreaking

George has since been banned from the balcony and he loved it so much. Think I'll check on the netting.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I kind of wish that I had done the netting before this happened, I am just lucky that Lightning is still with me. He won't be the same for a while though, but that is understandable.

I brought Lightning home Saturday, and was told to contact the vet if he was lethargic & colouring of his nose / gums changed. Sunday at around noon his nose & gums were pretty pale, so I took him back to them so they could monitor him. He had some more blood work & tests etc. The news I heard in the evening from the vet was that he was very alert all evening watching everything that was happening around him, and he had no problems eating and drinking.

I have looked into some stuff to secure the balcony. I found a 7' by 14' mesh netting from Home Depot. I am planning on installing some eye screws run a cord up the length of the mesh netting looping it into the eye screws. We have some window boxes (what Lightning jumped into). I need to be able to have access to those so I am going to devise a way (probably with carabineers) to do a quick release for the bottom section.

It should keep the cats in and keep the pigeons out.

Click to expand...

i don't know if your cat is allowed to go outside and climb trees and that but maybe, like what happened to me, your cat jumped to get some more freedom. they are solitary creatures. if not then why don't you create his own little " garden " on your balcony? you can even surprise him with a fresh catnip plant. i tried it and my cat looks much happier. he loves his own little garden of eden. unfortunately the catnip plant no longer lives!

Poor widdle guy!
Sending Get well {{vibes}} for Lightning!