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2nd Story Balcony Safety

post #1 of 22
1/14/10 at 12:34pm
Thread Starter 
The cats and I are staying in apartment out of town for work for a few months. The apartment is on the second story and it has a balcony. If I let them out on the balcony, would my cats try to jump off if they saw something worth chasing down there? It's not screened in or anything. Any words of advice?


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post #2 of 22
1/14/10 at 12:37pm
To be safe I just wouldnt risk it. Just because you NEVER know what they could see that could interest them enough into jumping.
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post #3 of 22
1/14/10 at 1:04pm
It's definitely not safe to let them out there. If they see a bird or butterfly, they'll try to catch it. A very high number of cats are badly injured or killed due to high-rise syndrome every year.

You can secure the balcony with netting or wire mesh. Ours is enclosed with so-called "cat netting", which is very similar to fishing net.
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post #4 of 22
1/14/10 at 1:22pm
I don't let Ally or Ollie get near the balconette. I don't have a balcony, just a balconette. So really, I just never open that door. I'm too scared that they'd either jump to chase something, or fall. Ally already fell from the second story when she was a couple months old. I don't want to go through that again.

I wouldn't risk it.
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post #5 of 22
1/14/10 at 3:08pm
Yes! I'm afraid they would!! Be very careful!
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post #6 of 22
1/14/10 at 3:32pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys, I figured it was a bad idea. I guess they'll just have to enjoy the sunshine through the window until we can move back home to the nice screened in porch.
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post #7 of 22
1/14/10 at 3:32pm
I would not let kitties out on that balcony. I had one cat previously who would jump down from a single story rooftop, probably about the same height as your balcony. I would not want your kitty to jump down and then go missing, that would be awful
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post #8 of 22
1/14/10 at 4:05pm
You made the right decision.
I am convinced that cats think that they can fly.

Be careful if you open your windows...
cats can become excited when they see a bug or bird, break the screen and fall.

We live on the 3rd floor of our building.
To be safe, I had pet screen installed.
It is inexpensive at any large home repair store.
Because your place is temporary, you might not want to bother....
just keep the windows almost closed.

Check out the ASPCA High Rise Syndrome page....
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-ca...-syndrome.html
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post #9 of 22
1/15/10 at 3:26pm
We live on the 3rd floor and have a small patio. Like most of you we were afraid Kato would try to climb over the railing. At first we let him out with the leash attached to a leg of a coffee table that doesn't move. For over a year now he goes out on the patio and hasn't tried to do any climbing. We never leave the door to patio open when we are not around. I know we are taking a chance. it is working out for us.
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post #10 of 22
1/15/10 at 9:48pm
I can let my cats out on a patio is supervised. I have to shoo them away from the railing but eventually they like sitting down in the sun. If you can watch them it will be alright. Perhaps even play a game out there. But you must not let them out there unsupervised ever.
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post #11 of 22
1/16/10 at 8:45am
We have netting on the balcony too (until we get it properly screened off with wire mesh) , the cats love to lounge around outside and I love being able to have the door open in the summer without having to worry too much about them falling/jumping off. The netting is meant as a temporary solution (has been temporary for years now ) so I think it is a waste of money to spend a lot on special netting, I just use a strawberry net (against birds) I buy at the garden center for a few euros and replace that every year.

I would not trust the cats to sit like this without a net:



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post #12 of 22
1/20/10 at 9:30am
Right now, Alley is laying on the third floor balcony. Persi has such long hair that he never wants to lie in the sun, he is right here by the computer where he always is when I am on TCS!

Yes, Alley COULD with effort, squeeze through the bars and jump three floors to her death on the cement driveway. I give her more credit than that and for the last year left the balcony door open when it is nice lke today (low 70s). She goes out and just lies in the sun. She has looked down below once and got the message and stays away from the bars. According to legend, she would land on her feet. Less than 1 mile from here is an animal shelter I volunteer at and can have 24/7 emergency treatment. Alley is also a fraidy cat, she chases nothing. I am not going to deprive her of laying in the sun. I just do not believe she is stupid enough to do that. I give her credit for having intelligence even though she is such a scarrrrrrrdycat.

So far it looks like I am the only person that does this. It has got to be safer than those that let their cats come and go outside! Come on, there must be others!!
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post #13 of 22
1/20/10 at 11:46am
I have been meaning to write on this subject. Kato puts his head between the bars. He did scare me once when I look out and he had his shoulders out past the railing. I call his name loud. He pull back and I have never seen him do it again. I don't put anything he can climb near the railing and I give kato credit for not jumping or climbing.



Note there is nothing he can used to climb on the patio.
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post #14 of 22
1/20/10 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penstemon View Post
I have been meaning to write on this subject. Kato puts his head between the bars. He did scare me once when I look out and he had his shoulders out past the railing. I call his name loud. He pull back and I have never seen him do it again. I don't put anything he can climb near the railing and I give kato credit for not jumping or climbing.



Note there is nothing he can used to climb on the patio.
Alley is a litle overweight and it would take a lot of effort to get between those bars. I have never heard of a cat that would take such a foolish action. One night I accidently locked Persi out on the balcony and it was freezing out. I found him in the morning huddled against the bars. I sincerely doubt that it ever entered his mind to push his way through those bars. I give him more credit than that. After that experience I have never worried about my cats being on the balcony after that. Chasing a butterfly or whatever is only going to result in him banging up the bars, there is no way he can accidently fall through and he is just too smart to do otherwise. And both cats hang over the elevator shaft opening watching when they hear a car pull into the garage. As soon as they see it is mum they then run down the stairs to meet her. No way they are going to jump 24 feet from the third floor to the first. Cats are just smarter than that. At least mine are.
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post #15 of 22
1/20/10 at 12:12pm
I would worry more about the cats jumping on top of the handrail than going through the bars. If they balance on top of there, and then get distracted by a bird or insect, or startled by a car backfiring, the consequences could be deadly.
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post #16 of 22
1/20/10 at 12:22pm
That one of the reasons we keep everything away from the bars. I know Kato can jump that far,if he wants. We have live here almost 2 years now. Yes, something unexpected could happen, but then it could haven't anywhere like a tie-on which he swallow and the bill was over 500 dollars before we got it through his system.
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post #17 of 22
1/20/10 at 12:32pm
I guess I'm a bad cat mommy The Squeaky and I enjoy sitting outside on our balcony, 2.5 stories up. Her main activities include rolling around and eating my plants. She's never tried to jump after anything, doesn't sit on the railing and doesn't do anything more than stick her head through the bars. Since she's on the chubby side, that's about all that will fit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_EtF-L0j2Q

If anyone is worried, maybe a harness and leash? I used that when we first went out onto the balcony.
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post #18 of 22
1/20/10 at 1:36pm
In our last house we lived on the ground floor with a neighbor and his cat living above us. I would often sit in the yard and the best place to sit happened to be pretty much under the neighbor's balcony. One afternoon I sat there and suddenly saw some tufts of cat hair floating down, followed by a plummeting cat !
Apparently the cat had stuck his head through the bars because he wanted to see who was sitting under the balcony, he had reached just a little bit further, squeezed a little because he was so curious and fell through.
This cat really did not jump, he did not want to be outside, he was clearly startled and flew straight into the bushes. My neighbor's bell was broken at the time so I started to knock on his door and yell up to the open balcony door, soon the cat came out of the bushes and sat down next to me yowling he wanted back in
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post #19 of 22
1/20/10 at 1:49pm
That story is the unexpected happening; the time Kato got his shoulders under the bottom bar, he was trying to see what was going on below. We can do our best to keep them safe.
I want to get a video of him on the porch and another one of Kato opening doors. So far the laster he hasn't cooperate with me. The porch will wait until it is warmer. We forgot him one night and he was okay. We did start with the leash.
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post #20 of 22
1/20/10 at 2:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Persi & Alley View Post
Yes, Alley COULD with effort, squeeze through the bars and jump three floors to her death on the cement driveway. I give her more credit than that and for the last year left the balcony door open when it is nice lke today (low 70s).
lol I think if I had three chunky kitties who couldn't fit through the bars if they tried, I'd let them out there. As it is, I've discovered that my smallest (still a kitten) can squeeze through the bars of a baby gate (it's pretty funny watching her contort through too!), and my middle cat just seems too "eager" to go out on the balcony. I also don't give my cats that much credit, they're not that smart! lol
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post #21 of 22
1/20/10 at 3:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mimosa View Post
One afternoon I sat there and suddenly saw some tufts of cat hair floating down, followed by a plummeting cat !
I'm laughing that that visual. I can totally see my kitties doing that. Poor guy!
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post #22 of 22
1/20/10 at 3:15pm
The main point is, they are in a temporary apartment. There isn't really time to teach them how to be safe on the balcony, and no, I would not risk it, either.

Cats have been seriously injured and killed from falls. I did not read the high rise syndrome link, not wanting any details, but I know it happens all too often.

It's just not worth it, for a few days, in my opinion.
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