fence climber

Can you suggest a fence cover to prevent climbing over? This 6 foot cedar fence:
* may not have a trellis nailed up to make it higher
* has bird netting covering every place this cat could jump out

We take our 4 indoor cats out in the backyard for supervised play twice a day. Three are gentle females who enjoy their time chasing bugs, stalking thru the gardens, and watching birds.

But Daler, the youngest (1 yr, male, neutered, yellow tabby/maybe siamese mix) finds the best game. Over the fence, Mom comes to get him, he has an interesting activity and gets carried home. (By the way, he also has plenty to do in the yard, and enjoys it.) Sometimes in the evening I walk him on the leash in the front yard and quiet street as well. His activity level seems insatiable. The house has climbing and play areas in every room, including a loft. He gets a lot of petting and play, and also plays with the other cats.

Sometimes he manages to climb the netted fence by jumping from a further distance, going under where it's blown out a bit, watching for it to flatten. Aluminum foil is an option, tho it's likely to tear.

Keeping a garden hose handy with a nozzle to turn on as soon as he heads for the fence does work, however, only for the single time. You have to watch him constantly. Turning on the sprinkler doesn't work - he figures out easily where it's going to turn next.

Thanks for your ideas!

Linda
:jarswim:

I saw a product that was supposed to stop this exact behaviour. Of course, I can't remember the name right now. Maybe someone else can remember the name going off my description...

It is a chain link fence attachment to the wood fence. It goes out at about a 45 degree angle from the wood fence (kinda like this: \\l (the l being the wood fence)), and is about 3 feet wide, I think. You can put it on the top of the wood fence, or down a ways so it doesn't show over the fence, depending on the covenant in your neighborhood. I know that a company sells them, but it wouldn't be too difficult to construct if you are at all handy. The claim was that cats on the inside can't get out since they can't climb upside-down, and other stray cats can't get in since they are "trapped" by the angle.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, Heidi!

I found the product at this url:

http://www.catfencein.com/

I sent for the brochure. The product looks fairly simple to make using ordinary shelf hooks and netting. However, the one on the web site undoubtedly looks better and lasts longer than one a person could make by trial & error.

Heidi, that was great of you to write immediately about the product.

Cheers,
Linda

I know someone from another cat site who has this fence system. She said it is wonderful and well worth the expense and time it takes to install.