# Preventing my cat from leaving the yard



## guy_c (Jan 13, 2010)

Hello,
Today I decided to subscribe to catforum in hope to find a good advice to resolve a too long lasting problem. 

Dingi is a 4 years male, sterilized at 6 month. He lives in a house in a farm and can go out of the house and back in via a hole I made in a wall. The problem is that he likes to go out of the yard and there is a real danger that he be run over by a car in the street adjacent to the farm's yard. So I mad a 1.8m metal mesh fence all around the yard and a 1.8 meter high doorway at the farm's entry but Dingi learned to jump over the doorway to go out and back. 

Now I am working on electrifying (with low enough energy ~150mj) the top edge of the doorway but, I am afraid that he will soon learn to go over the fence once he sees that the doorway in impracticable. Must I have a companion for him? which? What else can I do?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Guy


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## Leazie (Apr 14, 2007)

Cats are so smart, aren't they? I found an article on how to make an escape proof cat fence http://cat-care.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_cat_proof_a_garden. 

If you are enclosing a specified area that is not too big the best way, in my mind, would be to put a mesh on top of the fence so that it is completely enclosed, and thus no way for your little tiger to jump over the fence.


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## guy_c (Jan 13, 2010)

The farm is 250m X 40m ... It would be easier for me to have an electric wire then the wire overhung all around. As for the solution to leave him in a "cage" sure he will not be run over but he will be unhappy and sometimes I think it preferable to have a good than a long life.


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## Leazie (Apr 14, 2007)

I understand. I hope that some one else drops by with a more workable system. 

I had to use an electric fence for a lab/rottie mix that I had years ago. He would climp over the 6 foot fence and roam the neighborhood. It worked well for him and eventually I was able to leave it off from time to time.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

http://www.hssv2.org/Fence/Fence.htm


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## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

It's difficult to confine a cat if he wants out. It'll likely be a lot of do it yourself but perhaps you can think about getting a cat enclosure. 

Some ideas and pictures, some of these look so fantastic that I want one too! 
http://habitathaven.com/cat-enclosures.html
http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-enclosures.htm


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## gunterkat (Aug 19, 2006)

A cat won't climb on anything he feels is not sturdy enough to support his weight. Relying on this fact, a deer fence night be the solution you're looking for. Deer fence is make from flexible nylon mesh and is an effective barrier because it "gives" when a cat tries to climb it. Kitty doesn't climb since his instincts tell him it isn't safe.

I think a physical barrier is a safer solution to keeping your mini-tiger in bounds. It does not take much of a jolt to be lethal for a cat. An electric shock that makes an effective deterrent for a dog could be three or four times the lethal energy level for a cat. 8O


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## guy_c (Jan 13, 2010)

Alpaca, 

My cat has an enclosure of ~ 1.5m X 1.5m. In fact, when he goes from home through the hole in the wall, he arrives to the enclosure which I can either have completely closed or, by removing one wood board, with access to the yard. When he gets treatment (e.g. frontline), the enclosure stays closed for one day. Whenever the enclosure is closed, Dingi is sad and miserable. Before he discovered he was able to jump over the doorway to go out of the yard, he was waiting by that I open the doorway to go out with the car and I had to add an hydraulic latch the release the wood board with a long enough delay to allow me to pick the car, open the doorway driving out and close it again. 

Guy


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