How cat proof 3.8 ft. fence?

sprinkle

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basscat

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Corrugated Polycarbonate roofing panels (wally world, lowes, home depot, etc).    It's the clear flexible plastic roofing they use on greenhouses.
Run it lengthwise (sideways/longways) at the top of the fence.
Cats can't grip it and can't get over it.

THAT being said.  Your fence will still need to be at LEAST 7ft tall.   6' might do it, but, I doubt it. 
 

jennyr

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Some cats will climb any wood fence, of any height. Think of them shinning up a tree. You have to use some material that they cannot get any grip on. or something at an angle they can't get over (though I have seen videos of a cat managing to negotiate one of those). I don't understand about the cancer - I have never heard of that.
 

Norachan

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It really depends on your cat.

My cats would be over a 4 ft wooden fence in no time at all. The fence I have around my enclosure is 5 ft 4 in at the top of the vertical posts. It has an angled in section that is 5 ft 7in at the highest point. One of them gets out regularly and a couple of the others have managed to get out a few times. If your cat is really determined the only way to stop them getting out is an enclosure with a roof.

What kind of fence do you have at the moment? If you could post some pictures and let us know what your limitations are maybe we could make some suggestions.

You can see some pictures of my fence and enclosure here.

 [thread="276982"]Moving House Taking The Colony With Me​[/thread]  
 

basscat

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This is what I mean about the corrugated polycarbonate panels like they use for greenhouses. 
This is small enclosure inside.  For temporary stays. Just sort of sectioned off a corner of the shop.
The panels start at about 4ft and the top edge is 6ft.  
The ONLY way a cat can get past those panels is to jump above them.  They CANNOT climb them.
These were set at this height for a kitten.
They are now too low. It's time to move them to the top (up higher).

You can get panels like this clearer and/or many different colors, solid or translucent if you shop around.  I wasn't concerned with looks, so, I just got what was cheapest.

 

Norachan

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@BassCat  Those corrugated panels are really useful. I've wrapped them around the trees in my enclosure to stop the cats climbing out. None of them has ever managed to climb up a wrapped tree, thought they shin up the unwrapped trees like little bear cubs.

 
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sprinkle

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I have chain link fence. Most of it is 5 ft. and i'll change the other fence to that too.

Here are some pics of problem areas.







I'm not sure about the side areas (in garage and by house) so i was thinking of just closing it off completely with wire mesh.

Also, I'm going to put chain link fence at the garage roof.
 

Norachan

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That looks like a nice big space @sprinkle  The chain link fence will be really easy to climb over, you need something at the top to prevent your cat getting out. Either some of those roller bars or an overhang.

 

 

The way I would do it is attach another horizontal fence post to the top of the chain link and then attach the roller bars or overhang to that. The overhang in the picture above has a wooden post on the outside edge. My escape artist cat would climb to the top of the fence, lean back until he could grab this outside edge and then haul himself over. If your cat has any Houdini tendencies an overhang with a roller bar on the outside edge would be safest.

Is that green shed the garage? I think he might try to climb that and jump off onto the top of the fence. You'll need to make sure he can't get up there.

Also check that he can't get under the fence. My cats like to tunnel. If there is chance that he could dig under the fence you could attach some deer netting to the bottom of the fence and use tent pegs to secure it into the ground. Or you could block off all the way around the bottom of the fence with some more wood. Any space that you can get your fist into a cat can get his head into and once his head is through he's out.

Does your cat go out at all now? If he is harness trained you could take him for a few walks around the yard once you've cat proofed it and see what he does. They usually spot any escape routes far faster than you can.

 
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sprinkle

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Thanks for your help.

He goes on the roof from this stair railing. Any suggestions on how I can stop him from going on it? No spikes please.
 

basscat

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The problem isn't so much keeping cats in, as it is...keeping them in and making it look somewhat nice.  
  I'm in the middle of an enclosure project. 
The plan started out as a 10ft tall fence with a 45 degree angle above.  Similar to what @Norachan  had done.   BUT, I wanted this close to the house and the trees are thin close to the house (it's not a heavily wooded/forest area). 
Since it was to be very close to the house, with nothing much to hide it....I decided that adding a 45 above a 10ft tall fence wall, would look like a security fence/prison.  Therefore, the problem became "how to make it look somewhat aesthetic".   A HUGE enclosure is not going to look pretty with my funding.  But, I thought maybe I could make it look "somewhat" nice.

I decided on a wire ceiling instead of the 45 degree extension.  That would knock down some of the height, and that "prison security" look would be gone.
I decided to top the wire ceiling with PERGOLA rafters.  Hopefully to make it almost appear like a pergola with some "Design".

THEN, in between the poles. So that it didn't look like just a huge tall fence being supported by a pole every 8ft.   I'm trying to "frame out" each opening so that it almost appears like "wire windows" inside of "frames".  With some design openings at the top, just for looks.  
I'm about half-way finished with it,  just trying to make it somewhat appealing. 

I didn't even consider the plastic corrugate panels at the top, due to close proximity to the house.  Just assumed they would be U-G-L-Y!  But, now that I think about it?  If each plastic panel could be framed out in wood, it might not look all that bad....and would save me from having to ceiling/roof it with wire.   Hmmm.........

BTW: I am NOT saying @Norachan  enclosure is by any means ugly.  That's a heavily wooded area with lots of trees to camo/hide it.  If I was building this enclosure a bit away from the house, in the woods....That is EXACLTY how I'd be building it.  I really like the looks of that and wish I had one that large.  That thing must be HUGE!!
 
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jennyr

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There are some really good ideas here that I shall borrow from. I am going to build an outdoor enclosure onto my new extension when it is finished. I have seen cats get over even roller bars, and as Norachan Norachan says, some cats learn easily to get over an overhung fence panel. I think it is less likely if the overhung section is solid, like the corrugated panels, though that is not as nice to look at. And yes, it is very important to stop tunnelling - many of them go in for that!
 

Norachan

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I agree @BassCat  Trying to build an enclosure that keeps the cats safe but doesn't leave your house looking like something from "Hoarders" is all part of the challenge. We had plans to put up a wire mesh fence at first, but as our house is located in a national park that is part of a UNESCO designated World Heritage site the local council were very fussy about what we could put up.

I have put a corrugate panel roof on one corner of the enclosure, so the kitties have some where rain proof to sit and watch the World go by. You don't actually see the panels as they are at eye level, all you see is the wooden fence and the edge of the panel. I have put a layer of net over that just in case they decided to climb on top of the panels. From outside all you see is the green netting and the 45 degree extension.

The cats, of course, decided it would be much more fun to climb on top of the panels and watch the World from there. They can't actually get out because the netting extends all the way around the panels, but they will try to climb out of anything new.



This area would be really easy to cat proof and would make a great enclosure. You could clear out all the stuff under here, wire mesh all the way around and make a gate so that you still have access from outside (Easy enough to do, I can give you some hints if you decided to do this) You could put in a walkway so he has an extra level to explore and put some cat trees in the middle to really make the most of the space.

You could even extend the enclosure out into the yard a little, so he has one corner where he can get into the sun too. As there is already a roof and some vertical supports it would be much easier than starting an enclosure from scratch.

Have a look at Cat Enclosures on Google and YouTube, that will give you some ideas.

Let us see some pictures of what you come up with.
 
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sprinkle

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Yeah he goes under the house a lot.

I'm going to put 5 ft. fence around and use the cat fence and wire mesh.

He has a cat tree and a high area where he can sleep in the garage. I really like the idea of putting a walkway. Any suggestions how to do it?

He has the yard to go out in and it's pretty big.
 

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I'm new to this site and have two rescue kittens that will stay in a 10x10x6 ft welded wire kennel. I'd like to leave the roof open and have been considering rollers when I saw this discussion about wavy roof panels. Could flat acrylic panels (plexiglass) work as well as the wavy roof panels?
 

Norachan

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I'm new to this site and have two rescue kittens that will stay in a 10x10x6 ft welded wire kennel. I'd like to leave the roof open and have been considering rollers when I saw this discussion about wavy roof panels. Could flat acrylic panels (plexiglass) work as well as the wavy roof panels?
Yes, that would work as well. It just needs to be something they can't get their claws into.

If you're going to have an open roof make sure the cats have somewhere they can get out of the rain or strong sunlight. They'll need some weather proof enclosed space to sleep and shelter in.
 

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Yes, that would work as well. It just needs to be something they can't get their claws into.

If you're going to have an open roof make sure the cats have somewhere they can get out of the rain or strong sunlight. They'll need some weather proof enclosed space to sleep and shelter in.
 

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Thank you Norachan for your reply. Yes, I'll have shade cloth and also insulated house etc so they have places to sheild them from heat/cold/rain.
 

metamorph

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Hi Norachan, i purchased polycarbonate panels for the kittens temporary playpen and they are working very well to prevent them from climbing out using the wire mesh.
Next week the larger 10x10x6 wire mesh will arrive and I'd like to use clear polycarbonate again, rather than the 26" wide wavy plastic, but it is quite expensive-about 4x the price. How can I determine the minimum width I need to prevent them from climbing out as adults? How far can an adult cat extend it's front legs and hind legs when trying to find something to hook its claws into? Or is 26" needed to prevent adult cat from getting past the wavy plastic barrier? Any input would be appreciated!
 

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Hi M metamorph Sorry for the late reply, I've been away from TCS for a few days.

Are you talking about the overhang part of the fence at the top? It really depends on how determined the cat is to get out.

This was the first version of our enclosure fence. The vertical posts are about 5 ft 6 in, the over hang was about 15 in. One of our cats learnt that he could get over this fairly quickly, but the rest of them didn't even bother trying.
NewHouse22 (2).jpg

This was the second attempt. The over hang was doubled in width and the pole extensions were supposed to collapse under his weight. He still managed to get over though.
NewHouse30.jpg


Third attempt. More rigid poles, overhanging net about 24 in. Yep, he still got over.
Fence1.jpg


If the cat is really determined, and has something he can brace his back feet against, he'll be able to haul himself over an overhang if he can get his claws into it.

You need to have the overhang either wider than the cat can stretch or too difficult for him to get a good grip of.
 
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