Cat keeps sitting on high ledge

kittykstina

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Hi all!
My husband and I just moved into a new townhome and have a loft area in our bedroom. There’s a ledge that looks down on the 1st floor of the room and my cat keeps jumping up/lounging on it - he’s been giving me a heart attack! It’s about 14ish feet up from the ground and I’m just worried that one day he might lose balance and fall. Am I being overprotective? Or should I continue to shoo him off the ledge when I see him on it? He doesn’t stay off it for too long, when I wake up he’ll be back on it and we will catch him on it throughout the day. There’s no way I can block the entrance to the loft so I’m not really sure what to do. What are your thoughts/suggestions? Thank you!
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nurseangel

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Hi, it's nice to meet you. Cats love high places but I am concerned about the drop, too. I hope someone has a helpful solution.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi!
Go to a home improvement store, get some lightweight screening material and some of those removable Command picture hangers. Place the hangers, poke corresponding holes in the screen material.
 

Juniper_Junebug

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I posted recently about a similar problem-- a loft railing about 14 feet high, and a 6- month old kitty getting agile enough to reach the railing. Shortly after the post, my kitty fell off the railing to the floor below (only the second time she ever made it up onto the ledge), and mercifully, she was fine. Since then, I actually created steps up to the ledge so she could get up more easily (instead of jumping from the floor and potentially miscalculating), because I did not see a way to meaningfully keep her off, and I was worried that if we fought about it, it would become more of a thing and she'd become more of a dare devil (she seems to have a defiant streak, or at least, likes to do things that win her negative attention). But it still stops my heart when I see her up there.

In response to my post, others suggested clever ways to cover the gap. I decided they didn't work for me (given the large space that would need to be covered and the fact that I also have an open staircase), but they might work for you.
 

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sabian

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It looks to me there are ways you could seal that off or at least make it " fall proof ". It may not be pretty but it could be done fairly cheaply. Or, if you wanted to spend the money you could have someone design something made out of acrylic or maybe plexiglass.

Cats just like high places and and he's going to get up there no matter what. To be honest, a 14' fall for a cat would be much different than a human jumping off of something 7'. I would worry more if you had an elderly cat. I understand your concern though! Not to be a smart @$$ but, didn't that cross your mind when you bought the house? My first thought when I saw that would have been, "cats gonna want to get up there". Just sayin.
 

ayersc

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He’s probably fine on that ledge if it’s wide enough for him to lie down. But if you’re still anxious, you could use double sided tape to make the surface sticky, cats don’t like that. I used it on the bannister over my open entryway, since they’re rounded and if a cat fell, she’d be falling to tile, not wood. I used a brand actually advertised for cat deterrence on Amazon. Really amazing part is that I thought it would gather dust and get gross, but after 6 months you still can’t even tell it’s there unless you touch it. And both cats have learned to stay off the bannister.
 

susanm9006

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Perhaps you can add a short rail over that edge, so that the can can see through but not accidentally fall over. Or perhaps if you are handy a little railed platform extending from that edge so that little has a safe full view of the downstairs,
 

fionasmom

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There are some good idea where which you should consider if they will work for your space. I posted a couple times in the other thread...my cat never fell and once the novelty wore off, she sat on the bannister less and less. However, I think that precautions are a good idea if you can implement any.
 
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