My apartment is tiny. Plenty of space up there. I was thinking of building them a house, put up some cushions all around that i would regularly wash, and let them call it home. There are planty of spaces where they can hide do its not a bare roof. But obviously I’m worried that they might jump off. The ledge is head high, but that doesn’t mean they can't easily jump on it. Would they be smart enough not to jump off the roof? Do they have some sort of built-in instinct where it would make it impossible for them to try to jump off high places they can't land safely?
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Is it safe to keep my cats on the roof top of my building?
- Thread starter katocy
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First off, do you have permission to do this on the roof of your building?
Second, cats have little sense of depth so, yes, they could jump off the roof. I would not do it.
Second, cats have little sense of depth so, yes, they could jump off the roof. I would not do it.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Yes i have permission.
I thought the would be good judges of distance, or height specifically, because i always see them back away once they realize they are up too high and look for alternate ways to come down.
Cats prefer to live with their humans. Unless you spend many hours on the roof every day, they'll most likely be happier living in your apartment with you, even if it is small 
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If you do want them to be allowed on the roof, building an enclosure would be safest. They might start playing, running and jumping, and not pay attention to where the edge is :/.
. If you do want them to be allowed on the roof, building an enclosure would be safest. They might start playing, running and jumping, and not pay attention to where the edge is :/.
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I agree. I also think that monitoring temperature and weather would be very diffcult / dangerous.Cats prefer to live with their humans. Unless you spend many hours on the roof every day, they'll most likely be happier living in your apartment with you, even if it is small
If you do want them to be allowed on the roof, building an enclosure would be safest. They might start playing, running and jumping, and not pay attention to where the edge is :/.
Roof tops get extremely hot. It would be a terrible idea to have them living up there. Their paws will not be able to tolerate the heat the roof material generates and I'd imagine that they would wind up very dehydrated as well. The winds are higher on a roof also. And as far as litter boxes, how on earth are you going to carry heavy boxes of litter and dirty litter back down again?
Pretty sure that there are local codes which would prevent this anyway. We used to live on the top floor of a building where the neighboring roof was level to our bedroom. Someone used to let their dog run around up there and we'd find it looking into our windows all the time, and were able to smell it's poop. Let alone barking. We called the cops on them. I'm sure you'd like to avoid that kind of confrontation as it would most likely lead to an animal cruelty charge.
Pretty sure that there are local codes which would prevent this anyway. We used to live on the top floor of a building where the neighboring roof was level to our bedroom. Someone used to let their dog run around up there and we'd find it looking into our windows all the time, and were able to smell it's poop. Let alone barking. We called the cops on them. I'm sure you'd like to avoid that kind of confrontation as it would most likely lead to an animal cruelty charge.
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We live in a tiny apartment also, a great thing you can do is to build up, ie lots of shelving of different heights (if you are renting and are unable to put anything on the walls) that they can climb, cat trees, etc, places near windows where it can look out. We also have trained one of our cats to the holster, we haven't gotten outside yet but she's perfectly happy to walk up and down the steps, stopping to sniff the different scents.
One sign is to look out for is whether the cats know that they can get up there. You can tell by their inquisitive looks. They'll keep pacing and having their eyes fixed up there. If they do not show such signs, chances are they are not interested in that height or area or don't even know such places exist.
Unless they have been up there before and keep wanting to go up, then it's ok to build a house for them. Otherwise you'll be wasting your time. I know we want the best for our cats because we love them. Sometimes we think for our cats but those things we think of is not what they a.re thinking.
I would not suggest the idea to them :lol3:
Unless they have been up there before and keep wanting to go up, then it's ok to build a house for them. Otherwise you'll be wasting your time. I know we want the best for our cats because we love them. Sometimes we think for our cats but those things we think of is not what they a.re thinking.
I would not suggest the idea to them :lol3:
Agree with what othes have said about keeping your cats inside the apartment instead of the roof. One other thing to worry about is the security of the roof. Do others in the building have access to the roof? If yes, then you have no idea who might go to the roof to harm your cats in some way, remove them and sell them to another person, etc.
Cats can jump from really high places like a roof. It's been called "high rise syndrome" and can result in serious injury or worse.
It's fine to keep a cat in a small apartment, even those new "micro apartments". As long as you provide a few elevated spaces for the cat to lounge and play on, the cat will be fine
Wall shelves for cats are great if your landlord allows you to drill holes in the wall. A cat tree is a great alternative.
Cats can jump from really high places like a roof. It's been called "high rise syndrome" and can result in serious injury or worse.
It's fine to keep a cat in a small apartment, even those new "micro apartments". As long as you provide a few elevated spaces for the cat to lounge and play on, the cat will be fine
