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  #1  
Old January 3rd, 2009, 03:45 PM
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cobykat cobykat is offline
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Cat Enclosure

Hello,
I recently brought home a baby girl kitten from the pound and she is driving us nuts by wanting to go outside. It doesn't matter what door you use to enter the house, she is waiting there to make a run for it. I have two dogs and they are constantly going in and out, which only makes matters worse. She is so sneaky, sometimes I don't even realize she has escaped until I do a head count!

Has anyone had success with cat enclosures? I have a new dog door that I can't use because of this cat. I'm thinking of making a cat enclosure off of the door along my house. I bought a "cat fence" but had to return it as my HOA said that I could not install it. I have a rescued cat that does go outside and stays on the patio for only a few minutes at a time. She is always supervised and doesn't want to wander.

Has anyone here constructed a cat enclosure? I think it would be a great way to get some use out of my new dog door and the cats can appreciate being outside without being in harms way.

If anyone has any suggestions, or ideas, please let me know.
Thanks again!!
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Old January 3rd, 2009, 03:52 PM
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Welcome and first off could you answer a question. What type of enclosure/fencing would your HOA allow? Attached to your house? Free standing within a certain perameter? Size? I guess if you could answer that you would know what to buy. Basically what I would like to know is what they would allow you to do.
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Old January 3rd, 2009, 04:21 PM
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cobykat cobykat is offline
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Cat Enclosure

The HOA rejected the cat fence due to the fact that I could not extend the height of the fence. There is nothing in the rules about constructing a cat enclosure. Besides, with the plummeting home values and the high rate of foreclosures in my neighborhood, I think the HOA is grateful to have an income of dues from the rest of the folks that haven't lost their homes! I pretty much raised the flag on myself by asking permission to put up the cat fence. I'm just thinking of putting up a wooden/wire structure that will run along the back of my house, approximately 7 feet long by 3.5 feet wide and about 7 feet tall. My other thought was to put an electric fence along the parameter of my yard. My yard is not large and it backs up to a green belt, but it's next to a Bald Eagle reserve and we see all kinds of wildlife.
NOT a very comforting environment for an outside kitty!
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Old January 3rd, 2009, 04:37 PM
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Ok, so how about a type of a dog run? You could cover the top with chicken wire so the cat can't get out over the top. They also have little "cages" that fit into your windows like an air conditioner so the cat can get fresh air, sit/lie in it whenever the cat wants to. One of our members did that for her kitties. It worked really well.
You could also build an enclosure, not so large as you were going to put in, and attach wire over the top and right to the side of your house. Maybe utilize that door you want to use so the cats can come and go at their leizure.
Please do not use an electric fence.
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We can stick our heads in the sand for only so long before it starts choking us. Face it folks. The pet population is bad ALL OVER THE WORLD!
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Old January 3rd, 2009, 04:40 PM
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How old is your kitten? You say it's driving you nuts trying to sneak out? It must have been born outside or started life as a feral.
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We can stick our heads in the sand for only so long before it starts choking us. Face it folks. The pet population is bad ALL OVER THE WORLD!
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Old January 3rd, 2009, 05:05 PM
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I would think she is about 5 months old. She's an adorable Showshoe polydactyl that immediatly took over the household. She thinks she is a dog. She has already bonded with our Savannah, and loves everyone else. I know how everyone on this discussion group feels about outdoor cats, they won't live outdoors for very long. I think if she can still go outside, but be protected, she will love it. And I will have a use for the $500.00 dog door that I had installed, as it is not being used at all.

I will forget about the electric fence and concentrate on building a "cat run."

I will let you know how it turns out. Thanks again for your imput!...I have been lurking on this site for about a year now and find the regular contributors to be very inspiring.

Happy New Year!
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Old January 3rd, 2009, 05:15 PM
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cobycat,if you have a Snowshoe kitten,you absolutely have to show us pics,the pups and the other kitty to of course
We've trained our 3 cats to stay in our fenced in backyard,but never alone,always supervised.
But a cat-run sounds like a good idea
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Old January 3rd, 2009, 05:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chico2 View Post
cobycat,if you have a Snowshoe kitten,you absolutely have to show us pics,the pups and the other kitty to of course
We've trained our 3 cats to stay in our fenced in backyard,but never alone,always supervised.
But a cat-run sounds like a good idea
I agree. Would love to see pics of all of your pets. And thanks for finally joining us! Welcome
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We can stick our heads in the sand for only so long before it starts choking us. Face it folks. The pet population is bad ALL OVER THE WORLD!
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Old January 3rd, 2009, 05:27 PM
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My brother is an IT guy and is forever teasing me about my lack of computer skills. I will try to figure this out and post a pic of the gang. In the meantime, the weather has dropped 30 degrees in the last 24 hours and it's snowing outside. It's amazing that the need to get out the door has drastically declined for that little sneak. She has however, spent most of the day by the door...just in case someone slips up and leaves it open a crack. Thanks again!
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Old January 3rd, 2009, 05:31 PM
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About 8 years ago I took in a stray 6 month old kitten. She was a bit feral. She absolutely loved her new brother who at the time was 3-4 years old. He was an indoor cat and was trained from very young to go outside on a leash (mostly supervised). I thought the new outdoor kitty was going to be hard to train to be an indoor cat but it wasn't so bad. I slowly started putting a harness on in the house for her to wear. She followed my other kitty around endlessly and wanted to do whatever he was doing. And he knew that if he was to go outside he had to get the harness and leash on. So. I started putting a leash on her. Where I was living the yard was only surrounded by hedges so she could escape at any time. But I would supervise and go get her when she would leave the yard. To make a long story short in my new house that we moved into about 1 and a half years ago there is a 6 foot high fence all around the back yard. At first I would put their leashes on when I'd let them out in the back yard. But they both will not jump over the fence so now I don't have to supervise or put a leash on either of them. We've come a long way....Like your other kitty - I think they start to learn that they are not allowed past a certain point. It's just getting them to this understanding that is a long process I know it may not be possible but would you be able to supervise kitty for a while and teach her that going past a certain point is not allowed....might take some time on your part but so worth it in the end. The enclosure would be a great idea as well!!
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Old January 3rd, 2009, 05:32 PM
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Yeah, it's too cold out there for man or beast!! I only have one that tries to sneak out. Even he hasn't really tried hard for quite a while. Don't think he liked it when I took him out and put him in the cold snow.
Course my cattycats are in and out quite a lot normally but they are fenced and can't go too far.
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Assumptions do nothing but make an ass out of u and me.

We can stick our heads in the sand for only so long before it starts choking us. Face it folks. The pet population is bad ALL OVER THE WORLD!
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