DO IT YOURSELF CAT FENCE

We wanted to provide a safe environment for our indoor cats to enjoy the outdoors.  Our rescue cats are all former farm cats or semi-ferals and they continually meowed at the door to be let out.  So we started with a 4ft foot high metal deer/rabbit fence, but found that the cats used various means to escape.  They would scale a tree, get on a branch and jump outside the yard, or they climbed on gate posts and escape.  That was not acceptable, so we needed to have a safer enclosure.  Some of the cat fences and enclosures on the market were expensive, so we decided on the do it yourself option.  After an online search we came upon Alley Cat Allies - Feral Cat Coalition website and their cat fence instructions.  The link is from 1997 and the netting company does not seem to exist any more.   We started with their instructions and modified them to make the fence construction easier and to date, just as safe and effective.  We hope that you can also utilize our instructions for your project, but we encourage you to read their instructions first to get a general feel of how a cat fence should be set up if you don't have a fence or if you have an existing fence.  They also have tips on how to get your cat used to the fence.
 

Materials needed:

  • Garden poles, usually green hard plastic ones like the picture below.  Depending on the height of your existing fence, the stakes should be between 5 ft and 7 ft high.  Measure the perimeter of your yard and plan for a pole approximately 10 ft. These poles run approximately $2-3 per pole.  Try to get metal reinforced or metal poles if you can, see windstorm update below.
  • Netting.  Use can use deer netting or garden netting (like this, but 4ft high).  Again, depending on the height of your existing fence, the netting should be 4-5 ft high.  Garden netting is about $10 for 25 ft and deer netting is about $60 for 400 feet.
  • Package of long twist ties - $1-2
  • White or black fishing line.  A spool should do it. $1.50
  • 16 gauge wire.  Best without the insulation since it will bend and twist better.  $5-10.
  • Scissors to cut the netting and fishing line.  Wire cutters for the wire
  • Most of these supplies could be obtained at any hardware stores.  We got all of ours at Home Depot.  Total cost of the fence was about $150 and we had a bunch of stakes and netting left over.  Note that you can experiment with other materials for the netting. We got what was on sale and looked similar to the material on the Feral Cat Website.  Any flexible poly or vinyl netting with small squares (less than 1.5 inch square should work.
  • I realize that the US is the only country left which is not using the metric system.  This fencing system is intended for everyone, but I dont want to put conversions after every number.  So for everyone else, assume that 1 ft is about 30 cm and 1 inch is about 2.5 cm.  I am not sure what the equivalent is of 16 gauge wire, but something to wrap around fencing.

Instructions if you have an existing chainlink or metal fence.

  1. We used 3.5-4 ft high netting and 5 ft high garden poles, since our existing metal fence is 4 ft high. You will have to tweak your measurements depending on the height of your existing fence.  Total height of the fence + netting should be about 7-8 ft.
  2. The garden netting comes in 4 ft high sections, but the deer netting is 7 ft high and has to be cut in 3.5 ft sections.  We found that to work comfortably with netting, it is best to have sections of no more than 20 ft in length.
  3. Trim any branches that will get in the way of the net.  We left all our climbing vines on the fence and worked around them, weaving them around the fence and the net.  Check your existing fence for any holes and patch them up.  Look for any openings in the bottom and seal with dirt.  To prevent small animals from coming into the yard, we put chicken wire around the bottom 2 ft of our metal fence.
  4. Affix the garden poles to your existing fence approximately 10 ft apart.  We simply weaved about a foot of it it through the chain links and then secured with 16 gauge wire tying the pole to the fence in 2 places.  Update on this.  After a nasty windstorm, some of the poles were bent and nearly cracked thru where they were affixed to the fence.  This was mostly in sections where less than a foot of the pole was weaved thru the existing fence.  So put a foot or a foot and a half of the pole through your existing fence and also look for metal reinforced green plastic poles or metal poles.  It may be that after some storms, a pole or two would need to be replaced.
  5. Put up the netting, securing it to the garden pole and your existing fence with twist ties or the 16 gauge wire if you like.  We left about 2-6 inches of netting overlapping the existing fence. Where you run out of netting and need to start a new section, leave a foot or two of overlap vertically.
  6. Finally, weave fishing line along each garden pole, further securing the netting to the pole.  Then weave the fishing line horizontally, where the netting overlaps your existing fence, so there are no gaps or holes for escape.  Where the netting overlaps, put in another garden pole and wrap both sections around the pole with the fishing line.  If you don't you want to insert another pole, thread both sections of netting with fishing line.
  7. If you see some sag in the netting, reinforce with and additional pole.  The netting is designed to be flexible so that the cat cannot gain a paw hold on it.

Examples of garden and deer mesh, pole and close ups

Instructions if you have a wooden privacy fence

  1. We bought metal rabbit or garden fencing like this and nailed it to the wooden fence.  Then we bent it, so that any cats climbing the fence would have a barrier of approximately 2 ft (see photo below)
  2. So far this has been effective. However, if you want to be absolutely certain, you could use 3 or 4 ft garden poles. Weave then thru the metal squares of the rabbit fence and secure with wire as described above.
  3. Then attach 3 to 4 ft of netting, securing with twist ties and fishing line as described above.

Additional Yard Securements

  1. If you have a wooden gate, reinforce with some sheet metal, so that the cat cannot climb it.  Turn the sheet metal away, so that no one will get cut (see photo below).
  2. If your cat is a tree climber, buy some flashing and wrap it around the tree, especially if your tree is right next to the fence.  As we found out, one of our cats climbed the tree and lauched himself from the tree to the wooden fence.  Trim the low branches as well, so they are not used as escape points. You don't have to nail the flashing to the tree. Attach both ends to each other with metal screws (see photo below).  You can also buy a metal squirrel guard.  Update: make sure your flashing is longer than the body of the cat, because as we found out, the cat managed to stretch himself past the flashing and scamper up the tree.  So either use a squirrel guard or wrap about 3-4 ft of the metal flashing around the tree trunk so that the cat cannot stretch himself full length and get a clawhold.
  3. If you let your cat out, avoid early morning and dusk. That is prime foraging time for birds and small mammals and you want to minimize hunting of endangered songbirds by your cat.
  4. No cat fence is a 100% safe, so be sure that your cat is either microchipped or is wearing a collar with an ID tag.
  5. If you don't have an existing fence, you can try putting in a 4-5 ft high metal rabbit/garden fence described above. You have to buy metal costs and attach the fence to them.  Total cost about $200, which is cheaper than chainlink.

Back fence                                       Metal on Gate                         Flashing on Tree

Questions or Suggestions

If you have any questions or suggestions, please email us at jeffinnalarsen@yahoo.com This cat fence is a work in progress and we will update the website with improvements.  You can see pictures of our cats out in our yard on the website. We also realize that for some neighborhoods, putting up such a cat fence is against regulations.  Work with your neighborhood or city to convince them that a free roaming cat is a hazard to itself, birds and can be a nuisance to others.  There are people out there who are extremely cruel to cats and will not hesitate to take a free roaming cat for their evil purposes.  Your cat is safest in its own backyard. Thanks!