Felisafe cat-proofing net
Last week was my week off with the primary goal of making the garden safe for the boys. I almost succeeded. The netting is now 100% in place but there is still stuff to do, including chicken-wire to stop tunnelling and general fence-fixing.
I will post pics further down, once I get a chance to take some.
For the high-level netting I went with Felisafe, which is a simple system consisting of custom made brackets, standard nylon netting and fixings. The brackets are normally angled so that the netting comes into the garden at an angle that is steep enough to stop the cats being able to climb it (upside down). The netting is flexible enough to stop them getting a grip too.
Things I learnt;
1. Planning. As with all things, planning (and measuring) are key to making it all work right. I got a few things wrong, like not realising quite how high the net goes and so to keep the neighbours happy I have to drop the brackets by about 6 inches. Other things are ensuring that when you have "things" around the edge of your garden or, in my case the decking, that this doesn't present a simple set of steps so your "prisoners" can simply jump over the net. So, things like an old shed, garden furniture, trees (none at the sides for me), bins etc.
2. Time. It took much longer than I thought to get the netting up. It's simply that there is a lot of work. Having the right tools does help and having a powered screwdriver is a probably must - I used my drill which is heavy, but OK for me. To stop the cats from getting "under" the netting you have to fix it at every 10cm with an eyelet cable-tie - this is 10 per meter or about 600 in my case.
3. No garden is a perfect rectangle. Mine is a rectangle on a slope but with added decking which presents a challenge in securing against the handrails and the sudden drop-off between the edge and the rest of the garden. We humans get stairs to get down - cats get a convenient point which they can easily overlook the neighbours and so get tempted. The pictures will make more sense later.
4. Not a complete solution. You have to think laterally and, like all solutions meant to stop your cat getting over the fence, it's not going to stop the little treasures going through or under. I am burying chicken wire around the periphery and nailing it to the base of the fence. There is also the new shed which has a gap behind it and the netting goes around the shed, so netting is being dropped down between the fence and the shed to stop egress that way - pinning the nylon net to the ground (which is hardened with cement as it's part of the base) is "fun".
Overall, it looks like it will work but took longer than expected to put up and the additional work makes it even longer. There is one section I have concerns over which I may have to raise slightly as an athletic cat could make a break for it that way.
As I said, pics to follow.
