Effective Cat Containment: A Reader’s Guide to Safely Keeping Ragdolls in the Backyard

How can I keep my cat in my yard?

Have you ever wanted to take your cats outside in your backyard but didn’t know how to keep your cats from jumping the fence and getting away from you?

You might recall a blog post I did the other day about Why I Choose to Let My Cats Outside.  When I shared the link to that post on our Facebook page, many readers weighed in.  One reader, in particular, Harry weighed in a little more by sharing photos of the measures he took to make his backyard a space where his kitties could be safe and contained.  I asked Harry if he would send me the photos to share on the blog as well and lucky for us, he sent them in.

As you can see in the photos, Harry devised a cat fence topper that turned his fence into a cat containment fence.

Harry writes, “This was easy to do… and cheap too. I used vinyl 36-inch garden fencing and just stapled it up with half-inch staples. Angle brackets on the posts, so it naturally curled down. He can’t climb upside down… yet… lol!

He always climbs to the top of the fence and watches his mortal enemies, the birdies, through the green fencing! He knows he can’t get out but that doesn’t stop him from looking for another way… lol.

We had to Simon-proof the flower garden because he would climb up and over the wooden fence in two leaping bounds. He is purebred Ragdoll and we thought they were ground dwellers. This guy climbs anything he can get his claws into. His muscle strength amazes me. The squirrels, chippies, birds, and mice steer clear of the garden. The ones that don’t end up as “cat toys” ☹”

– Harry, Simon, and Sadie (our ground dweller)

Another reader shared a photo of their yard with the Purrfect Fence.

The Oscillot System:

The Oscillot® System has been developed to safely help prevent your cat from scaling over your existing fence. It has no wires and no electric current, and is therefore completely safe and will not harm your cat. It is unobtrusive and turns most fences into a cat-proof fence easily and cost-effectively. It also perfectly blends in with the design of your yard! We have a full review here.

How High Can Cats Jump?

Cats average about 9-10 inches in height and 18 inches in head and body length. Adding the average length of a cat’s tail, that’s 30 inches in total, from the tips of their heads to the tips of their tails.

On average, cats can jump from 7.5 feet to an unbelievable 9 feet. That is from 7 to 9 times their body length in total, which is absolutely fantastic. Please note that this is how high the average cat gets. Larger cats can jump even higher than that, reaching a whopping 10-11 feet. Cats are built to be fantastic jumpers.

Need more proof? Here you go.

Do you have a cat containment fence for your kitty?  Help other kitty owners and please share about it in the comments below!

Cat Containment Fence – Another Reader Submission

Jane and Stephen wrote in, “When we decided to have Ragdoll cats we made a conscious decision that if we where to let them into the Garden we would protect them from the busy traffic where we live.

We researched the best cat protection ideas and as my Trade is precision engineering I set about making my own fence netting supports(made from Aluminum) . The idea behind the netting and supports is that when the cat climbs up it cannot manage to hang upside down to get over the mesh! The protection has give us piece of mind that our Cats Max and Melvin are safe.

Here some pictures showing the mesh both sides of the Garden.”

Pin it here!