NO! And YES! Since we’ve opened Tiny’s Place cat hotel, we have heard many stories of the dangers to domestic cats in the outdoors. We already knew about the obvious: Cat fights, hit by cars, neighborhood dogs, getting locked in a neighbor’s car or garage. Lots of obvious risks of giving your best friend access to the great outdoors. But the reasons we already knew aren’t the worst part of the list. With the population building houses deeper into the country, the forest predators are coming into closer contact with us than ever before. In the last year we have heard tales of cats carried off by Coyotes and Cougars, beaten up by Racoons, and even carried off by Eagles. House cat has become the new Rabbit for predators alas…
But what to do? The cat desperately wants to go outside and stalk and hunt or sleep in the sun and won’t quit yowling at the door to be let out. It’s a dilemma. Tiny the proprietor had this very problem, so we built him his own catio on our back deck. He spends hours out there rain or shine and has quit bothering us to go out the front door. Mission accomplished. If you Google Search for Catios, THOUSANDS of designs will pop up, ranging from window inserts to elaborate outdoor habitats with walkway tubes leading every which way. You are only limited by your space, budget and imagination!
Follow this link: 7 Ideas for Catios to see some DIY ideas for building catios on your own house. There are prefabricated kits or ideas on how to build your own safe space for your cat. Catios for Cats also has some great ideas for both backyards as well as smaller window units. They even have prefabricated units on Amazon.
If you would rather keep your cat in your own backyard, that can happen too: Try cat fencing. The fencing faces inward, which prevents cats from climbing out. There are other vendors than Amazon, this was just the easy link to give you for now. If that is the way you want to go, further research can find other vendors. This is an affordable way to keep your cat in the backyard. The downside to cat fencing is it doesn’t prevent cats from getting INTO your yard and then getting stuck. It also leaves your cat vulnerable to overhead threats, such as Eagles. I have friends who have put this up and they personally have had no complaints. It’s a personal decision for each cat owner to assess and make on their own.
Can your cat go outside safely? Yes! It’s up to you to decide what their new habitat is going to look like! Have fun shopping and designing!
Until Next Time!
Kendrick and Denise