Has anyone ever managed to contain a cat?
I have a beloved cat who is declawed (no I didn't do this to him, he was like this when I got him) and insists on going outside. I have spent over $500 this year on vet bills because he is getting into someone's yard and being attacked by a dog. He had his butt/tail area ripped open which needed stitches, and then has come home obviously attacked several times with more minor injuries and dog slobber all over him. This morning he was howling by the back door puffed up, filthy and covered in dog slobber with some wounds on his head.
I fear one of these days he is not going to come home.
He insists on going outside, there is no keeping his highness in when his highness wants to go out and he wants to go out every night and then comes home between 3 and 6 am and washes and sleeps on my bed all day. He is very set in this schedule.
So what can I do to keep him in my back yard? I have a large fenced back yard and would like for him to be happy there though I know it is not the same fun as roaming around the neighborhood. Seeing as how he is down 10 claws and 2 nuts though, I just don't think he should be going out like he does.
I thought of trying an electric fence around the top of my walls. Has anyone ever used an electric fence for a cat? Do they care? Do they learn? I don't really want him to get shocked more than once or twice but he really must stay closer to home. Any other suggestions to keep a cat in a yard? (Per the rules of the neighborhood I can't alter my existing block wall to make it higher)
I have a beloved cat who is declawed (no I didn't do this to him, he was like this when I got him) and insists on going outside. I have spent over $500 this year on vet bills because he is getting into someone's yard and being attacked by a dog. He had his butt/tail area ripped open which needed stitches, and then has come home obviously attacked several times with more minor injuries and dog slobber all over him. This morning he was howling by the back door puffed up, filthy and covered in dog slobber with some wounds on his head.
I fear one of these days he is not going to come home.
He insists on going outside, there is no keeping his highness in when his highness wants to go out and he wants to go out every night and then comes home between 3 and 6 am and washes and sleeps on my bed all day. He is very set in this schedule.
So what can I do to keep him in my back yard? I have a large fenced back yard and would like for him to be happy there though I know it is not the same fun as roaming around the neighborhood. Seeing as how he is down 10 claws and 2 nuts though, I just don't think he should be going out like he does.
I thought of trying an electric fence around the top of my walls. Has anyone ever used an electric fence for a cat? Do they care? Do they learn? I don't really want him to get shocked more than once or twice but he really must stay closer to home. Any other suggestions to keep a cat in a yard? (Per the rules of the neighborhood I can't alter my existing block wall to make it higher)
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rockyboulders:
just do exactly what you'd do to a human male who didn't behave in the way deemed best for him. cut his balls off. that'll learn him.
thedarkwithin:
you can buy a synthetic scent that is just like the phenemones in male dog urine. . .people use it to keep cats from coming into their yard and using their flowerbeds as litter boxes. . .if it keeps them out. . .maybe it would keep him in too. Scenting the top of the fence so he thinks there is a dog outside.