cats in the garden

Over the years we’ve lost a number of cats to moving cars, Feline AIDS and wanderlust. Others have endured abscesses from fights and other assorted injuries. My cat Grant set the record for cats trapped in inappropriate places such as neighboring garages, attics and vacated townhouses. I bailed him out of the Humane Society three times. When we tried to convert him to an indoor kitty, he started (and continued) to spray the indoor perimeter of the house. My husband constructed an outdoor cat run with a cat flap allowing him to come and go through a window, but he remained restless and bored.

One-eyed Estare

Then we discovered The Cat Fence-in System, developed by a company in Las Vegas. I spent a weekend pruning vines and shrubs away from the fence line while my husband traveled out of country. When he returned we added lattice to the fence to make it taller and installed the system. Sunday night we let the cats explore the yard so we could test for any flaws. They tried climbing the fence a few times but were thwarted by the netting. They quickly settled into a happier life as indoor/outdoor cats.

The system has been in place for nearly 15 years now, without a single escape. The peace of mind has been such a gift: No fights, no accidents, no communicable diseases. It’s also a good-neighbor system: if someone’s cat is digging up a flower bed or fighting at 2:00 am, I can rest assured it isn’t one of mine.

If you can keep your kitty happy indoors, go for it. But if you love a rabble-rouser like Grant or a roamer like Estare, this CatFence-in System may by the perfect compromise.

Cat’s in the Garden

A Rare Moment of Togetherness

Sharing a Moment

Fluffy Incognito

“A cat improves the garden wall in sunshine, and the hearth in foul weather.”
-Judith Merkle Riley

: Fluffy on the Bridge

Shy and retiring and a little on the wild side, our Fluffy is always at her best in the garden.

At 17 she has lost her desire to climb trees and hunt rats but she still enjoys the sun on her back. She’s a bit of a stealth kitty, quietly hiding under shrubs and between flower beds, especially when rambunctious children are on the scene.

Can you see me now?

Conversely, she can pierce the nighttime solitude with her tortured wail, beseeching you to fill her food dish at 3:00 am or to release her from the cozy-confines of the bathroom where incontinent kitties must now spend the night.