Mary Allen
An outdoor enclosure for the cat is a great thing, but the implementation of the project often fails due to the treachery of the law or resistance from the neighbors. So before you carry your money to the nearest hardware store, you should get comprehensive information
The neighbor also has a say, since outdoor enclosures are usually only allowed to connect directly to the basic boundary with his consent; otherwise, a legally prescribed minimum distance must be observed. Even roofing is almost always subject to approval – but it is essential because the cat oasis must be completely closed (including the top): do not underestimate their motivation or their acrobatic skills, which are in top form when it comes to leaving the enclosure without permission!
It Is Usually Necessary
- that the cat must have free access to the house at all times, but a frost-proof and heatable (!) cat house is often required;
- that the establishment of the enclosure must generally meet the animal welfare requirements.
The easiest or best place is certainly right next to the house so that the cat can come and go as it pleases through an always-open window/cat flap. However, make sure that no tilting windows are accessible or provide tilting window protection.
Good Equipment
When it comes to equipment, there are of course no limits to your generosity or your imagination, but consider that a lawn that has been bitten off to a millimeter short is not nearly as entertaining as a natural piece of garden for hiding, sneaking up on and letting off steam. Cat-friendly is shady bushes or a hollow tree trunk (which can also be used to sharpen claws), ornamental grasses, tasty herbs, exposed concrete, or natural stone islands on the sunny side or to the house so that the cat stays dry in a rain shower. Of course, you can also sacrifice a tree and trim it so that it is suitable for climbing and living in. Or you can attach one or two beds to a large tree around whose branches you have seamlessly built the enclosure roof.
Tip
A clay water bowl for cooling and a litter box in the enclosure can’t hurt. But do not use fine-grain bedding, otherwise, your tiger will carry the sand all the way to the bed. A mud flap in the house at the cat entrance does not only serve well for this reason. And: parasite prophylaxis is obligatory because vermin always find a way.
Eating At Home
Only serve meals indoors, as usual, to prevent the food bowl from becoming an ant castle, flies laying their eggs in it, or attracting mice or hedgehogs. The latter, by the way, are veritable flea hotels! The uninvited guests sometimes find their way inside. In addition, the evening meal is a good opportunity to keep the door closed until the next morning. An exception applies if the enclosure is not only safe but also burglar-proof and you don’t mind your kitty staying outside at night. Of course, if you are blessed with negative neighbors (caution: poisonous bait!), you should, to be on the safe side, prevent the cat from going out when it is unsupervised.
Experiment Nature
A biotope is pure pleasure, but not optimal in an outdoor enclosure/cat garden: if it is too deep, the cat could drown in it; if it’s shallow, the fish won’t live long. In addition, standing water is a breeding ground for infections, such as B. Giardia, which parasitize in the small intestine. Large saucers for potted plants are less dangerous; there is a diameter of up to about 50/60 centimeters, a children’s paddling pool, or something similar. Floating objects, such as a ping pong ball or just a leaf, provide fun.
Master Of Savings
Anyone who thinks that fencing was already expensive enough, so that bare concrete and a few potted plants should suffice, may not offer their cat the greatest living space, but it does offer a bit of freedom. But what the animal definitely needs is a shady shelter, a water bowl, and a box with cat litter. You can gradually provide additional pieces of equipment and thus turn the shelter into a small velvet paw paradise.