Mary Allen
Would you like to allow your cat to roam free in the garden without letting them leave it? An electric fence can be the solution. Read here what you have to consider.
Used correctly, an electric fence is perfect for keeping cats in their protected garden territory when they are outdoors. To do this, however, the electric fence must also be installed correctly.
Stretch An Electric Fence Around the Cat Garden
Theoretically you can stretch a thin electric wire over a 50 cm high garden fence and you have an insurmountable limit for the cat. Because cats do not jump over an obstacle in their way like horses, but always climb on it and jump down to the other side. Once you touch the electric wire and get a shock, you will avoid the danger in the future and stop moving once you hear the current flowing.
If the fence is made of wood, plastic-coated wire, or concrete, the cat is not grounded on it, meaning it will not get an electric shock and can climb over it freely. In this case, a second grounding wire must be pulled from the transformer a few centimeters below the live wire (caution: the two wires must never touch!).
Outdoor fanatics can get so angry with the electric border that they high jump over a low fence. Because of the electric shock, they don’t dare to go back. With such cats, a fence should be a good 110 cm or more.
These Fence Systems Are Suitable
There are the following options for equipping a garden for cats with electric fence systems:
The electric fence from the hardware store or specialist shop, which you can place and mount individually on your garden fence with a transformer and insulators.
A mobile fence system especially for pets made of mesh fabric with built-in poles that are inserted into the ground, transformer and cable, from which an escape-proof enclosure can be set up within 20 minutes.
The mobile animal fence is ideal where a permanent fence is not possible because the landlord may not allow it, or because you are on vacation with the cat at a campsite. You don’t have to be afraid of a cat snaking its way under the net, because every time you touch the fence there is an electrical impulse. For the same reason, no cat tries to climb up the net.
Dangers For Cats at the Electric Fence
It is strongly discouraged to stretch an electric wire close to the ground so that cats do not “burrow” under the fence. Such a wire is life-threatening for hedgehogs and other wild animals. If an animal gets stuck, it gets an electric shock every second and doesn’t survive for long.