Benefits of Cat Enclosures 

Cats are naturally drawn to the outdoors, where they can bask in the sun, watch birds, and explore shady spots. These experiences offer mental stimulation, physical exercise, and exposure to fresh air—all of which are beneficial for a cat’s health. However, allowing indoor cats to roam freely outdoors comes with significant risks: traffic accidents, injuries from wildlife or other animals, and even threats to local wildlife. This is where cat enclosures come in as a practical and safe solution. By creating a safe outdoor space, these enclosures allow your cat to enjoy the benefits of nature without the dangers that come with free-roaming.

Cat enclosures provide peace of mind for owners while offering essential benefits for cats. They keep your cat safe from hazards like traffic and wildlife, and also prevent them from harming local ecosystems. These enclosures create a stimulating environment, offering opportunities for physical activity, mental engagement, and natural exploration. Even the smallest outdoor space can be transformed into a safe, enriching play area for your cat, ensuring they enjoy the outdoors in the best way possible.

An Overview of Cat Enclosures and Their Types

Keeping cats indoors is essential for their safety, but outdoor access within a contained environment with an enclosure allows them to explore safely while staying protected. The best cat enclosures create a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces, giving cats the freedom to explore, play, and enjoy nature within a secure and controlled environment.

A cat enclosure is a secure outdoor space made using strong cat netting that allows fresh air and sunlight while keeping risks out. These enclosures can be customized to suit any home, ensuring cats stay safe while enjoying their natural instincts. With various enclosure options available, you can choose a design that best suits your home and provides the perfect balance of safety and outdoor enrichment for your cat. Here are some of the most common types of cat enclosures:

• Whole Back Yard – To keep your cat safely in your own backyard, specially tensioned cat netting can be fastened from fences to the walls of your home, providing a completely enclosed area. Cat netting is incredibly lightweitght, and its dark colour makes it very unobtrusive and airy, so it doesn’t feel like you’re closed in. Another method is to use cat fence extensions, which add height and angle to your fence, to stop your cat from being able to climb over it. Usually, a combination of netting and cat fence extensions are used.
• Side of house – A rarely used side of house area is ideal for your outdoor cat enclosures. The side of your house cat enclosure can be fitted with overhead netting secured from your fascia to your fence line, and a vertical wall of net with a zipper door to close off the area but still be able to access it.
• Window Catio – A window catio is a framed space that sits on the outside of the window and is accessible from a door or opening in the window screen. For houses with limited outdoor space, this can be a great way of giving your kitty access to some quality sunshine.
• Balcony enclosures – If you live in an apartment, enclosing your balcony with cat netting can be a great way of giving your cat a bit of outdoor space where they can hang with you and the family. Balcony Cat Netting is a great option as it is very discrete, tends to disappear against the sky, and does not block visibility or the flow of air.
• Veranda or Patio—These areas can easily be converted into outdoor enclosures with the addition of climbing structures. Specially fitted zippers in the netting allow access into and out of the space.
• Free-standing Outdoor Enclosures—We don’t like these enclosures. They’re too big for the outdoor space and too small for the cats. They don’t even allow free access to and from the area. These enclosures are really just glorified cages that don’t provide the same benefits as a stimulating and safe outdoor enclosure, where cats can relax and feel connected.

Key Benefits of Outdoor Cat Enclosures For Your Cat

A well-built, sturdy cat enclosure can significantly enhance your cat’s life, offering them the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors safely and securely. With natural instincts that drive cats to explore and engage with their environment, a cat enclosure allows them to do so without the risks associated with free roaming. It not only provides them with physical and mental enrichment but also protects them from potential dangers like traffic, diseases, and fights. Some of the key advantages of outdoor cat enclosures for your cat are as follows:

• Territorial satisfaction:
  Cats are territorial by nature, and providing an outdoor enclosure helps them feel secure in their space. Without the intrusion of other cats or animals from the neighborhood, your cat can explore and claim their outdoor domain without the stress of territorial disputes or the fear of confrontation. This sense of ownership and control in their environment boosts their confidence and reduces anxiety, creating a happier, more relaxed cat who can enjoy their territory in peace.
• Safe outdoor access:
  Giving your cat access to a secure outdoor cat enclosure protects them from risks that can cause injury and shorten their lifespans. The National Animal Supplement Council’s research shows that roaming cats face an increased risk of diseases and parasites, traffic accidents, poisoning, getting into fights, and getting lost. An outdoor cat netting enclosure is a great way of indulging your cat’s instinctual behaviours while keeping them safe from risk.
• Physical exercise:
  An outdoor cat enclosure gives your cat the space to run, climb, and play, which is such a huge benefit. Playing and relaxing in fresh air and sunshine provide stimulating and sensory-rich experiences for your cat, which can encourage physical activity, fight obesity, enhance sleep and mood, and improve overall health, that can add years to your cat’s life and save you thousands on vet bills.
• Mental stimulation and enrichment:
  The outside world is full of exciting sights, sounds, and smells that will make your cat’s nose and ears twitch in delight. Being predators, cats have enhanced senses and active minds that require stimulation. They can suffer mentally when bored and start to develop behavioural problems, such as urinating in the house.
• Reduced escapes:
  Cats are naturally curious and adventurous, and many will make a dash for the door every time it’s opened. Providing a cat enclosure gives them the opportunity to explore and satisfy their natural instincts safely, without the need to make a break for the outside world. By redirecting their curiosity, your cat can enjoy outdoor time without the risk of getting lost, injured, or exposed to hazards. This makes your life easier, preventing the stress of chasing after your cat or worrying about their safety.
• Improved sleep patterns:
  Natural light has an important role in regulating your cat’s sleep cycle. Exposure to sunlight helps produce melatonin and serotonin, which reduce anxiety and promote healthy sleep patterns. Cats, like humans, have a circadian rhythm, and spending time outside in the fresh air helps to synchronize it. The result is a more restful cat who enjoys deeper sleep and is less likely to be irritable or restless during the night, improving both their health and your home environment.

Benefits of Outdoor Cat Enclosures for Cat Owners

Cat enclosures, or catios, come with several advantages for cat owners, enhancing both the safety and well-being of their pets. Not only do these enclosures offer a secure outdoor space for cats to explore, but they also provide peace of mind for owners. With an increasing number of cat owners looking for ways to keep their pets safe while still allowing them to enjoy the outdoors, cat enclosures are becoming an essential solution. Here are the key benefits:

• Add value to your home:
  With 33% of pet owners in Australia owning cats, more people are seeking pet-friendly homes. Installing a cat enclosure can make your property more appealing to potential buyers or renters who are also cat owners. A well-designed outdoor enclosure not only provides a secure space for your cat but also adds value to your home, making it a unique selling point in today’s market.
• Peace of mind:
  It’s incredibly reassuring as a cat owner to know that your pet is safe and secure while enjoying the outdoors. A cat enclosure allows you to provide a safe space for your cat to experience fresh air, exercise, and natural enrichment without the worries of traffic, cruelty, or getting lost.
• Reduced veterinary expenses:
  When cats roam freely, they are more prone to injuries from fights with other animals, car accidents, or diseases. By keeping your cat in a controlled outdoor enclosure, you can significantly reduce the risks of injury or illness, resulting in fewer vet visits and lower medical expenses over time.
• Improved neighborhood relations:
  With a secure cat enclosure, your cat won’t be causing problems in your neighborhood. No more complaints about your cat pooping in flower beds, spraying on fences, or damaging property. Enclosures not only keep your cat safe but also help maintain positive relationships with your neighbors by preventing unwanted outdoor behavior.
• Feeling positive about your environmental contribution:
  As a responsible pet owner, you may be concerned about your cat’s impact on local wildlife. Each domestic cat kills over one hundred native animals a year if allowed to roam. By providing an outdoor enclosure, you’re ensuring that your cat can enjoy the outdoors while reducing its hunting of birds and small animals. This makes you feel good knowing you’re doing your part to protect local ecosystems.
• Less stress and better behavior:
  Having a secure outdoor space for your cat can reduce behavioral issues, such as scratching furniture or restlessness. Cats who receive adequate stimulation from a safe outdoor environment are typically calmer, which leads to a more harmonious home. A happier cat means a happier owner!
• Separate toileting from the home:
  One of the biggest hassles of cat ownership is dealing with litter box odors. With an outdoor cat enclosure, you can allow your cat to use the outdoors as its toilet, which helps keep your home fresh and free from unpleasant smells, making life easier for you and more hygienic for your living space.

Consequences of Not Having a Cat Enclosure

Cats that are allowed to roam have significantly shorter lifespans than their indoor and cat enclosure companions. Allowing your cat to roam can increase the risk of injury or death. Whether fighting over territory or getting hit by a cat, the roaming cat is at much higher risk than a contained cat.

Roaming cats can also pick up diseases and parasites from soil, plants, other cats or other animals. And as you can’t control what others do in their own backyards, a roaming cat is at more risk of ingesting food items, plants or poisons that can make them very sick.

When cats are able to safely access natural outdoor spaces through cat netting enclosures, they are less likely to experience boredom and lack of stimulation. Bored cats can start to develop problem behaviours such as peeing outside the litter box, scratching at furniture, or climbing curtains. Understimulated cats may also experience more anxiety and depression, which may make them overly clingy and demanding, even waking you up for a 2 am play session because they need some company.

While indoor cats can be quite happy as long as they are provided with lots of stimulating toys and you spend a lot of time playing and interacting with them, the addition of an outdoor cat netting enclosure gives your cat access to the naturally sensory rich outside world of smells, sounds, and sights, so that when you can’t spend a lot of time with them, they are still able to get enough enrichment and physical activity to keep them happy and healthy.

Choosing the Right Cat Enclosures

The right cat enclosure is the one that suits your space and circumstances. As every home is different, the outdoor cat enclosure needs to be customised to your space, your needs and your cat’s needs. Here are some main points to consider:

• Available space: Cat netting is extremely versatile and can be used to contain small or large areas. So whether it’s your whole backyard, or just a patio area, or maybe the side of your house, any amount of outdoor space will be a great addition to your cat’s life.
• Your Budget: If you have a limited budget, you should consider netting a smaller area for your cat, which can still provide them with access to all those wonderful outdoor smells, sights and sounds. Budget is usually affected by the number of attachment points required, so look for spaces that may already have effective barriers and only require a few panels of netting.
• Area use: Ensure that whatever part of your outdoor space you choose, you understand how that space is used by yourself and your household members and that access into and out of the space does not interfere with your ability to continue using it.
• Access points for humans: Cat netting enclosures can include zipper doors to help humans enter and exit as required. If you are considering putting a vertical wall with a zipper door in a high traffic zone it can get quite annoying, especially if you often carry heavy shopping bags or laundry baskets through the area.
• Access points for cats: Outdoor cat enclosures are fantastic for cats. Glorified kitty cages are not. For an outdoor cat enclosure to be beneficial, your cat should be able to access and leave the space as it pleases.
• Your cat’s needs: Older cats can be very happy with a small sunny area, while younger cats will thrive with room to run, climb and play. If your cat is a jumper, enclosed overhead netting might be important, whereas the more laid back cat might be easily contained using fence extensions. And if you have multiple cats, they may benefit from a larger space where they can play and climb and run around together.
• Your neighbours: Fences are shared between properties, so it just makes sense to ask your neighbours permission before you go attaching anything to it. It’s just good neighbour manners.

Transform Your Cat’s World: Explore Our Custom Enclosure Solutions!

With so many things to consider, it’s always a good idea to get expert advice on the best design for your outdoor netting enclosure. At Kitty Safe, we bring over three years of experience designing and installing custom cat enclosures in Perth, for Perth conditions. Our team is dedicated to helping you avoid common pitfalls and ensuring your cat netting enclosure is a beneficial addition to your home, providing a safe and enjoyable space for your cat for years to come.

We take the time to understand your unique needs and budget, using satellite imagery and your photos to accurately assess your space to create the best design possible. With high-quality materials and expert installation, Kittysafe ensures your enclosure is built to last. Browse our website gallery for inspiration, and check out our 5-star reviews, which highlight our professionalism, friendly service, and clear communication. Contact us today to start creating the perfect outdoor environment for your cat.

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