"Apollo," Our Winged Bengal

We have three beautiful one-year-old Bengals that all came from the same litter and arrived together. Within the first week, we realized that they would need the stimulation of the outdoors so we purchased a costly cat fence system with which we were able to fully enclose our large courtyard by their third month of life. The "Purrfect Fence" had advertised that all but 1% of the cats would be contained and bamboozled by their unique fencing design. It contained Athena, bamboozled Adonis and highlighted Apollo's ability to fly. By the time they were seven months old, Apollo always found his way out regardless of what we did to fortify the system and we did everything. One day our adult son was visiting and he managed to film Apollo's escape route from the courtyard. We watched the film in amazement as our young Bengal leaped straight up and onto the top of the 6 ft fencing system where he appeared to barely touch the netting top before landing on our garage roof. Eleven months later I have two safely enclosed Bengals enjoying their Summer days outdoors and one who defies gravity daily while escaping the courtyard, leaving his Mom in a state of anxiety until he returns home again for dinner or a nap. Has anyone any advice for me regarding equipment or methods that they actually used and found it effectively contained or bamboozled those remarkable 1%ers?
Thanks to anyone who can provide some solid advice or similar stories about their challenging and gifted jumpers.
Regards From CA,
Ginny

We use Petsafe fence (deluxe cat fence) around our yard. We have 2 very happy bengals and one moggie who thoroughly enjoy our entire backyard (including trying to catch fish from our pond) everyday. We strung one wire along the bottom of our fence and ran it back to the source on the top of the fence. They each got buzzed twice, and now know exactly where their boundary is.

I'm not a fan of any type of electric fence. The only type of safe enclosure is a fully covered enclosure. The Purrfect fence is not perfect! And if any cat can escape, it's a bengal. It's better to have a smaller area that is enclosed on all sides, including the top. Mine has a 12'x12' enclosure on our deck that he can access 24/7 and he loves being out there watching the birds. I know the fence was expensive, but it's not doing the job for one of your kitties. I initially considered doing the Purrfect fence but decided Raiden would find some way to get over it. The enclosure ensures that he is safe and sound at all times and that's peace of mind. There are so many images of cat enclosures that you can Google. Some are elaborate -- others are not so much.

I didn't think I'd like the electric fence either. But I was so wrong. Our cats just love the freedom of the yard! They very quickly learned the boundary and now enjoy everything else.

Thanks for your input. We gave lots of thought before choosing a fence system and decided against full enclosure because it would have limited the kitties space by over 75%, prevented them from interacting with humans and us and would have been unattractive and taken up valuable outdoor space that we intended to use as well. It's also a courtyard that is essentially our front yard. I've thought of using some form of an electric fencing in addition to our fencing. Since it's only one kitty who is getting out, he is the only one who would get a shock. One of my other kitties could get out in the same manner and she has proved it, but she knows I don't like it and so she does not do it. Does your cat have to wear a transmitter of some type for your electrical fencing to work? Please tell me more how you set this up.

Not sure an enclosure would limit their access to humans. I enjoy Raiden's enclosure with him as it's bigger than two of the bedrooms in my house. And there is a table and two chairs in there. He also goes in and out of it all day since it's attached to the house. Electric fences aren't perfect either. I've watched plenty court cases where the yard was protected by an electric fence and the dog -- it's always a dog-- managed to get out and do some damage. Electric fences aren't cheap. The pet has to wear a collar with a transmitter on it. There are a lot of companies that make this type of fence, so do your research.

This is the system we used.

http://store.petsafe.net/deluxe-in-grou ... nce-system

We put their collars on in the morning and they stay outside a all day. We bring our cats in at night and take the collars off. I do wish the transmitters were smaller, but our cats quickly got used to them. They each got shocked twice at first, but the collars emit a very low beeping noise when they get close to the fence, and they very quickly learned what the beeping meant. It's simple to set up. We have the transmitter unit inside the house and drilled the wires to the outside. We attached the wire to our fence through eye hooks. Most important - run the wire on the bottom one direction then loop back on the top of the fence - this is the best way to contain a cat. Nothing is 100% foolproof and you'll have to see how it works with your very persistent cat. But we have two bengals effectively contained and believe it's the best thing we ever did for them.

Thank you so much for explaining what you did to set this up. When I first thought of doing it my kitty was so young that I didn't think he could support the collar. Now that we are beyond their first year I'm sure Apollo's weight and bone structure can handle the additional weight on his neck. Have you ever left the collar off just to see if they still would attempt to climb the fence? Just curious how deeply their minds become imprinted with the lesson of the shock.

I'd much prefer fencing that would keep other cats and animals out of my yard. A 6-foot high fence doesn't do the trick as I have that. Cats and raccoons can climb up and over and it's no deterrent to the squirrels either. I think the only thing I can do is cage in my entire backyard, which codes will not allow. I really doubt an electric fence would contain my Raiden. He wouldn't care about beeps or shocks. He's a determined male bengal! Just do a lot of research, Ginny, before you finally decide on something.

Hi Ginny, no I have not tried them without their collar. I can see them testing the fence every now and then even with the collar on - eyeing it and getting close enough that I am sure they can hear the beep. Our one bengal, Duma, is always looking for a way out - we even had to put a squirrel baffle around a tree that is near our house because she started climbing it, out onto a small branch, and onto our roof!
The collars are actually very light in weight - just a bit bulky in my opinion, but our cats don't seem to mind. For a while we only let our cats out when we could watch them constantly - but I am now comfortable that they are contained. Sure, it could happen that they one day would get out - but I am willing to take that risk seeing how much they enjoy the yard. Again, we bring them in at night to reduce the risk of a potentially harmful animal coming into our yard.
The fence system instructions give all kinds of training guidance when you first put your cat in the fenced yard - just try to train a cat the way it suggests! We put our cats in the yard right away after installing the fence and just watched them closely - they very quickly figured things out on their own without any training. We set the box unit to 7 and the collars to 4. Again - we feel this is such a great device for our cats. You'll of course need to try the product on your cats and decide if it works for them. There are lots of great reviews on the Petsafe fence.