By the end of this month I will be moved over to the new house.

Probably won't get the fence completed for a while yet so meanwhile the cats
will just have to stay inside. I am preparing them for it slowly. It's not
hard to keep them in when it's cold, and we're finally getting some cold
weather. It may last for another few weeks.

I think it's a good thing to keep kitties inside for a while after a move,
anyway, until they are thoroughly familiar with the house and they've
adjusted to living there.

I decided against putting up a board fence like I originally planned. Not
that I wouldn't like to have a wooden fence, but it would just been too
costly. What I'll do instead is use welded wire, with electric at the top,
and plant bushes for privacy and a windbreak.

Anyone had any experience with "Austrees"?

http://www.rmausa.com/rma/trees/austree.html

The neighbors on two sides already have their yards fenced with welded wire,
so on those sides I can just plant steel t-posts with insulators on top and
run aluminum wire close to the top of the existing fence.

I already have a small charger and a post-pounder, 100' of w.w. and about 18
t-posts, and so the expense will be minimal, I'll just need one more roll of
w.w. and maybe a dozen more t-posts for the other sides.

I'm thinking that as long as the cats are kept inside they will spend time
looking out the windows and seeing/hearing vehicles whiz past, and hopefully
that will help them understand why they'll be finding themselves confined to
the backyard once I let them go out.