On 28 Mar 2006 11:42:24 -0800, "nelroy" wrote:

After having several cats saunter out of the garden and fail to survive
an encounter with the nearby motorway, I've been looking for solutions
for keeping them in a limited are whilst giving them the freedom of the
garden. The fences I've had put up failed miserably, but then I came
across the smartfence product from PetSafe. It seems like a good
solution, but I'm concerned about feeding my cats electric shocks and
also concerned as to whether this will really stop a determined moggy.
Does anyone have any experience with this product ?

I have no experience with cats, but I used one with a couple of dogs.
It would not stop a determined dog in a chase, but she would not then
return across the fence so I had to remove her collar and bring her
through the house. Also, a couple of times, the same one got caught
between the fence and an overgrown clump of trees and brush she
couldn't retreat through - she just hunkered down and suffered until I
removed her collar and dragged her back into the open.

I don't think I'd put a heavy, sturdy, expensive collar on an outside
cat in the hope it would keep the cat behind the fence without being
lost or trapping the cat on a bush stem or something.

I solved the problem of traffic by moving to the countryside - far
enough from the road and with more attractive terrain in the opposite
direction that it really isn't an issue. Before that, I had to keep
fewer cats, and keep them inside except when I was out with them.

--
T.E.D. )