Cat Safe Garden
by Fred
(West England)
When I saw this video (I bumped into it by accident) I was prompted into writing about a cat safe garden. The concept is excellent, I think. There is so much talk about feral cats and how they spoil peoples lives. And the more people there are in the world the more dangerous it becomes for the domestic cat. Cars come to mind immediately. Traffic is a nightmare for cats and cats don’t understand how to avoid them.
So cat safe gardens or cat enclosures must be the answer because I personally don’t like the idea of keeping a cat permanently indoors. I see the reasons clearly but I think a lot of people have the means and space to do better than simply keep their cat permanently in or let their cat out and wander. The middle ground must be a cat enclosures or if you want to go a step further cat safe gardens, which is simply a garden with a wall sufficiently high to prevent escape.
I believe that cats who are given this facility will be healthier because they are able to act naturally. This creates balance in their lives. It also helps to create balance in the lives of the cat owner because it assuages any guilt and makes entertaining the cat much easier.
There is an obligation on a person who keeps their cat or cats inside to entertain them. Cats need to exercise their instincts. And in modern life people don’t really have the time or inclination (if they are honest) to entertain their cat. It takes real input. There are toys that help but there is no beating direct human to cat interaction for the best kind of cat play. Some cats want more play than we can reasonably provide in any case so far better to let them entertain themselves in a garden.
It is a question of cost and circumstance. Many houses are unsuitable for a cat garden but how many people when moving home factor in their cat!? Very few. We should factor in our cat more. Make sure that the new home meets all our requirements including those of our cat because when they are happy and healthy it improves our life to.
