Pole-Proofing The �holey� Cat-Fence

One morning many weeks ago, I suddenly noticed a significantly large hole (probably made by Mr G) in the cat-fence and it was at a very precarious spot; one where the escape artist, Pole, could easily attempt to enlarge and thereby make a grand escape onto the roof.

That morning, I only had ten minutes to spare as I was rushing to get to work. I could not find any netting, so I cut a piece of cardboard and attached it with lots of tape and two cable ties to cover the hole. All the cats came to see what I did as I climbed up on the ladder to patch that hole. It was clearly a most miserable job and given the time and material that I had with me, that was the best I could do and I prayed all day that Pole would not escape. I called my husband while driving to work to report the case. He said he would get it properly fixed when he got home later.

However, after looking at the my desperately made “cover” and observing the cats over a week, he had a theory that the cats probably “felt bad” (an emotion my vet would quickly dismiss without a second thought!) that I had to go to such desperate lengths so “out of respect” for me, they (meaning Pole, Indy and Cleo) actually did not attempt any form of escape or further investigation into that piece of cardboard or what was behind it (a large hole!).

That was also during the hot and dry season where it had not rained for weeks, so my make-shift cardboard remained quite intact. It looks pathetic and ugly, but it seemed to be doing its job.

So all was well.

Until it started raining again….

For the past few two days, Pole has been up to “investigate” the durability of that piece of cardboard, so it was time to do some Pole-proofing before it’s too late.

�There’s Pole in one of her many visits up to the ledge for the past two days.

�Yes, we know it’s not a crime to go up onto the ledge, but…

�Out came the ladder and the supervisor, of course.

�Quality control check by the supervisor.

What materials are you using and is it good enough?

�Operation Pole-proofing begins. As you can see, it’s also about time to do some mending work as the soft netting is in a pathetic state – thanks to Mr G.

�That’s my cardboard cover, and the supervisor checks that as well.

�We are using this (harder) netting this time so that it won’t be so easy for Mr G to dig holes in it, but we also know there is a possibility that Pole can scale this netting since it is firmer (than the previous soft netting).

�The supervisor gives instructions from below.

�Heh heh…as miserable as it looks, my cardboard lasted for weeks and no one made any attempt to escape. �Never underestimate well-intentioned effort….ahem. But never be too foolish to trust such badly designed devices as well.

�There…it is almost done.

�Do you think Pole could climb from the ledge, contort her body over the curve and scale the netting to get onto the roof? Only time can tell.

�Now, let’s see…how many of these cables did you use and is it enough?

�It looks very neat. Mr G had actually made two large holes on the old soft netting. Large enough for Pole to squeeze out.

�Pole observes all the goings-on from inside. I won’t be surprised if she is making some calculations even as the net was being put up.

�Good girl, Pole. Don’t try it, please?

Source: http://myanimalcare.org/2012/07/21/pole-proofing-the-cat-fence/

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AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

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