Having a nice balcony where you can enjoy the sunshine and breeze without leaving the house is one of the best feelings in the world. Well, your cat would feel the same too. 

If you are a cat owner living in an apartment, you would know the struggle to keep your cats away from your balcony. This is because cats love to be vertical and a balcony seems like their perfect paradise. Yet, it’s completely understandable why cat owners hesitate to leave their cats on the balcony. 

However, with some excellent protective measures, you can leave your cats on the balcony without any worries.

Here are those strategies,

1) Set Up a Barrier

Even if your cat is staying indoors, you may want to take extra measures in case they escape onto the balcony. You can consider setting up a wall around the balcony’s boundary that prevents your cats from escaping through the fencing or jumping over the ledge. A few options you can try to create a barrier are chicken wire, chicken netting, lattice, shades, fish netting etc. Once you have secured the netting in place, cut off any extra wires with scissors. 

2) Keep Your Plants Away

People love gracing their balconies with tropical plants and small vegetable gardens, but some tropical plants are toxic to plants. If you want your cats to play safely on the balcony, it is essential to remove all poisonous plants. Some of the popular household plants you should keep away from cats are Aloe Vera, English Ivy, Lilies, Jade Plants etc.

A lot of people also have garden beds on their balconies. Cat owners should avoid this as cats can use the garden bed as a personal litter box. You can instead use raised beds, where you will save a lot of space and also hang your plants, given that your cats won’t jump on them.

3) Get Rid of Garbage

Cats have this habit of exploring things and they definitely won’t spare your garbage bin on the balcony. Also, you don’t want your cat to spill trash on the neighbour who lives below you. Hence, it’s best to remove the garbage bin or find a way to lock it somewhere else where your cats can’t knock it over.

Apart from that, garbage bins also attract flies and your cats may chase them. It is not a nice thing to see your cats getting injured in this process.  

4) Use a Leash

With a leash, you can sit outside with your cat and enjoy your morning tea without worrying that your cat will jump over the balcony. Just like a dog, you can attach your cat to a leash and set a well-defined limit for your cat to roam. This is also a good opportunity for you to train your cats. 

5) Give a High Seat To Your Cats

Cats love to sit on elevated places and the balcony acts as the ultimate cat tree for them. Higher places let your cats see everything that is going below and this keeps them confident. It also keeps them warm and lets them cope with stress and anxiety. You can also place a cat tree on the balcony to give your cats a more clearer view of below. 

6) Ensure Plenty of Fresh Water

You should always keep a bowl of water on your balcony. This will ensure that your cats always remain hydrated. When there is no water to drink, your cats may escape from your house which can also lead to serious injury or death. Also, make sure to change the water in the bowl regularly.

7) Relocate Your Bird Feeders

The hunting instincts of your cats kick in as soon as they see a cat. So all their manners will go out of the window once they see a bird on your balcony. So if you have bird feeders, remove them or relocate to a place where your cats can’t see them. You don’t want your cats to go over the edge of the balcony and risk their lives because of a bird.

To Sum It Up,

Having a balcony is wonderful, but it comes with a lot of challenges especially if you have pets. Cats are agile and can quickly jump out of the balcony if you don’t have any protection. Thankfully, these seven tips help you to cat-proof your balcony and save your felines from almost all kinds of threats.