Bitty in a Tree

Since we have been having an occasional sunny, warm day I started taking the cats out into the backyard and letting them play and explore for a bit. Our backyard is fenced in, but I KNOW they could eventually figure out how to climb over it. For that reason they only go outside if I have the time to actually stay out with them and keep an eye on things.

One afternoon this past week, Bitty found the pecan tree. She climbed up to a fork in the branches just out of our reach. It made me nervous but after about 10 minutes of my coaxing and pleading and rustling a twig like one of her toys, she climbed down. Bruce and I scooped up cats and headed inside because I didn't want to deal with anymore trouble like that. I put Bitty inside and headed back out to help round up the rest of them. As I came back in with one cat or another, Bitty shot out the door past me, ran right to the tree and without thinking another thought just ran right up to a height way beyond where she had been.

She wouldn't come down. She seemed a bit nervous and we don't know if she was afraid to start climbing down from that far up or what. I KNOW cats can climb down and that she would eventually figure it out if she got hungry or tired enough. The problem was that I didn't want to wait around, and I also didn't want her climbing down when noone was around to make sure she didn't go over the fence. We called and we coaxed but nothing was making her budge. Bruce finally went into the garage and got out a ladder. Now this was SERIOUSLY making me nervous. He used the ladder to get up high enough to the forks in the branches and climbed up and got Bitty kitty. It was an ordeal and it made me really uncomfortable. We haven't gone back out with the cats since.

Our house makes a U shape, and there is a courtyard space in the middle with the house on 3 sides, and an open area to the backyard on the fourth side. Bruce is looking into buying a piece of sports-type netting to close in the open side. Its a golf net, 10 feet high and wide enough to attach to the house on either side. It should safely contain the cats so they can go outside but not be in danger. 2 of the cats never venture outside of the courtyard area anyway, no matter how long we stay out or how far Bitty goes. I think it will be a good solution. We have read that cats don't like to climb unsteady fabric netting that moves when they climb. It should solve the problem. We have to order it so they will be stuck inside until that comes in.