Good Questions: Good Balcony Railing Cat Cover?

Hello AT,

I have a balcony that has iron railings. I also have 3 cats that love to hang out on the balcony during the warm months. I put an old bamboo blind across the railings and it looked great but the wind tore it to shreds after a few months. What can I use to cover the railings that looks cool but won't fall apart in the wind? I've tried lattice but tired of that look a long time ago.

Any thoughts? Thanks, AED

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Dear AED,

this is a great question for those of us who live in tall buildings with cats (of which we are not one), and it reminds us of our dear friends, the Wagners, whose enormous cat lived with them in their 27th floor apartment for over 15 years before passing away. From the day they got him, he lived at that height. They had a balcony like yours and he never saw the earth from any other vantage point.

Anyway, the first thing that came to our mind was plexiglass. It's modern, clean, cheap and lets a lot of light through. The other idea would be to buy some willow branch or bamboo fencing and cut it down to size. They both have very nice looks and are tougher than window blind versions.

Anyone else?

Comments (4)

What if the complex where you live has restrictions on what you can put up? I have one cat who is convinced she's invincible--she falls off of everything! And she went over the balcony rail this morning, without any injuries at all. I had vines growing over the railings so she couldn't sit on them, which really worked very well, but it's so hot in the summer that the leaves are wilting and don't do me any good. I'm not allowed to put up netting or anything, and this cat would probably choke herself on a harness and lead--she's not bright. Any suggestions for keeping her off of the railings?

I was really worried about my cat doing something like that, but as it turns out, she feels she can see perfectly fine from the floor and has never attempted to jump onto the railing or even the planterboxes.

Very lucky, considering the fact that lots of stratas don't allow ANYTHING on balconies that makes the exterior look "different". I'm pretty sure that would include fencing and meshes as well, so there's very little I can actually do, short of keeping the door closed and suffocating all year.

Though sometimes she gets a little crazy and slides around on the balcony and that's when we close all doors and windows :D

I thought about maybe growing vines over the rails? The only issue with that is (well apart from preventing the vines from spreading to other balconies) my cat would no longer be able to comfortably see from the floor and THEN she would be tempted to jump around. Good to keep that sort of thing in mind when planning fencing ideas. It would be very counterproductive.

Weave branches horizontally through the railing. Or, believe it or not, chicken wire painted black practically disappears.

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