Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Indoor cat fence recommendation

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-02-2009, 07:57 PM:

It would seem only a company called PetSafe makes this, but it isn't even listed on their website. Does anyone here have a good solution for keeping your cats indoors, such as some sort of wireless "fence" via a collar?

Please note I am not looking for a "perimeter" where they can only get so many feet away from the transmitter (such as to keep them in a back yard) because they wouldn't be able to roam the house that way, nor any product that requires major wiring. I just want to keep the cats away from the doors, so ideally something where as they approach the transmitter (one placed by each door), they get the warning beeps and then the light shock to train them to turn around when they hear the warning beeps.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 08-02-2009, 08:11 PM:

The problem with these devices is that some animals learn that they can run through the shock area to the other side enduring the jolt but quickly getting past it and are free.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 08-02-2009, 09:24 PM:

Screen in your porch so that the porch door is closed by the time you open the house door. What? Oh yeah. Houses don't have porches anymore. Nevermind.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 08-02-2009, 09:43 PM:

Slick little rascals, aren't they? Louis

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-02-2009, 10:01 PM:

They use a monitoring system in nursing homes to keep Alzheimer's patients from wandering away called "WanderGuard"

http://www.seniortechnologies.com/products/wanderguard/

Basically, the patient wears an ankle bracelet with an RFID chip inside. If they get too close to a doorway or stray into an area they aren't supposed to go, a beeper goes off. The doors can be programmed to lock if the staff think it's necessary. It takes a number code to deactivate the WanderGuard once it's been set off.

Think of it as a shoplifting alarm that also locks the doors.

I don't know if they have a system such as this for pets but the theory is sound.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-02-2009, 10:11 PM:

Every time they leave the house it is to go to the vet. You would think they would learn that outside=the vet by now.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-02-2009, 11:54 PM:

Cats have two basic lines of thought:

1) "When's dinner?"

2) "All this is mine!"

The second a cat goes outside it immediately thinks the whole of the Great Outdoors is its territory.

Posted by Charles Greenlee (Member # 3856) on 08-03-2009, 12:32 AM:

Most wireless fencing have 2 types of transmitter.

1. The perimeter wire - You bury it around the area that you want to "fence in". This could be placed across the threshold of your door. Cat gets near the threshold, it'll beep, and then zzzap. May need to place it across the floor just before the door. I'm not sure if getting near it sets it off, or actually passing it.

2. Local transmitter - If I remember properly, it plugs into an outlet near a spot you want them to avoid. This could also be placed by the front door if there's an outlet. I was eyeing this option for keeping our dogs from raiding the litter boxes for nutty logs by placing transmitters behind them.

Pet stores will carry the kits, which come with like a collar, the wire and like 1 or 2 plug in transmitters. Home Depot may also have the kits.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-03-2009, 01:27 AM:

My new cat gets the water bottle if it goes where I do not want it to go. I have the nozzle set to "drench". Cats also hate citrus-y stuff. Maybe fill the sprayer with orange juice or some crazy powerful fruit juice. Then, put the cat next to the door to go outside. Open the door slightly, but not enough for it to get out. When it starts to get interested and try to poke its head out, drench it in the face with the stuff, screaming and yelling all the while. Chase it around drenching it for a few seconds after it takes off. The next day, do it again. Eventually they will learn that outdoors = citrus-y nightmare combined with owner spaz attack.

Beware, cats less than 2 years old will probably enjoy this and think it is play.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-03-2009, 01:45 AM:

I demand pictures of your new cat.

Posted by Bob Koch (Member # 1062) on 08-03-2009, 02:43 PM:

Brad:
You`re playing a losing game, trying to outsmart the cats.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 08-03-2009, 04:49 PM:

We wait for a cold, snowy day (rain and thunder also work). We then throw the cat out about 15' and make it beg to get back in. The "urge" to escape can take years to redevelop, especially if you continue retraining on really bad weather days. Louis

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 08-03-2009, 08:27 PM:

Our cat cannot be found during thunderstorms. He runs and hides under the bed. [Big Grin]

Cat in the laptop bag...

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 08-04-2009, 09:28 AM:

I'd put up a good electric fence [Cool]

....

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 08-04-2009, 10:36 AM:

Hey Brad, send him to me for the winter and he'll never want to go outside again. . .

Posted by Charles Greenlee (Member # 3856) on 08-04-2009, 11:53 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
My new cat gets the water bottle if it goes where I do not want it to go.

Yeah, tried that when my cat would come to my bedroom door and meow constantly while I'm trying to get to sleep. She just learned to stay just outside my door where the bottle wouldn't reach and then meow. I'd hoped she'd learn not to do it at all. Though admittedly, she did it when she was in heat, and having her fixed cured that. Unfortunatly, she was fixed after the practice of spraying had set in, so even after being fixed she'll spray stuff.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-05-2009, 03:37 AM:

Looks like you've been taught a lesson, Chuck. Never delay chopping up your pet's reproductive bits! If I wanted to train my cat not to meow even when outside the room as in your situation, I'd spray it in the face with a super-soaker ANY time it meowed.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 08-05-2009, 02:28 PM:

quote: Tim Reed
Cat in the laptop bag...

I have one of those...

Notice how he's caught the mouse.

Posted by Phil Blake (Member # 2012) on 08-06-2009, 07:30 PM:

like a cork in a bottle

Posted by Charles Greenlee (Member # 3856) on 08-11-2009, 04:05 PM:

Yeah, well it wasn't my cat sadly. Cute cat, love her to death, just hate her behavior. Personally, I'd hate having to butcher the animal in any way by having it fixed, but a necessary evil I guess. Anyway, she's been fixed for years now and still sprays. Odd that spraying is typically a behavior of unfixed male cats. I think I'll have to pick up a surveillance system with one of those screen that can show like 9 cameras at a time, and watch for her doing it so I can bust in there while she's in the act with one of those canned air horns they use at sporting events. Unless you catch them in the act, if they do learn anything from being punished later it would be to avoid getting caught.

I did use my super soaker on her once. I don't know which made things wetter, the supersoaker, or the resulting scaring the piss out of her. I'd hoped it'd make a big enough impression for her to stay away, but nope, just a futile attempt not worth the borderline cruelty. Not my cat, so limited what I can do about it.

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 08-11-2009, 05:35 PM:

Gun

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 08-15-2009, 02:52 AM:

Doberman.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-15-2009, 10:41 AM:

I once had a cat who pissed in the potted plants.

We had a large dieffenbacha in a pot on the floor. The cat used to climb up and piss in the pot.

At first, I put gravel on top of the dirt. It looked nice and I hoped that it would discourage the cat from climbing on top of the gravel. Nope! The cat just pushed it aside, leaving gravel all over the floor and a pissed-in house plant.

Next, I put chicken wire on top of the gravel. Nope! The cat just climbed on top of the chicken wire and did his business.

We tried using a water bottle but, as others say, it simply stops the bad behavior when people are around.

Finally, I got a SuperSoaker water gun. One of the magnum ones with two water tanks.

One day, I walked into the room. The cat was on top of the plant, just beginning to do its business. I sneaked in, picked up the water gun and got right up close.

I yelled, "NO!!" at the top of my lungs hit the furry, little bastard right between the eyes at point-blank range with a blast from the fully-charged SuperSoaker.

The cat spent the rest of the day hiding under the sofa but it never came within ten feet of that plant for the rest of its life!

There are two things that are absolutely necessary when training a dog or cat or any other animal: Consistency and immediacy.

Always punish or praise immediately upon noticing the targeted behavior. If the animal does something you want it to do, praise it, pet it and/or feed it right away. If the animal is doing something you don't want, yell at it while it's IN THE ACT! Even a 10 second delay will cause the animal to lose the association between the behavior and the praise or punishment.

Always praise or punish the same way every time and do it for the same behavior. If you squirt a cat for peeing on the floor one time but don't do it another time the cat does not associate a specific act with the human's desire to stop that act.

Always praise or always punish for the same act, the same way and at the second the act is committed.

My brother and I once taught our dog (a black lab) to jump over a broomstick in about 1 or 2 sessions spread out over a weekend.
We put the broomstick on the ground and led him over the broomstick on his leash while calling, "Over!"
The SECOND all four feet made it over that broomstick he got petted, praised "Good boy!" and a small drink of beer.
(Damn! That dog LOVED beer!)

After that, we raised the broomstick up about 6 inches and repeated. We continued walking him over, praising and repeating the process, raising the broomstick another 6 inches each time.

It took two people teaching the exact same thing and using the exact same commands and rewards to teach the dog. But, if you stick to your guns and maintain consistency and immediacy every time, it's possible to teach an animal to do almost anything.
(Or teach it NOT to do anything.)

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-15-2009, 12:17 PM:

quote: Randy Stankey
There are two things that are absolutely necessary when training a dog or cat or any other animal: Consistency and immediacy.

Hence the desire for a cat fence. The fence is always there, humans aren't. I picked up some PetSafe wireless fences and did some testing with them (no cats involved) and they do perform as they claim. There are 5 levels of correction and the lowest setting is barely even noticeable. It certainly won't hurt them, but it should train them.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 08-15-2009, 12:38 PM:

This calls for the very most patient animal trainer in the world. . . . . the CAT whisperer! Louis