If you want your cat to be part of the gardening season, you should take a few precautions. This cat guide reveals how you can make your yard cat-proof!

Cats are intelligent and adventurous animals that need plenty of activity, variety, and exercise.

A yard has all this and much more to offer cats.

If you want to extend your cat's territory to include the yard, you should prepare it accordingly.

Cats Cat tries to escape the vet with his hilarious "hiding spot"

Potential dangers must be identified and eliminated.

Busy roads, the neighborhood dogs, and other cats are all potential threats to your house cat.

Ideally, a cat will only spend time on your own property, which is why you should also make the yard escape-proof.

If you have made the yard cat-proof, you can let your cat out without hesitation.

Read on to find out what you need to do to ensure that your cat stays in your yard, is safe, and feels comfortable there.

If you want to give your cat access to your yard, you should first consider whether the cat should only be allowed in the yard or whether it should have full access to the world.

If the cat is only to be in the yard, it must be fenced in at an appropriate height and free of loopholes. In good health, cats can jump around 6 - 8 feet without a running start. They also use trees, gutters, and other elevations to get over the fence.

There are various options and fences available from specialist retailers to prevent cats from leaving the property.

Cat fence

One option would be to install a cat fence. This is usually a two-meter-high fence with inwardly curved poles attached to the top edge to prevent climbing over. Wire mesh or a cat net is stretched between these poles.

Outdoor cat enclosure

You can also buy an outdoor cat enclosure. This is a kind of cage that can be equipped with climbing, scratching, sleeping and playing facilities. The existing yard fence can be secured with special attachments as climbing protection and a cat net.

Before you buy and install a cat fence, you should check with your local building authority to see if you need to obtain planning permission for the fence. You should be very careful when securing the yard fence, as cats will find and use any gaps.

If you let a cat into your yard, you have to expect it to climb all the trees. It doesn't matter how big and stable the tree is, it will try to climb every one. There is also the risk that a cat will climb the tree but not be able to come down.

If you don't want a cat to climb certain trees, you should take appropriate precautions: special tree collars, climbing protectors, cat repellent belts, and metal nets are available from specialist retailers to prevent cats from climbing trees.

You should also consider which trees birds breed in and protect them from the cat accordingly.

If a cat has access to the yard, it is possible that it will destroy plant beds. Perhaps mice, moles, hedgehogs, or other animals have left their tracks there, so that the soil smells particularly exciting and the cat starts digging. Some furry friends also prefer to do their business in the soil.

If you grow plants, you can protect them from cats with trellises, greenhouses, or raised beds. It is also helpful to offer cats interesting alternatives for digging, exploring, and playing.

If you want to give a cat a special treat, you can create an herb bed specially made for it. You can find out which plants are suitable for this here: Herbs for cats.

For a cat, a yard harbors numerous dangers that need to be eliminated – otherwise, a trip outside could end fatally for your furry friend.

Poisonous plants

Firstly, you should find out which plants are poisonous to cats, such as azalea, begonia, boxwood, chrysanthemum, ivy, yew, monkshood, angel's trumpet, foxglove, laburnum, lily of the valley, oleander, daffodil, rhododendron, and delphinium. Either remove the plants or protect them so that your cat cannot nibble on them.

Risk of injury

There is a risk that a cat could injure itself on sharp yard tools, unstable piles of wood, or even broken glass. Before letting the cat into the yard, everything should be secured or cleared away so that there is no longer any danger.

Freely accessible bodies of water

Ponds or other bodies of water in the yard are very attractive to cats. Some cats drink from the yard pond or hunt fish, insects, and other animals. Certain cat breeds, such as the Bengal cat, love water and may try to swim in the pond.

If a cat accidentally falls into the pond, it could panic and try to escape or injure itself in the water or yard during uncontrolled flight movements. In addition, a cat could drown in deep water or rain barrels.

To keep your cat away from the water, you should protect the pond accordingly. If you allow your cat to go to the water and drink from it, it should not be treated with chemicals.

It can happen that a cat drinks from the rain barrel. To prevent this, the barrel should be secured accordingly.

Cats and other animals in the yard

An ideal yard has a rich variety of plants and animals. The animal inhabitants of the yard are also of interest to cats. An exciting pastime is hunting for mice, moles, insects, and other creatures.

If it eats its prey, this can have disastrous consequences. Wild animals could be infested with parasites and infect the cat. Some insects are also poisonous to cats, which is why they should not eat them.

To protect your cat from parasite infestation, you should regularly give it a worming treatment. Certain vaccinations are also useful, but it is advisable to consult a vet.

The smells, sounds, and visual impressions that a yard offers a cat make the green oasis an exciting adventure for the house cat. It is even nicer for him if you set up places in the yard for playing, climbing, observing, hiding, and sleeping.

It's nice to offer cats different places to sleep and lie down. Cats like to lie in the sun. If it is too hot, they will look for a shady spot. There should also be places that are protected from the wind and weather.

As cats eat many small meals a day, a feeding place in the yard would not be a bad idea either. Particularly on hot days, make sure that a cat has enough shady places and drinking options in the yard. The feeding and drinking areas should be in places that only the cat can reach.

If you don't want a cat to scratch all the trees, furniture, and wood in the yard, you must offer it alternatives such as a scratching post, scratching mat, or scratching board.

If you want to allow your cat to go outside in your own yard, you should adapt it to the needs of your furry friend. If the yard is cat-safe, then nothing stands in the way of a trip into the countryside.