We adopted a 1yr old stray female a few months ago. We have a walkway on the second floor of the house that overlooks the foyer which is hardwoods. The cat got into the habit of going through the rungs on the railing and walking the ledge on the other side, it is only about 2" wide. The walkway is approx 12 feet up.
Being worried about her falling and getting injured, I installed plexiglass along the rungs so that she could see through it but not go through to the other side. This worked fine for a while.
Now she has discovered that she can jump up and walk the top of the railing itself! This is about 3" wide but probably 15 feet up from the floor below. I know cats land on their feet but am concerned that a fall (or stupid jump) would result in broken leg, etc.
When I catch her on the railing, I take her off with a firm "NO" and a swat on the butt. This does not seem to deter her for more than a minute or two. Now she gets up there but jumps down when she hears me coming. I will not spank her unless I catch her in the act though. She is unafraid of water so the squirt gun trick is not effective.
Any thoughts on how to deter this behavior without doing any carpentry to my house?? Or am I concerned for nothing about a jump/fall from this height onto hardwood floor??
Being worried about her falling and getting injured, I installed plexiglass along the rungs so that she could see through it but not go through to the other side. This worked fine for a while.
Now she has discovered that she can jump up and walk the top of the railing itself! This is about 3" wide but probably 15 feet up from the floor below. I know cats land on their feet but am concerned that a fall (or stupid jump) would result in broken leg, etc.
When I catch her on the railing, I take her off with a firm "NO" and a swat on the butt. This does not seem to deter her for more than a minute or two. Now she gets up there but jumps down when she hears me coming. I will not spank her unless I catch her in the act though. She is unafraid of water so the squirt gun trick is not effective.
Any thoughts on how to deter this behavior without doing any carpentry to my house?? Or am I concerned for nothing about a jump/fall from this height onto hardwood floor??