Hi all,

I am commited into building a cat run and I have been researching materials and I'm fairly clear about how I'm going to do this.

My issue is the mesh for the run, wanting to keep costs down this is the pricests item. Looking at pictures of cat runs, it seems that they all have used fairy strong meshing (twilweld im told its called) and i have got a price from a local DIY shop that sells it at about £180 for the amount I need.

I have however found chicken wire that is 6 ft in a 50 meter roll for £70 which is perfect.

That is a big saving and a amount leaving some spare for the roofing, I'm just worried that a chicken wire meshed wall may not been strong enough.

Anyone got one that uses chicken wire? Anyone got one using something stronger than chicken wire, is the extra strength of the mesh needed? I read somewhere that cats dont like walking on chicken wire so would a cat really try climb it?

Any opinions much appreciated.
Thanks

Depends how long you want it to last. I've never had a cut run (made or bought) which used chicken wire but I have used it around the garden over the years for various things. It rusts easily, is very thin and it's difficult (nigh on impossible) to get it 'rigid' in wooden framework.

I wouldn't want to use it for a cat run, given that cats do like to climb; it's not very strong, particularly when it's been in use for a year or two and becomes rusty/weakened. There's something called Twiweld/Twilweld(?) on the market which comes in a roll which is slightly better but the lighter gauge one is still prone to rusting/tearing.

If you can possibly run to it, cost wise, a heavier gauge welded mesh, so much the better... I honestly think chicken wire would be a false economy as you'd need to replace it after a relatively short time.

for £180 you could get a massive cat run off ebay

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A swift bit of googling shows Weldmesh at £61'odd for a 30m roll and that was without looking further for a better price. Unless it's a very big cat run you're building... ?

Thanks for your replies, not what I was hoping for but it was what I was after so thanks.

The cat run is fairly big, 6ft wide, 10 metres long, running down a side of the garden. It's finding a 6ft wide roll cheap which is difficult, I'm guessing cheap price you found would be for something not so wide, I can find a 25 meter roll for £145 which is better, but then its £20 delivery so pretty much the same price.

There a company called perrfect fence that seem to use a plastic fencing, I've been googling for a 6ft roll of that to see if that is cheaper, had no luck in finding that.

Again, thanks for your replies,
Please share with me any further thoughts ideas you have.

Thanks

Wow, it IS big

Does it need wire for both sides of the 10m length or does one side abut a fence?

Trying to picture your design... you've mentioned the wire needs to be 6' wide so I assume the wooden framework it'll sit in will be in 6' 'panels' - i.e. the (wood) uprights set 6' apart? If so I think that will pose even more of a problem with chicken wire as a result of of it being thin/floppy and needing more framework to support it.

Can you run two lots of 3' wide mesh horizontally, top and bottom, with a central horizontal wooden support to staple it onto?

Racking my brain for a more cost effective alternative (story of my life!) but coming up with nothing at the mo.

Thanks for reply again,

Wanted to wait until I had visited market again until I posted as u heard a man sold it. Turns out he sells only 3 foot wide rolls, however its £40 for meters for 30 meters of pvc green mesh, or 45 for wire, so at that price, I think the 2 top and bottom stripes is way to go, like you suggested.

So only dilema now is pvc or wire. I think pvc green looks better, and being plastic should last, I thought it seemed strong enough so think id like to use that. Any opinions very welcome, if not thanks for your feedback and hopefully will turn out good

I'm interested to see what replies you get as i'm hoping to build a run but not as big as yours.My worry with PVC would be that it could be chewed by a cat and chewed fence = hole=escaped cat ,or am I mistaken.

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Hmm good point, glad you said that, didn't think of that, we got a free sample sent with a catalog from perrfect fencing, and that was some sort of plastic.

Like you be interested to hear opinions, I would think if a company like perrfect fencing use plastic, should hopefully be ok

Whatever you do please dont use chicken mesh, its far to dangerous, cats could easily cut themselves when climbing, i bought a roll of weldmesh off ebay very cheap to its 3ft wide and is just right for making panels 6' x 3' which you can then bolt together using coachbolts, by doing it this way its easily added too or dismantled should it ever need be........best wishes.......Chris.

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