Hi everyone, I've found this forum after much googling for a solution to my problem. I'm about to move into a rental property on the 12th level of an apartment building. I'm struggling to find a solution to ensure my 2 cats will be safe.

The apart have a pair of sliding glass doors in the living room that opens up onto the balcony. The balcony is connect to the bedroom adjacent, which also has 1 sliding door. The problem is that there is NO fly screen (my cats are quite well behaved and fly screens will stop them from wondering onto the balcony.) I would like to ventilate the living room often and these doors are proving to be a challenge. After much searching I have found 2 solutions:

1. attach a screen using velcro to the outside of the sliding doors - they can only be attached to the outside since the 2 sliding frames sit on the inside of the building. This allows ventilation of the living room. I would restrict access to the bedroom by keeping the door closed at all times so the bedroom can be ventilated without any screens. access to the balcony can also be done via this room. The problem with the approach is that my original product in mind Flat Cats may not be wide enough (max width of 1.4m) to cover the entire outside frame. Also attaching the screen to the outside makes escaping to the balcony much easier - although Dominic at Flat Cats advised that it can be sealed with a velcro seal all around the frame (however very expensive). I also have some slight doubts about how easily removable is the velcro adhesive.

2. Using Cat Netting from zooplus.co.uk. The biggest issue is that strata is unlikely to approve the use of netting on the balcony. If I can not do this, I'm thinking of using the netting to not fence off the balcony but only fencing off the sliding door. This can be done using these rods at both sides of the frame and then putting a net in between. Great Deals on Cat Nets for the Balcony at Zooplus: Rod Set for Net Erection My concern is that the cats can still somehow escape through the bottom if there is a cap. Again, access to the balcony can be done via the bedroom.

I've attached pics of the place and my girls (apology for the blurry shot).

Does anyone have any good suggestions? I live in Sydney Australia and I was lucky enough to find an apartment that let me keep cats! After hearing the horror stories of cats falling off balconies I'm determined to keep them safe. I'm quite comfortable with Spice roaming the place but Sugar often gets too excited and would fall off furniture... so definitely NOT allowed on the balcony!

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Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Your balconey looks quite enclosed - would you consider putting netting on the outside - a bit like the pics below - and then would enable you to have the doors open without having to think about screens and also allow you VERY gorgeous babies to chill outside in safety. Looking at what you have to work with, it shouldn't be too difficult. And then you could enjoy having a nice glass of wine, in the sunshine, after work with your babies lying out beside you.

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Hi MoggyBaby, I do not think I can install it onto the outside of the balcony due to strata issues. They may deem it unsightly and force me to remove it. I've emailed zooplus and they said my method 2 should work- however they do not ship to australia so I have either find a similar product or do a DIY solution.

The biggest problem now is that the agent rang me up and said that the laws in the building may be changed - they may no longer allow pets due to complaints previously! They will let me know by friday. Its looking pretty bleak to be honest. May have to starting searching again - its such a difficult task.