@Stewiesmom said,
Hi all,
i'm new to the site so be gentle! I live in Southampton -- inner city terraced houses, and busy streets.
I rescued a tiny ball of fluff that was
due to be put down, as he was having seizures. I still have him, and he is a complete character
2 years on. He was diagnosed with epillepsy & my vet advised to keep him strictly inside.
His seizures have all but stopped since he began a raw diet a year ago, which is a massive blessing ... he still gets the occasional seizure.
Keeping him '
strictly house-bound' didn't go to plan, as
he can open doors &
my flatmate has a habit of not locking them behind him. I'm also a big softie, & like the idea of him being outside, albeit safe outside.
So i looked into installing a cat fence. I saw the wooden rollers & loved the 'non Alcatraz' look, but instead i tried a low-tech, low-cost version with (brackets) attached to the fence, & made my own... with 5-mm wire threaded through sections of garden hose, then through sections of gutter downpipe, passed through the restraint strap holes at each interval. I had 2 rows, angled at 45 degrees.
This worked
quite well until he grew - then he could leap over the whole thing easily, if he stood on garden chairs, etc. I could have added rows, but there are high & low spots in the garden, & other "ladders".
I scrapped that system; this week, I finished a simple 15-mm chicken wire mesh, stapled atop the fence, & draped over the remaining (brackets), fastened with cable ties... [
the new system]
works very well, he's tested it non-stop for an escape route.
... i will eventually install a flap... but now,
i have this massive pang of guilt, am I doing the right thing?... ..Removing the old system & installing the new [took] almost a year; he found his street legs & made a BFF - the girl cat, 3 doors up. He dotes on her ... lovely to see them play together, & see him enjoy life -- "kitty jail" stops him seeing & playing with his best friend.
But
i've also stopped the local bully cats (a gang of 6 i've seen pick on him by turns)
entering the garden to upset him at night, when he isn't allowed out.
I know she's chipped -
am i crazy, to think of... a chip flap to allow her access ... for play dates, whilst keeping him safe...? I don't like... breaking up ... a lovely friendship.
Should i scrap the whole lot, knowing his seizures are better?!
________________________________
.
.
Stewie'sMum hasn't visited since Nov-2016, so these are my observations for other cat-owners, rather than a reply. 
.
Taking it in order, "strictly house-bound" as a Rx for an epileptic pet is a very good decision - altho i'd re-phrase it as "safely indoors", since even on this thread, in the past 46 pages, there have been a number of RTAs / HBC & other injuries or fatalities to cats who were not epileptic, had all 4 legs, both eyes & both ears in working order, & so on.
The outside world is neither friendly nor safe for a 10# or less animal.
.
Epilepsy is made much-worse by stress, & stressors are frequent for free-roaming cats: barking dogs, roaring traffic, strangers - some friendly who'd want to pet, some malicious who'd want to hurt - other cats, who may stalk, harass, or attack the intruder, etc. So free-roaming for an epileptic cat is very high-risk. Even if seizures are very rare at home, they instantly become far-more likely when the cat is out of familiar, safe environs, AND unsupervised.
.
Behaviorally, the more any action is repeated, the more anyone wants to do it - U wouldn't freely do things that U don't want to do, plus doing them over & over develops a habit. Stewie now has a habit of escaping - he's done it at will for almost a year; it will be extremely difficult to put that genie back in the bottle. OTOH, if he were hit by a car, munched by a dog, or otherwise injured, caught a contagion, was lost / chased, etc, illness, injury, & stress all make increased seizures likely. Once he's stressed, getting him un-stressed isn't as simple as taking him into the house & closing the door. His more-frequent seizures could continue, requiring meds / a higher dose, & every single seizure causes cumulative damage.
We don't know his seizure frequency, but even annual or biannual seizures cause brain-damage. Zero seizures is the preferred status.
.
At least 4 ppl posting to this thread had cats die while free-roaming; no matter how much happiness cats get from wandering at will, it can be lethal - even on a cul-de-sac, even on quiet streets, even in a farming district. Bad things can happen. "Feeling guilty" for keeping my cat safe is illogical; plus, Stewie wouldn't have become addicted to roaming if the fence issues had been promptly attended to - if he'd gotten out once, & the 1st design was immediately replaced, he wouldn't be "testing it non-stop" at the time of this post.
Maybe feeling guilty over allowing him to develop bad habits, would be more apropos. Oops.
.
.
Last, i think installing a locking-flap to allow his girlfriend to visit is perfect - he can have his fun, & BOTH of them can be safe inside the fence, with the bullies & other hazards outside. :Happy Win-win! - Well done.
Just be sure there's a sheltered litter tray, in case of foul weather - don't want the girl to go home with new, unwanted toilet habits.
.
.
.
