Keeping your pet safe inside your home involves practical issues like protecting them from poisonous chemicals, toxic plants and toilet bowl water. With an indoor/outdoor pet, however, you face a more imposing threat: predators.
Pet owners will do just about anything to try and prevent predatorial attacks including purchasing body armor, which makes your dog look fierce (like a punk rocker without a mohawk), but not necessarily safer. The following expert recommendations, though, can help protect your beloved cats and dogs from the dangers of the great outdoors.
Time on your side
People walk their dogs when they can. Predators look for dinner the same way.
“The primary drive of any animal is to survive and eat,” says Dr. Liz Spencer, associate veterinarian and medical director at Green Lake Animal Hospital. “Your pet’s greatest vulnerability is when an animal’s actively searching for meals.”
If you have a small canine, try and avoid taking them out when wildlife likes to feast most: early mornings and late in the evenings. If you have an inflexible schedule, Spencer advises choosing the path most followed.
“Walk them down a busy street, as opposed to deciding it’s a great time to explore Carkeek Park,” Spencer says.
Kevin Haywood, practice manager and medical team member at Jet City Animal Clinic in Capitol Hill, believes outdoor domesticated cats create a different dilemma.
“Cats are on the prowl at the same time as wildlife,” he says. “We see them coming in all the time with unknown attacks.”
He recommends keeping cats indoors. However, if they do go out, Haywood advises limiting them to midday excursions filled with noise and people.
Supervised play
Many homeowners believe an enclosed backyard means a pet can be safely left unattended for periods of time. In truth, just because an animal can’t get out doesn’t mean wildlife can’t burrow, climb or find their way in. In fact, Spencer sees more of these “co-living attacks” than she does predatorial strikes.
“Dogs will get tangled with raccoons, skunks and possums,” she says. “The next thing you know, they’re in a fight.”
Spencer’s recommendation? Keep your eyes and ears open at all times when outdoors with your pet. That includes looking up, especially if you have a rabbit, which hawks and raptors consider a delicacy.
“Keep in mind the size of your pet,” Haywood says. “Are they a size that can be plucked up by avian predators?” Haywood advises against leaving small pets alone on upper decks for that very reason.
Keep food indoors
Wildlife view pet food placed outside as a free, all-you-can-eat meal. As scavengers, they care little about the cuisine. They love the convenience and service.
“The best way to guarantee you get raccoons, possums, rats and coyotes is to leave your food outside,” says Spencer.
To discourage these backyard thieves, feed your pet indoors or outside with supervision. If you have cat or dog doors, take extra caution.
“It’s not just an exit and entry point for your pet, but also for wildlife,” Spencer warns. “If you put a never-ending food bowl by a dog door, don’t be surprised to come home and find a raccoon eating the buffet dinner you left for it.”
This applies to pet enclosures, as well. Never tempt, never offer.
Bucking the trend
Unlike other pets, chickens and rabbits tend to dwell outdoors in unattended spaces. To protect them, build a strongly enclosed space. For chickens, make the walls more than surface deep to create a barrier for them and their exposed food.
“Raccoons are very good with their hands and can get into small spaces very well,” Spencer says. “They can be a huge source of predations that people don’t often think about.”
Shut your chickens in their roost at night, as well, and hang feeders to deter rat populations from accessing their meal.
Creatures great and small
Wildlife comes in all shapes and sizes, including the microscopic kind. Parasites can attack pets internally or externally. To prevent such dangers, stay current with pet vaccinations.
“We live in such a temperate climate that we recommend parasite control year-round,” says Haywood. “Most of the ones available cover a spectrum of internal and external parasites in one product.”
Pet enclosures
Looking to combine safety with the great outdoors? Consider a pet enclosure. Billy Froton and John Arcana, owners of Art & Function Custom Woodworking in Seattle, have been building them for several years, but enclosures for cats have picked up steam after trending on social media.
They construct solutions that range in size from small windows to room-sized decks.
“Some cats aren’t playful, so it’s more a viewing space,” Froton says. “A lot of the time, the client wants to be with the pet, so it’s a hangout space for both of them.”
One of his larger projects involved a couple discovering that their cat was a Maine coon, one of the largest cat breeds. “It grew to be 4 feet long,” Froton says. “Maine coons like to climb, and so we needed to incorporate these bridges and climbing shelves into it.”
Froton and Arcana’s builds come with a higher price tag than typical enclosures found online. That’s because they collaborate with pet owners on their projects for total customization. They also use higher-quality materials like thicker lumber and chicken wire gauge, and a long-lasting, animal-safe finish.
If you prefer less expensive models, Froton advises keeping an eye out for craftsmanship and pet safety.
“A lot of companies use cedar,” he says. “It’s a durable, outdoor wood because it has natural pesticides that prevent it from decaying. But those same chemicals can be harmful to animals. They can develop allergies and skin conditions.”
For the best result, Froton recommends using vertical grain fir or pine lumber. Though these types of lumber are not as durable as cedar to the elements, they end up being much safer for your pet. He also says to pay attention to wood finishes and avoid paints.
“If your pet’s scratching at it, the dust from the finish may have harmful chemicals they shouldn’t be consuming,” he says. His company uses Odie’s Oil, for example, a nontoxic, food-safe product.
Most important, consider your pet’s needs and routine.
“Think about what fits the function of a cat and what’s aesthetically pleasing,” Froton says.