# How do I stop kitten jumping over indoor balcony



## Linz27 (Dec 1, 2014)

Hi.
I desperately need some help and hoping someone can!
I have a 5 month ragdoll kitten who is the most loving and well behaved boy for the majority of the day but has an hour or 2 of crazy kitten time every day & when I say crazy, I mean crazy! 
In a normal house, this wouldn't be as bad but I live in a 3 storey totally open planned house with ladder style stairs going down from the lounge to the kitchen, surrounding the stair case is a glass balcony (see photo) with a ledge no more than 3cm wide around the top (and a drop of 5 metres below) 
When he is in crazy mode, he is running at the balcony and trying to jump up it/over it, he doesn't try and jump on it when docile as he can see it's a huge drop. He is VERY close to jumping over it and I am now really worried as he is going to hurt himself terribly as it's not even a straight 5m drop to the floor, he has railings, the stairs and a table so would most certainly break a few bones hitting them on the way down.
I need to stop him running/jumping at it urgently - how do I do this when he is in 'psycho cat' mode as I don't want to shout/spray water in case he gets scared and jumps even more, I have picked him up to try and move him away from the danger zone but when I go over to him in crazy mode, again, he sometimes tries to jump it to get away from me in his energetic state.
I'm sure I can train him easily to not go there because we have a close bond already and he responds to other training but I have no idea how I would go about this and desperately need some advice from you.
Any help is appreciated.


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## Blaise in Surrey (Jun 10, 2014)

Oh dear. What I DO know is that, one day, whatever you try doing to stop him, he'll jump anyway  - the secret is to stop him from doing it until he's old enough to cope with the consequences.

Is it possible to confine him to the floor below in any way? Can you block his access to the stairs? 

One thing I would definitely do is to place mattresses and the like over the area on which he would land if the worst happens.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

This wont look attractive but I think I would be fixing some sort of trellis type fencing around the glass balcony as close to ceiling height as is possible ,not sure that your kitten even as an adult will ever learn not to jump on to the ledge though


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## Linz27 (Dec 1, 2014)

Thanks for the swift responses!

I have thought about these options but yes, you're right, the preventative fencing/trellis will be a real eye sore so the dealing with it after with a mattress would be better, however I have a table in the way (that cannot go anywhere else) I can put a beanbag under the stairs but sod's law he will miss that!
Ideally I want to know if there's anyway I can at least try and train him not to do this, I know it will be near on impossible, but he is already well trained with so many other things, if you have any training ideas, that would be ideal as I genuinely think he would respond to them.

This is my first ever post so thanks so much for your help so far!

Lindsey


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi Linz27 welcome to Pet Forums Your house looks beautiful, but I am afraid it is not very cat-friendly with the open stairwells, especially if the drop is straight down for 3 storeys 

I know of cats who have fallen from balconies of tower block flats, and whilst some have survived others have sustained serious injuries. A fall of 5 metres might certainly cause an injury especially if as you say, your kitty were to hit bannisters etc on the way down. 

The problem is, that to make your house cat friendly, (or at least kitten friendly) you'd need to make alterations which you might feel would detract somewhat from the appearance of your home. 

I think it depends if you are prepared to make a certain amount of sacrifice in order to make your home a safe place for your kitten. For me, the safety of my cats in my home is my absolute priority. My own needs for a certain kind of design in the home take very much second place. But I appreciate not everyone else will feel like me.

I can tell you what I would do if I lived in your house. I would have the waist-high perspex/glass bannisters at the top of each staircases replaced with perspex/glass almost to the ceiling, or at any rate at a height that is too high for kitty to jump. It might cost a few bob to make these alterations but surely worth every penny if it saves your kitten being injured.

The alternative, as the previous poster has said, is to restrict your kitten to the ground floor only until he is older. However, it is the case that even a young adult cat may jump onto the bannister, lose their balance and fall.

EDIT: sorry, I meant to add, "No" there is no way you can train him not to jump on the bannister, Cats love to climb and jump, it is a basic instinct, and the only way he would learn not to is if he fell and hurt himself very badly. Not worth the risk really.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Linz27 said:


> Thanks for the swift responses!
> 
> I have thought about these options but yes, *you're right, the preventative fencing/trellis will be a real eye sore so the dealing with it after with a mattress would be better, however I have a table in the way (that cannot go anywhere else) *I can put a beanbag under the stairs but sod's law he will miss that!
> Ideally I want to know if there's anyway I can at least try and train him not to do this, I know it will be near on impossible, but he is already well trained with so many other things, if you have any training ideas, that would be ideal as I genuinely think he would respond to them.
> ...


Sorry but I really wouldn't rely on any "teaching methods" kittens or cats for that matter ,dont always remember the consequences of their actions.
Personally I would put up with the inconvenience of the trellis but if you feel that's not an option then move the table(there must be somewhere to put it) but even that might not be enough to stop injury ,as much will depend on the way your kitten/cat lands if it should be unlucky and fall off/over the balcony .


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## gskinner123 (Mar 10, 2010)

It's a beautiful room but I don't think I'd ever stop worrying, even after my cat had grown out of the 'mad half hour' stage... and even then, many never do.

As someone above said, I would opt for the permanent solution and greatly increase the height of the glass. You can buy some lovely some tall screens/room dividers that look very attractive; those placed around the glass may work.


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## Linz27 (Dec 1, 2014)

Room dividers, what a fantastic idea as we can move them when needed. Thank you, great thinking. Will be online shopping tomorrow! Thanks so much.


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## lostbear (May 29, 2013)

Have you moved in yet?

There is no sign of human habitation . . .


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