Sewer drain cat climbing ladder question
Our cat is mainly indoor but we let him roam the neighborhood during the daytime, as our dogs have doggie doors and go and out all day in our fenced-in yard as well and we’re in a very safe neighborhood. He has an AirTag on him and he’s only allowed outside when we are at home. But he’s taken a liking to the dried sewer drain in our backyard. (He got stuck once and we got him out with food and my long reach- and we never saw him go down again until today with the AirTag). When he was previously stuck We ended up temporarily putting a flimsy metal gate piece done there to help him out if he ever got stuck again but we recently removed it and I’m wondering if he has been going down there all this time and using that to climb and in and out.
Now that I know he’s going down there, I’m looking to put a more substantial climbing out device for him and was looking for advice (assuming he is going down there and is using that entry point- it’s for my peace of mind more than anything)- our criteria:
- we can’t block the drain for obvious reasons; and I can always get down there myself if needed but that’s a huge hassle.
- something to hold up in the elements- I don’t want a wooden ladder in the elements
- something cost effective as I’m not sure that he even uses our “assisted item” as his exit- it’s just a guess.
- something not obvious to the neighbors/sticks out too far to be an eyesore or disrupt mowing
The best idea I have is one of those Jute cat climbing ropes. But thought I would ask here. I can provide pictures tomorrow in the daylight- we just learned he went back down there tonight so this is a new project now for me. Thanks! (And as stated above, we have means of getting him out in other ways if needed, including pulling up a pothole and climbing down so please don’t attack us- I would keep him inside if there weren’t multiple avenues of escape for him and access for us- in all honesty- having been down there, it almost makes me feel better knowing he has a place to hide if he needs to get away from anything).