# Can a six foot high plywood "fence" prevent cats from jumping over? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 21, 2021, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382 "2021-02-21T07:45:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/61 "2021-02-22T00:58:40Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > The side with a million magnet souvenirs is the front, which is what the cat is jumping up. What a bizarre conversation. The “side” with the doors on it is the front. It’s facing the camera. The side with the magnets and stuff is the side. It doesn’t have doors. So the cat isn’t pushing off any doors. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/62 "2021-02-22T00:58:55Z")
Ok, here’s the thing: what the heck do you guys mean by “alight” on top of something. The video you just showed has the cat grabbing the top of the shower door and pulling themselves over. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/63 "2021-02-22T01:00:18Z")
Watch it’s back legs. They are pushing off a seam on the unit. It’s rather undeniable so I don’t get this. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/64 "2021-02-22T01:05:49Z")
I absolutely get it. I assume the cat is always going to expend the optimum effort, like a human high jumper. So it will be a matter of finding just the right video of just the right circumstances and in addition one where we can observe the exact height. In the interim, here is a caracal jumping 10 feet 🙂 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4dCXK6KhkTw/hqdefault.jpg "Caracal Explosive Jump - Major Hops - 10 Feet High") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dCXK6KhkTw) ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/65 "2021-02-22T01:07:24Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > Every cat I’ve seen either climbs or finishes an upward jump by hooking their front claws on whatever they are scaling and pulling themselves up; even shorter jumps they could launch right over. This is what I was responding to. Cats jump over or onto things of varying heights all the time without hooking their front claws and pulling themselves up. If it’s a height they can clear without doing that, they may or may not do it that way. You seem to be saying cats always finish a jump that way, even if it’s at a height they can clear. Is that not what you meant? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/66 "2021-02-22T01:08:00Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > I have never seen even close to a jump as high as the top of a door without scrambling. Never in video or real life. I frankly don’t believe it I have. I haven’t seen most cats do it; but I’ve known a couple who could do a seven foot jump like that, at least while they were young cats. The ability reduces with age. – I don’t have any video, it was years ago. And they weren’t serval crosses, or unusually large; they were ordinary Domestic Short Hairs, otherwise known as ‘the cats we have around here’. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/67 "2021-02-22T01:09:58Z")
I obviously can’t trust your memory as we have people in this very thread not noticing a cat push with their back legs to finish a jump in a video they can rewatch and pause at their leisure. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/68 "2021-02-22T01:14:08Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > I obviously can’t trust your memory True. Neither can I trust yours of never having seen a cat make such a jump. Either of us could be mistaken. And each of us has certainly been watching different cats. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/69 "2021-02-22T01:14:52Z")
My cite is a lack of videos on YouTube. Sometimes a lack of evidence is proof. For example, how could I prove to you that cats can’t speak english? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/70 "2021-02-22T01:32:06Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > Sometimes a lack of evidence is proof. I agree with this in principle, given the amount of video filmed of cats. However, the issue is that in practical household situations, cats are not usually presented with situations where they _must_ make a clean jump, and hooking the front paws and scrambling is just easier when it’s possible. We either need an artificially designed situation like the plastic pipe arrangement upthread that forces a clean jump; or I’d also be convinced if I saw (say) a 7-foot jump using the grab-and-scramble technique that a 6-foot clean jump is likely within their capabilities. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/71 "2021-02-22T01:34:38Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > Watch it’s back legs. They are pushing off a seam on the unit. It’s rather undeniable so I don’t get this. [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/gci93w705ejvda2/Screen%20Shot%202021-02-22%20at%2014.31.01.png?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/gci93w705ejvda2/Screen%20Shot%202021-02-22%20at%2014.31.01.png?dl=0) This is what I see. Doors at the front facing the camera (freezer on top, fridge at bottom), magnets at the side, cat jumping up the side, cat’s hind legs bracing against the side, no black seam on the side. I don’t deny the cat is bracing against the side of the fridge, but it certainly isn’t pushing off from the top of the fridge door, it is nowhere near the door. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/72 "2021-02-22T01:35:05Z")
Sure, to be nice and scientific. But my counter would be that there’s also a buttload of cat videos that are totally set up and not “normal household”. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/73 "2021-02-22T01:38:47Z")
Well even if we call it “bracing” its not pure vertical leap. Could that cat have jumped onto a shelf that high? That’s the point of the pvc tube blocker to stop cats. They need that little scramble and grab to finish a high jump. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/74 "2021-02-22T02:04:03Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > I have never seen even close to a jump as high as the top of a door without scrambling My current Siamese does it regularly. I have had other cats who did it as well. Come to think of it they were all Siamese… ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/75 "2021-02-22T02:04:10Z")
Ok, sorry for three posting but ever since American Ninja Warrior, I think of cats as just being insane on the Warped Wall. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/76 "2021-02-22T02:04:55Z")
Please record it! ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/77 "2021-02-22T02:09:57Z")
What makes you think a cat would give notice “hey, in 27 seconds, get your phone out to record. I’m going to jump to the top of that door yonder. I’ll wait til you’re ready.” Not how cats work. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/78 "2021-02-22T02:16:47Z")
I guess that’s why there’s so few popular cat videos on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/79 "2021-02-22T02:31:57Z")
No one was presenting it as a pure vertical leap, we could all see the cat’s legs on the side of the fridge. The person you responded to, who posted the video, even says: > [@eschrodinger](#): > > To top of fridge from floor. Feet touch on side, but no scrabbling. I think the issue here is that you are considering any kind of assist as “scrambling” or “scrabbling” while others consider scrambling and scrabbling to have an element of inelegance and implies some kind of struggle to achieve the jump. The cat in the video doesn’t struggle, it is an elegant jump that includes using the side of the fridge. If you feel that it doesn’t fulfil your requirement to jump without scrambling, that’s because your requirement was ambiguous. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382/80 "2021-02-22T02:39:54Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > No one was presenting it as a pure vertical leap, Not that video but how do you “alight”\* on top of a door without 6’ vertical leap? \*not trying to be a jerk here but I take the phrase as meaning to “lightly land” but I’m not sure that’s what earlier posters meant exactly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-six-foot-high-plywood-fence-prevent-cats-from-jumping-over/933382.md?page=5)