Installing Cat Netting: DIY, a Fitter, or Off the Shelf — and Why Balconies Are Different

“Is this net actually going to hold, or does it just look like it will?” — that is the question most owners ask themselves before choosing how to do it. The previous article covered why netting matters. This one is about the practical side: what it takes for netting to count as properly fitted.

There are broadly two routes. The first is doing it yourself: buy ready-made grid netting or elastic nylon netting and fix it to the window frame, the security grille or the balcony railing with hooks, hook-and-loop tape or tension rods. Material cost is comparatively low, but whether the load rating and the fixings actually hold is entirely your own judgement, with nobody checking it. The second is having a fitter come out: they measure the flat and make it to size, supplying and installing, usually fixing with expansion bolts or a made-to-measure frame. That copes better with irregular window shapes, or with balconies where the area is larger and more is being asked of the fixings — at the cost of a measuring visit and a longer wait.

Renting and owning point to different answers. A landlord may not allow drilling, and even where the tenancy says nothing explicit, holes left in the wall can still turn into a deposit dispute when you move out — which is not rare among tenants in subdivided and small flats. If you rent, look first at fixings that do not need drilling: using the window frame’s own channel, tension poles, or double-sided tape paired with metal clips, all of which can come off cleanly before you hand the keys back. If you own the place that constraint is gone, and over the long run a drilled, made-to-measure installation is the sounder choice — no worrying about it working loose in high wind or when the cat throws herself at it.

Checking the netting itself goes beyond “there is some there”. The mesh needs to be narrower than the cat’s head — the general trade guidance is within about 1.5 inches — because too wide and she can get her head through and stick, or go through entirely. The material needs real toughness and tensile strength; netting that is too thin and too soft can pull free or tear after one or two hard hits. On fixings, the four edges and the four corners are where things give way first. A cat working the same spot for months can loosen the hardware without it being obvious, so check the edges for stretching or movement at intervals after installation.

Windows and balconies cannot be treated the same way. A window opening is comparatively small and the fixing points sit around the frame. A balcony is usually much larger, and it comes with railings, air-conditioner casings and awnings that a cat can stand on — if the net only closes the gaps between the railings and leaves the air-conditioner platform as a back door, the fall risk is still there. Balcony netting usually has to be fixed to the ceiling or a side wall as well, which is a bigger job than a window. That difference is worth weighing before you decide between doing it yourself and calling someone.

On price, this article has no market figure worth quoting, and we would rather leave it out than invent one. What actually moves the number comes down to a few things: the area of netting (a balcony is usually larger than a window), whether the opening is a regular shape (anything irregular is made to measure, which costs more than a standard size), whether the floor height means scaffolding or a gondola, and whether you go drilled or drill-free. Rather than asking “roughly how much”, ask how each of those affects the quote before the fitter comes to measure.

Several animal welfare organisations in Hong Kong make window netting a condition of adopting a cat, which tells you it is already standard practice among owners here rather than an accessory anyone gets around to later.

This article is general background, not veterinary advice. If your cat does fall from height, have her checked as soon as you can even if she looks unhurt — internal injuries are not always visible straight away.