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★☆☆☆☆
My cat died in this enclosure
I have had this Kittywalk gazebo and the Kittywalk lawn enclosure for several years. Today I went to work and when I came home, one of my outdoor cats had gotten into the Kittywalk and somehow got her claws stuck in the netting. She was hanging there, dead, when I came home. I don't know what happened, but I do know that it was my fault for leaving the zip enclosure open so she could get in. Why she did, I do not know. She apparently got her claws wrapped in the netting and I don't know if she had a heart attack or what, but she was gone by the time I go home. I only used it for my declawed indoor-only kitty, and he was fine with it. Now I would never use it for *any* cat again, unless you are sitting and monitoring them. I should have closed the opening, but I never dreamed she would jump in and get stuck like that. Just too many ways a cat can get tangled in the webbing, and this time not even the cat that we confined to it. Maybe something chased her in there....I don't know, but it isn't safe enough unless you are standing right there, and even then, her toes were so wrapped in the netting, I would think that it would not be long before you might find your cat in serious distress if this happened to you. Not worth it.
I decided to update this after speaking with my vet. Apparently she has seen another case where a cat became entangled in the netting by getting its head wedged in the opening, and this poor cat strangled to death in a few short minutes, in front of the horrified owner who could not rescue the cat in time. She feels that it is not a reasonable assumption (as the manufacturer recommends) that users will clip their cats' claws prior to placing them in a Kittywalk enclosure, and doubts that even clipping the claws could prevent the kind of entanglement I witnessed and certainly could not prevent strangulation. I don't think any cat should be placed in one of these enclosures even if you are sitting there and watching them....and I would wager most people are not monitoring their cats that closely.
**Update May 31 2012** I received an email today from Jeff and Lise King of Kittywalk asking that I remove my review of the Kittywalk Gazebo from Amazon. What I find most interesting is that neither Jeff nor Lise responded to my email of May 2009 in which I described what happened to my cat. They didn't seem to care very much at the time, but now it appears that my review may be adversely affecting sales and so three years later I receive an email requesting that I remove my review and pointing me to new "precautions" listed for their product. All I can say is that their concern appears based solely upon their bottom line, not upon the real danger posed to any animal placed in this enclosure. I stand by my original review, and mourn the loss of my beautiful Zoe every day. I also thank all of the people who took the time to so kindly comment on my review, which was written in the moment of my pain, and though not very eloquent, was perhaps the more effective for that.
May 2009 · Pet Supplies · verified purchase