How do I make my balcony safe for my adventurous cat?

[CatMum]

I live on the 13th floor. I have a balcony with a metal balustrade which I thought was quite safe until I adopted a cat last Sunday. There is an 80mm gap between the last balustrade and the wall at each end. There is a 200mm ledge beyond that on the outside of the building. Sid the cat decided it was a good idea to go through the gap and have a walk on the high, wild side and nearly gave me heart failure when he appeared OUTSIDE the bedroom window crying. I lured him back with food but it can't happen again. Any suggests for filling the gap - I own the property but it needs to be discrete so as not to upset the Owner's Corporation. Thanking you in advance.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @CatMum. It's great to have you join us and many thanks for your question.

You might like to read through this recent discussion: How do you close a gap in our balcony to stop our Puppy falling through? by @Martin2020. They had success by attaching a piece of 140 x 19mm KD Select Grade Merbau Decking in front of their gap. In your case, you could screw the timber directly into the last vertical post with Buildex 8-18 x 30mm Climacoat Countersunk Ribbed Head Metal Tek Screws. This should be a reasonably discreet modification, and you could paint it the same colour as the posts to blend in.

If your cat is still a kitten, this will fix the situation until they started to jump proficiently. Once that happens you would be looking at enclosing the whole balcony as they'll jump on top of the balustrading and over it.

Please let me know if you need further information or had questions.

Mitchell