Gardens for Wildlife hosting a DIY cat enclosure workshop with Ryan Forster

Ryan Forster started his business at the end of last year and is teaming up with Gardens for Wildlife to share how he built the enclosure at his West Wodonga home.

"People will get a chance to just have a look through, which is a complete DIY," he said.

"I want people to look at this and see that with just a drill and a few ordinary tools, they can actually create something like this.

"I'll do some demonstrations about how to run wires, attach netting and that sort of thing."

Mr Forster's enclosure allows his cat Lexi to spend time in a large space between the side of his house and his fence, and in cat runs attached to fences.

"She'll be in and out all day - we've got shelves that overlook the fences, so she can check out what's happening," he said.

"In the last house that we lived in, she was actually an outdoor cat, and she was mauled by a dog.

"She was missing for a week and she came back, but she nearly didn't survive.

"That was really the turning point where we said, 'Okay, we have to have an enclosure' but we still wanted her to have freedoms."

Veterinarian Emma Pilkington from the Family Vet Centre said cat enclosures gave owners peace of mind.

"Cats that live indoors and contained have a much longer life expectancy than those that are free to wander, risking traffic accidents and fights," she said.

Enclosures also prevent cats killing wildlife; for this reason Wodonga Council has funded the workshops.

Gardens for Wildlife project officer Lizette Salmon said cats often roamed one hectare in the day and two at night, often unbeknownst to their owners.

"Cats make wonderful pets, they really do ... but they're just natural hunters," she said.

"CSIRO studies have shown the average pet cat will kill 186 animals in a year, which is a huge amount.

"So we're really keen to get people keeping their cat safe, but also keeping the wildlife safe.

"Dogs can also kill wildlife and it's important they are kept on a leash.

"Most dog owners do keep their dogs on their property, whereas only 30 per cent of cat owners contain their cats."

Ms Salmon said many enclosures were not expensive and the workshops would cover strategies to keep cats from jumping fences.

"Two of the 10 that I have seen could be moved from property to property ... some cost as little as $100," she said.

Mr Forster's creations for Safe and Sound Cat Enclosures range from basic to elaborate, which is drawing a lot of attention.

"Pretty much no one between Melbourne and Sydney does it," he said.

"It wasn't until my mum showed me a post that sparked the idea of 'I can do that'.

"It was like a snowball rolling down the hill; we started around September, October last year, and we've done at least 30.

"One lady booked with us after she'd already paid the deposit for someone to come from Adelaide to do it.

"A lot of people don't think of it - they just keep their cat inside - this is a great option."

Workshops will be at 9.00am and 11.00am on the 13th, with numbers for each session capped in accordance with COVID restrictions.

Cost is $5 per person, with bookings essential via Trybooking: https://www.trybooking.com/BOHKA.