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I am a cat sitter and a couple of my clients use this fencing product to contain their cats in the back yard. It works like a charm!

Source: http://www.purrfectfence.com/

3 or 4 rail fence? Picket fence? Something in between? Most HOA's that require specific styles of fence do not object to pretty much any sort of unobtrusive wire fencing product INSIDE the fence that faces out (what the neighbors see). Do you mean that your cats need a covered area? If so the first answer looks feasible.

Thanks for your answers; unfortunately, we're very limited as to what type of fence we can have - it has to be white vinyl, and we're currently discussing with them what we can or cannot put on the inside of it (which I find ludicrous as clearly that should be up to us to decide - it's our bloomin' property!!).
We actually don't even have a proper HOA as yet - for now, this is still a lady who is employed by the builder, which bugs me even more as she doesn't even live here but gets to be the decider as to what we're allowed to do!! She talks about "aesthetically pleasing", but for me, my cats matter a lot more!!
I'd like to know if anyone has any experience fighting a HOA's decision? Will ask this in a new question...I'd be grateful for any input!!

Until recently I've always had cats. I've had a cat we adopted that was more than 5 years old at the time. We trained her to a cat halter and leash with virtually no problem.
With cats just as with tiny dogs a collar should NEVER be used with a leash. The tiny dogs could pull too hard and crush their trachea while cats could hang themselves unless there is absolutely nothing for them to climb.
Had one cat, a male, who absolutely loved walking our neighborhood on his leash with me. With the exception of this guy my cats were on leash in back yard everytime they went outside. I never left them alone though since we had a woods with racoons and such so for their safety I stayed outside when they were out.

Hubby and I never called it a leash, was always called their safety line. Boy oh boy when they'd hear their harness and leash move off the hook they came running and sat waiting to be "hooked" up.

IMHO there is no fence high enough to keep a cat on his or her side of it without a leash.

If you do not have a set of CC&R's that you signed onto. Where is the ability to enforce? You have one persons opinion about what you can/can not do. If you signed a set of Convenents, Conditions and Restrictions, did you read them? If there is a set of CC&R's that you signed, you may have to live with them till you get them changed. Lots of legal help and opinions on the net.

You've got to have a covered area. The fence somebody mentioned looks good but nothing will keep a cat in unless you have every inch covered. Put your cat-proof fence inside the approved fence. Make a run in an area of the yard that's shaded or make shade with some sort of roof. It doesn't matter that the lady who represents the builder doesn't live in the development, she is still the spokesperson for the HOA. Read it carefully. Take it to a lawyer (you'll save years of aggrivation) to see exactly what the HOA means and how you can use it to get your cats a cat-proof area. HOAs are legal entities which can enforce restrictions so don't expect to put up anything that doesn't comply. That's the whole point of moving into a development with one. Consider it like zoning laws--which do cover how high a fence can be and how much of your yard you can put outbuildings on.

Source: http://phoenix.about.com/cs/real/a/HO...

Are you willing to go to trial court then pay for the appeals court and then still be stuck? You are the one that signed on to the HOA or bought with it in place. This is first semester law school. Read it!!!!!!!!!!! again and again. What is concidered "unreasonable to the point of violating your consitutional rights" is compared to what you already signed off on as reasonable.

Sell your house quickly, or get some FRANK ($) legal advise.

As far as "aesthetically pleasing" you'll probably need an architecht and a VERY local historian/politico to not only agree with you but prove the HOA definition to be disjointed or diconnected to the area, town's history, or OBJECTIVE of the HOA.

Anyway, in my decades of experience it is impossible to "cat proof" a yard as it is impossible to "squirrel proof" a yard.

Follow mother nature, and you neighbor, get an outside dog that likes to chase things.

Try searching for "kitty kips" online. Essentially 4" PVC pipe cut lengthwise just once, not all the way thru. Then slide it over the top of your PVC fence. The cats can't get a grip on the top of the fence and will fall back in. It must be the thin wall sewer type PVC because its more flexible. got mine at Lowes.

Source: http://www.kittyklips.com/