DIY Cat sheild

Howdy all,

My college is having a string of cat thefts so I need to get a shield. Times are getting tough I guess. I don't really feel like spending 350$+ for what is basically just a big ass plate.

Spitballing ideas off the top of my head:

Looked at getting a piece of metal to make a plate, but even then I am spending 200$+ for the metal and I still have to do all the cutting, welding, etc.

I could also use a sheet of expanded metal. Still more expensive than I would like.

I could wrap up the cats in chains or chicken wire - I think chicken wire would be too thin but it might add some level of annoyance. Chains would be impossible to cut (they wiggle around if you try) but more than likely they could slip cats around whatever chains I put on them.

Make a cage using horse panel - Horse panel is super cheap. Its really thick wire, kind of like what a dog kennel is made out of. I could use the stuff in place of a metal plate. It would take a bit to cut through all of the individual wires, probably just as long as an actual plate. I could lay two sheets on top of eachother in alternating patterns to make them more effective. This would also allow a lot of airflow to the area as well.

I could also just slap a piece of wood on there. Not the most appealing idea at all but it would probably work just fine. Lol. I suppose I could also just cut out the cats myself and straight pipe it and have a "guy" pass its inspection every year.

A determined thief can cut through anything given enough time, so really all I am doing here is deterrent. I have cut through a balljoint with a sawzall with a diablo blade on it, took about 20 seconds (those blades are really nice and only about 5 bucks). Even the 350$+ plates look like they could be cut with a diablo blade in about 5 minutes.

Anyone make their own? Any recommendations for a cheap way to protect them? Also anyone have any issues with their transmission overheating with a plate on?

Edit: Ended up making a template. See this thread:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/diy-cat-shield-template-write-up.115666/