cat is climbing screens...

myrnafaye

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Now that its warm, my cat Yuki is climbing the screen door to my deck, and doing the same in the bedroom, early in the AM. Any thoughts on how to prevent this behavior, other than closing everything up (not an option).
 

ArtNJ

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I've had climbing curtains with a couple of cats and climbing screens maybe once. Anyway, I think its mostly handled the same as scratching furniture, peeling the paint or any of those sort of things. You use your favorite behavioral modification method. Mine is a loud "no!"

If this is happening when you can't use these behavior mod methods (you did mention early am, ouch!) people have mentioned a few tricks for counters like double sided tape, things like that. Possibly you could use one of those tricks, but you'd have to cover a lot of screen, so not sure of the practicality of it. Still, you wouldn't necessarily need to do that forever, just long enough to get the habit to go away. I haven't personally used any of those methods, but maybe someone else can elaborate on the options.
 

Mamanyt1953

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Actually, a few strips of tape, properly placed, would do it. You just want to make it difficult to climb without coming into contact with one of the strips of tape. And MOST cats are not (quite) clever enough to avoid them.
 

ArtNJ

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With the weather nice, today we finally sat in our sun porch with both our cats. Previously, we had just been letting the braver one in there when he wanted. Also magically today, there are bunnies in our yard. AND OUR CAT IS CLIMBING THE SCREEN TO GET A BETTER VIEW! I blame OP! JINX!

Super annoying to me as its PITA to replace the screens and even tiny holes let bugs in. I've had this problem from time to time...there are just too many screens in the sun room, its super tempting for them.
 

Mamanyt1953

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AND OUR CAT IS CLIMBING THE SCREEN TO GET A BETTER VIEW! I blame OP! JINX!
CLEARLY "someone" was watching over your shoulder when you posted, and this is a case of "monkey read, monkey do!"
 

ArtNJ

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CLEARLY "someone" was watching over your shoulder when you posted, and this is a case of "monkey read, monkey do!"
Or mocking me for giving advice as to an issue I've never solved! I do try the loud "no!" thing, and it does work some. But its just not the same as training a cat on the countertop. If it takes *that* long, I have enough holes that we will have bugs in there all summer. Its a drag. Still, using the tricks for the countertop would be completely unworkable, so if he wont learn I guess he cant go in there.
 

di and bob

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Not all cats do that. I used to look up from weeding and see my Casper hanging from the screen like some giant bat! Yelling NO usually had him scrambling down, i think the sticky tape temporarily might slow them down until they learn. I replaced all my screens with that heavier 'pet' screen and it did help prevent the holes. You might try that. It did NOT prevent him from hanging on them! I would give anything to see him do that once more, and is a memory I will always treasure.....,.
 

FeebysOwner

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If there is a way to secure plexi-glass to the lower portion of the screens, that should stop Yuki from being able to get passed that to the actual screen that isn't covered. It will block out some of the air flow, but not all. You could also entertain using a form of chicken wire instead of the plexi-glass; most cats don't like the feel of it on their paws, and it wouldn't restrict air flow.
 

Talien

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Actually, a few strips of tape, properly placed, would do it. You just want to make it difficult to climb without coming into contact with one of the strips of tape. And MOST cats are not (quite) clever enough to avoid them.
Yup. Place a few strips of double sided tape horizontally every 2 inches or so on the bottom 1/4 of the screen and it will be all but impossible for a Cat to avoid them. Cats universally hate anything sticky on their paws so it is a good way to keep them away from certain things..
 

molly92

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I don't know how to stop it, but those pet proof screens are great. And I'm not handy at all, but I was able to replace my sliding screen door's screen on my own from watching a youtube video.
 

Caspers Human

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I vote for cat proof screen, too.

Our Casper doesn’t climb but we installed cat proof screen for safety reasons. He likes to sit and watch birds and squirrels by the patio door.

The first time after we installed cat proof screen and opened the patio door for Casper, a chipmunk came up on the patio and he pounced at it. He’s a good, fifteen pounds of cat. He hit the screen and bounced off like a trampoline! ;)

He walked away with that “I meant to do that” look that cats are famous for.

If a cat proof screen will stop a full grown cat in “pounce mode” I’m sure it will be good enough to keep a climbing cat safe, too. It won’t get holes like a regular screen does, either.

Maybe the feel of it would be different enough that your cat won’t like it. The stuff is pretty heavy and it’s got a coating on it, too. Just that and some tape might stop your cat from climbing.

You can buy pet resistant screen at Home Depot, etc., and you can install it yourself. You can probably change all your screens for pet resistant screen in an afternoon’s work.
 

susanm9006

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In my former house I had a screen porch and the cats spent most of the summer hanging out there. To stop them from damaging the screens, I attached plastic bird netting over the screens using removable strips made to hang plastic weatherproofing. It turned the windows into a jungle gym that the cats could climb without getting their claws stuck and without damaging the windows.
 

webdj777

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Anyone have suggestions for the frame being more pet-proof? My cat doesn't scratch, but she does like to pounce at it. She's knocking them out and it's scaring me....I live on a 3rd story.
 

molly92

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Anyone have suggestions for the frame being more pet-proof? My cat doesn't scratch, but she does like to pounce at it. She's knocking them out and it's scaring me....I live on a 3rd story.
She's not breaking the frame, right? Just popping it out of place? Still very scary of course!

I would...probably go to the most helpful hardware store you know of and ask for suggestions. I'm sure there are some kind of adhesives or other products that could help with that. I don't know of any, but that's not really saying much! Other people must have had this problem before with children and pets.
 

Caspers Human

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What kind of frames and what kind of window sills?

One way or another, you can fasten the frames to the sills.

If it’s all wooden windows, you can probably just drive a nail through the frame into the sill.
If it’s a metal sill and/or frame, you can get metal clips from Home Depot, etc. that you can use to fasten the frames in place but you’ll probably have to drill some holes.

Alternately, you can get a baby gate and put into the window in a similar way you would use it on a door. Just wedge it into place and expand it as far as you can.
 

lollie

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If it’s a situation where this is a favorite window, and they are trying to get a better view, I would try a kitty tree in the same spot.
 

webdj777

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What kind of frames and what kind of window sills?

One way or another, you can fasten the frames to the sills.
Here's a picture. It's some sort of flimsy metal frame...definitely not wooden. It's an apartment complex, so I can't go crazy with what I put in the windows probably.

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If it’s a situation where this is a favorite window, and they are trying to get a better view, I would try a kitty tree in the same spot.
This is pretty much any window in the house. In fact, I have a cat tree right up against one, and she spends a lot of time in that tree. However, if she sees a bird, she'll sometimes jump over to the window sill and bat at the windows.
 

webdj777

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The manager tries to be nice though...I might be able to get approval to fasten the frame in if it wasn't permanent ...off the record, of course... ;)
 
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