Cat-proofing open door

slowblink

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We have a front living room in this new house that allows for a ton of light if the front door is open. This won't work for the indoor cats, however.

currently, the door has a magnetic screen, mostly for bugs and we have just installed a fixture/gate that is four wire shelves in an attempt to cat-proof the door. (Held in place by zip ties). However, our polydactyl cat may not be deterred by this, and there is a bit of a gap at the top of this shelving gate if a determined cat happened to get up there. Sadly, this shelving gate does not rest flat against the door frame very well.

so, I'm thinking about some sort of material to put over part of the shelf gate to stop any climbing from ocurring. But, I don't know what is actually not climbable by a very determined and climb-y cat. Is fine mesh possible? Some sort of wierdly shaped chicken wire? Would like the material to be see-through. Open to suggestions on that or any other thoughts on this as well!

239F90AC-6585-4F02-807A-F0DB2A80BA4F.jpeg
 

Xena44

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We have a front living room in this new house that allows for a ton of light if the front door is open. This won't work for the indoor cats, however.

currently, the door has a magnetic screen, mostly for bugs and we have just installed a fixture/gate that is four wire shelves in an attempt to cat-proof the door. (Held in place by zip ties). However, our polydactyl cat may not be deterred by this, and there is a bit of a gap at the top of this shelving gate if a determined cat happened to get up there. Sadly, this shelving gate does not rest flat against the door frame very well.

so, I'm thinking about some sort of material to put over part of the shelf gate to stop any climbing from ocurring. But, I don't know what is actually not climbable by a very determined and climb-y cat. Is fine mesh possible? Some sort of wierdly shaped chicken wire? Would like the material to be see-through. Open to suggestions on that or any other thoughts on this as well!

View attachment 383354
Well that certainly looks like a kitty jungle gym! LOL! I certainly give you an A+ for ingenuity and effort though! 😻 You can get a decent relatively inexpensive screen door at Home Depot. The screening would not be super strong so if you wanted to you could take hardware cloth and attach it to the inside so they wouldn’t be able to climb the screening. Just be careful of the cut points of the hardware cloth, make sure they’re not sticking out.
 

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Caspers Human

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There is also cat proof screening that you can put into doors and screened windows. Places like Home Depot sell it.
Yes. I can recommend cat proof screen, too. :)

I put cat proof screen in the sliding screen door at our back patio. It works just as advertised.

Soon after we adopted Casper, I replaced the screen because he was pouncing at the birds and squirrels, outside. I didn't want him to break through the screen and get hurt or something. The day after I put it in, we left the patio door open with the screen locked shut. Casper started stalking the squirrels, as usual. The next thing I knew, Casper started his butt wiggle and, then, pounced.
He hit the screen and bounced off like a trampoline!

Casper walked away with that famous cat expression like, "I MEANT to do that!" ;) ;) ;)

Properly installed, I can't imagine an average sized cat ever breaking through that stuff.
 
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slowblink

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Thank you all!

We are renting this house for 6 months so I was hoping to find something more temporary than a screen door... didn't realize it would end up being such a time intensive project anyway. (conversely, any short-term or VERY easy to install screen doors out there? - haven't found that but at this point open to it)

Unfortunately, trimming the shelf-gate to fit the door height won't work - it is too narrow to fully fit in the door if it is not hinged like that -- the hinge stabilizes it and ensures the shelf-gate fills the door.

So things like hardware cloth and cat-proof screening, these are both things that cats cannot climb?
 

fionasmom

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Cat proof screen is darker and thicker as per Caspers Human Caspers Human 's comment. If a cat is determined to climb a screen, it might be possible but they would not get anywhere. I have pics of Jamie at the top of my sliding glass screen door, but going nowhere.

Hardware cloth might be climbable as it is a sort of soft fencing, but again, in the proper place, the cat could not go anywhere.
 

tarasgirl06

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I don't know if it would work for you, slowblink slowblink but as M momof3b1g said, security doors are excellent. Unless your cat is tiny, he will not be able to crawl under one; they aren't attractive to claw, they let in light, are absolutely secure, and you can have your front door open with just the security door closed for light and air. They're available at home stores and are an excellent investment in both comfort and security. And, you can uninstall it and take it with you if you buy a place.
 

Xena44

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Cat proof screen is darker and thicker as per Caspers Human Caspers Human 's comment. If a cat is determined to climb a screen, it might be possible but they would not get anywhere. I have pics of Jamie at the top of my sliding glass screen door, but going nowhere.

Hardware cloth might be climbable as it is a sort of soft fencing, but again, in the proper place, the cat could not go anywhere.
We actually had to do this when my friend had to suddenly take her sister’s 2 cats. It is working out so far. They’re definitely not going through it. We will work on getting them together. As soon as the dust settles.


QUOTE="ccw321, post: 5370030, member: 10056591"]
Thank you all!

We are renting this house for 6 months so I was hoping to find something more temporary than a screen door... didn't realize it would end up being such a time intensive project anyway. (conversely, any short-term or VERY easy to install screen doors out there? - haven't found that but at this point open to it)

Unfortunately, trimming the shelf-gate to fit the door height won't work - it is too narrow to fully fit in the door if it is not hinged like that -- the hinge stabilizes it and ensures the shelf-gate fills the door.

So things like hardware cloth and cat-proof screening, these are both things that cats cannot climb?
[/QUOTE]
Hhhhmmmmmm....... good question.
 
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