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Leaving with the blinds open?

post #1 of 7
1/13/10 at 1:27am
Thread Starter 
I have a dilemma, and I'd love to hear your thoughts..

I live in a ground floor condo, on a quiet street, but near a shopping district.

I just have Sophie, a 5 month old cat, and so to make sure she has some stimulation when I'm at work, I've been opening up my blinds so she can sit on the sill.

Also, with the blinds down it makes for a dark apartment, since with the short winter days I'm often leaving before the sun's fully up, and coming home around the time its setting... I hate keeping all the blinds closed for this reason too.

Often when I close the blinds, if she wants to get behind them, she worms her way through them, often bending them in the process (the cheap venetian kind...)

To be sure, I'm a little uncertain about keeping them open while I'm out for 7 hours, as it makes it quite easy to see no one's home, and some of the valuables in my home (not that I'm swimming in it by any means, but I have a new tv and a computer etc...)

What would you do? Is there anything I can do to let Sophie gaze out, but not set myself up for a B&E?
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post #2 of 7
1/13/10 at 1:35am
Can you lower the blinds some, so kitty can still see out but not open all the way for prying eyes.

Or put sheer or lace curtains in front of the blinds, they let the light in but still offer privacy.
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post #3 of 7
1/13/10 at 6:07am
Ours are up just enough to let them look out so if anyone looked in all they'd see was our carpet or the inside of the curtains and possibly a cat looking at them.

They don't have to be that far up for them to see out. Curtains also work, they don't have to be thick and the cats will go behind the curtains to look out.

Like I said just open it enough for her to look out or even better get some curtains then they can't see in the house.

Taryn
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post #4 of 7
1/13/10 at 6:42am
We have roller shades for blinds on most of our windows. The cats don't break them the way they do the venetian style blinds. It's really easy for them to get behind them in the window even if the blind is fully closed. They are pretty cheap at Menard's, and they will custom cut the blinds to size for you. I also don't have to worry about them getting caught in the strings, like I do with venetian style blinds.
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post #5 of 7
1/13/10 at 7:23am
I leave mine raised about 6"-8"; enough for them to see out and get under without destroying the blinds, but not too high to advertise what's inside my house. I also "crack" the blinds so light can come in, but they're not open too far to be seen through from the outside.
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post #6 of 7
1/14/10 at 10:00am
You can buy and install "mirror privacy window film" from home depot...
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post #7 of 7
1/16/10 at 4:53pm
I would leave them open only a little bit and also buy a curtain or hang a sheet over so she can get back there but your whole house isn't exposed. Also, you can get something to make it harder to see in glass at Lowe's or Home Depot. Lots of choices. We leave one window open 24/7, the one by the cat tree belongs to the cat, but all the others we have the option of closing, I have found the thicker wooden blinds aren't as fun to mess with for a kitty. Having a cat, even one, certainly means changing things around sometimes so the kitty is happy
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