Unique problem

My brother e-maile me, frnatic about a situation he has gotten himself into.

He has a cat called Isabelle (sp?) and he recently took in a friends cat named Shelby. Isabelle is spayed/declawed and a house cat. Shelby is the same in all aspects.

My brother is in a ground level apartment. A few nights ago he left his window open as usual.

Somehow Shelby got outside and during the night she was frantic to get back in so she tore open the screen. Isabelle always wants OUT and she's no dummy. She saw the screen as a get-away plan.

He didnt have the screen fixed immediatly and in the past few days the cats have had some indoor/outdoor access.

Once he fixed the screen the cats promptly tore it open and used it as a "cat door" again.

It has been fixed a 3rd time. He keeps the cats inside and keeps the bedroom door shut but the cats do everything in their power to get into the room.

How can he breakk them of the bad habit that has been started? He's afraid every window in the apartment is now at risk if the glass is left up and he has no air conditioning so being close up 24/7 isn't really an option.

He may have to fit all the windows with a stronger screening that cannot be torn by cats. Usually the screening is some kind of material but what he needs is the metal kind. I know the hardware shops where I am carry different grades of screening, exactly for that purpose. You can also get wooden or metal frames that go in the window alcove to stop cats pushing the screen out.

The cats are tearing at the screen because they have now had a taste of the outdoors and they liked it. They should settle down once the screens are secured and they realise they can no longer get outside but can enjoy the view from the windows of the house.

He can do a couple of things. He can go to the hardware store and ask for reinforced cat proof screening, and put that up in his windows. He can also get a decorative trellis sheet- people put them up in their gardens to let plants crawl all over them. They have a lot of different designs, he wants ones with small enough holes so the cats can't get through the openings. Measure the window, cut the trellis sheet to fit, and brace with screws. The windows can be kept open, and the trellis sheet can be removed by humans, but not cats.

I do admit to being curious how two declawed cats managed to claw an opening in a screened window though.

trellis sheets (just so you can see what I am talking about. I have them on all my windows and they work great.

http://www.jali.co.uk/sheet.asp