They got out!

I usually keep a few windows open, and I thought my screens were secure. Last night it got too quiet in the house, and I could only find Blossom. Spock and Bitsy were nowhere to be found. I checked the window, and the screen was pushed out and Bitsy was sitting on the front porch. I got her inside and went looking for Spock. Finally I found him and the neighbors cat hissing and growling at each other under the bushes. He wouldn't come to me, and I ended up chasing him through two neighbors yards before he let me catch him. Now I'm afraid to open any windows.

Oh, I'm so glad you found them safe! That happened to my mom, too, but luckily, she was there and just scooped the kitty right back inside. Screens just aren't safe...I was once attacked by a German shepherd who bounded right through a screen door to reach me, so of course I worry about a dog seeing my kitties in the window and leaping right in! Yikes!

Now we only open our windows and sliding doors just a couple of inches. The cats can enjoy the outside air, but can't exert enough pressure on the screen to pop it out.

We opened the window just a couple inches last night, and Scooter got out. I am sure the neighbors think I am a loony for running around in the yard at midnight with a flashlight, chasing the #$%& cat. He finally got tired of the game and let me catch him and bring him in.

Originally Posted by krazy kat2

We opened the window just a couple inches last night, and Scooter got out...

Click to expand...

Sheesh! Okay, cutting back to ONE inch now.

Are we really sure cats are corporeal at all? They seem to be able to slide through ANYTHING!

Little devils.

I live on the 19th floor and I am extreemly careful about open windows. Even though I have screens I only open the window an inch at the most, the cats love to sniff the fresh air. I never leave the apartment with a window open Because I know Sibohan is a little escape artist. She has found her way into an elevator once since I moved in 3 weeks ago with me close on her heals. She is constantly curious about what is going on outside the door I come in every day. It's a constant game of catch the critter when i get home from work

I use plastic trellis in all my windows. The stuff is plastic and bendable and comes in all sorts of designs. You can easily keep windows open and the cats can't get to the screen because of the trellis.

Good idea. I'll look for the trellis. Personally, I can't stand it with the windows closed.

I live in a mid-rise building, and check my screens. They're about as secure as a screen can get. the frame that hold them in allows them to slide up and down, but they're almost immovable otherwise. I check them every so often, usually when I open them for the first time in the season.

Many years ago, my dad replaced all the nasty ancient windows in their house with casement windows. I hate casement windows. At least those ones. the screens are held on by little swingable (and screwed down, so they can be loosened over time) tabs. Now, there is actually a funny story with those screens. Skunk, our now aptly titled Senior Citizen, had a best friend, Smoky. Smoky came to us soon after most of Skunky's littermates (who all adopted our family as a group) had wandered away or been killed (one by car, one by snacking on a poisoned gopher, one abducted by a cat-lady who refused to let him outside again). (My parents' attitude about pets being indoor vs outdoor is different than mine)

Smoky was a little furry ham. Our house was all one story, raised a little off the ground by a partially exposed crawlspace. Smoky discovered that when i left a particular window in my room open (one that was just over the front porch steps- so the distance was shorter), she could jump up, grab on with her claws and promptly wedge herself in the window. Sometimes I was in my room and saw her do this, sometimes I would walk into the room and hear this 'mrroowww!!' coming from my window just as i walked inside. She startled me on many, many occasions with her little trick. I mentioned those tabs that hold the screens in because at least once, she jumped up and discovered the tabs weren't holding like they should. Smoky is no longer with us, sadly. She passed away in 2000. She was about 10 years old.

Then another screen incident. CoCo, a kitten my sister found abandoned next to the coke machine in a general break room at her office building in 2003. Tiny, black and very freaky. Also, very intelligent. She was able to outsmart my father, which is amusing in itself. CoCo discovered she could make the screen door move if she stuck her claws into it. Skunk and Max (short for Maximus... guess what year we adopted him?) soon caught on, but only to watch her as she learned how to open the screen door. According to my dad, she'd sit at the stoop, make sure no one was in the living room, and claw the door about half an inch. It's an old aluminum screen and frame, so it makes noise. Then she'd move it a little more. stop and check, move some more. when the opening was big enough for them to nose their way through, Skunk and Max would barge right past her and push their way through. then CoCo would join them. My dad was usually sitting at his desk or in the kitchen when this happened, and all of a sudden he'd feel something furry brush against his legs. He's 78 years old, a fright like that is not too good for him.

He attached a hook latch way up high on the screen on the inside, so this doesn't happen anymore. I kinda wish he'd let it happen. The stories are always amusing.

Amanda
(BC: Before Coffee)