I just got home a short while ago, and it was already about 30 minutes past feeding time, so I was told in no uncertain terms that I was late and that I'd best get cracking....
It was instantly obvious when I set the bowls out that Sassy Sasparilla wasn't there. This concerned me, because she never misses a meal. The first place that I looked was their room, and the first thing I noticed was that the screen for the window was missing. I looked out, and the screen was on the ground, totally destroyed.....not just fallen out, but in pieces. Thats when I went into total panic, thinking something had actually came through the screen to get her, like a coyote or cougar. I grabbed a flashlight and dashed at the back door...and there she sat, on the back deck. Sassy simply strolled in the back door with this "Whats the dill, pickle?" look on her face. She got to her bowl in time to ensure that no one else got her dinner, and started happily munching away.
Soooo, what happened? When I bought this place, I took out all the old nylon screens and replaced them with aluminum, so that the cats couldn't tear it, and then drilled out the window frames and installed little clips of spring steel to help hold the screens in place, so that they couldn't push them out. BUT...the plastic inserts that hold the corners of the screen frames together had weakened over time. I checked every screen, and every one was the same way. If I pressed on the plastic inserts, they crumbled into powder, sort of like stepping on an aspirin tablet, and the screens simply collapsed.
So, I'll get new inserts for all the screen frames this week, and I guess that I'll make inspecting them a semi-regular thing. At least Sassy had the good sense not to wander away, she's never been outside and I'd hate to think of her being out here alone.
It was instantly obvious when I set the bowls out that Sassy Sasparilla wasn't there. This concerned me, because she never misses a meal. The first place that I looked was their room, and the first thing I noticed was that the screen for the window was missing. I looked out, and the screen was on the ground, totally destroyed.....not just fallen out, but in pieces. Thats when I went into total panic, thinking something had actually came through the screen to get her, like a coyote or cougar. I grabbed a flashlight and dashed at the back door...and there she sat, on the back deck. Sassy simply strolled in the back door with this "Whats the dill, pickle?" look on her face. She got to her bowl in time to ensure that no one else got her dinner, and started happily munching away.
Soooo, what happened? When I bought this place, I took out all the old nylon screens and replaced them with aluminum, so that the cats couldn't tear it, and then drilled out the window frames and installed little clips of spring steel to help hold the screens in place, so that they couldn't push them out. BUT...the plastic inserts that hold the corners of the screen frames together had weakened over time. I checked every screen, and every one was the same way. If I pressed on the plastic inserts, they crumbled into powder, sort of like stepping on an aspirin tablet, and the screens simply collapsed.
So, I'll get new inserts for all the screen frames this week, and I guess that I'll make inspecting them a semi-regular thing. At least Sassy had the good sense not to wander away, she's never been outside and I'd hate to think of her being out here alone.
