Cat scratching patio screen door to get out

[ladyfreesia]

What can i use to deter the cats from scratching the patio screen door, My one cat, Cleo wants to get out so bad.  She has opened the door if ts not locked and jumped right off the deck.  I live on second floor and the deck is about 10 feet from the ground.  She always comes back but i live in a complex where they dont allow cats to roam free.   Besides i dont want the flea and tick problem.  They use to be indoor/outdoor cats until this May.

Is there a natural spray that i can make? or is my only solution to buy the screen protector? She is also scratching all screens on every window in every room.m If she ruins the screens it will be my obligation to replace and also my expense.

Please advise.

Thanks Ladyfreesia

 

[boxersmomma]

I found that the sprays didn't work with my cat. She just waited for them to dry and was right there again. I went for the screen protectors. If you want to avoid buying a screen protector a friend of mine used a motion censored air spray that would send a blast of air at the cat to keep her kitty away from areas that he was urinating.

 

[sivyaleah]

Our back patio door has a screen for it also.  Our first cat, never once tried to scratch at it.  Well, our second one who we got last winter, loved stretching up on it to use as a "post" of sorts.  After we caught her a couple of times, and saw some very small pinprick holes in it (not big enough to even fix) we knew something had to be done.

My BF and I brainstormed and what we came up with was a kind of simple solution, which doesn't look great but has worked.  We took a very heavy piece of cardboard, cut it to the size needed to fit the opening, then cut out a square window in it at cat head height just large enough for them to peek out of but not large enough to entice them to scratch at, and taped a pole at the top with heavy construction type tape so we could move it easily.  

For us it's worked well.  It's about 3' high so it leaves most of the screen open for air to pass through, but at a size where she isn't getting obsessed about touching the screen because she isn't able to.  Really, she just wanted to be able to look outside more than anything and to smell the fresh air.  The reaching up was secondary and a reflex.  

Once we used this consistently for a couple of months, we started to forget about at times and she never (that we could see anyway) tried to scratch the screen again.  I think the habit got broken.  Now we don't use it and she sits nicely by the open screen door.  

You could I suppose also get a piece of plexi glass cut down and do the same. This way your cat can see outside, but damage the the part it can reach.

Like I said it isn't perfect but it was very inexpensive to do.

 

[jcat]

One thing that's been recommended here is plastic (or wood) lattice, cut to size and placed over the screens to protect them. You should even be able to get some on sale this time of year.