Cats and your blinds

[dejolane]

Anyone have a cat that has torn up the blinds ?  When we move in to our apartment last year the blinds above my bed were already broken a bit so I didn't replace them. I don't want to put money into a new blind and they tear it up. I went to the store yesterday and when I got back, I found Bella between the blinds peeking out at me. She has torn the blinds to pieces and I felt like yelling at her. There is no screen in the window cause the manager didn't put 1 in before we moved in and I don't think they know we have Bella & Thunder yet.

Does your apartment allow cats ? I wish I could let them in the windows and don't have to worry about it and my blinds would be pulled up.

 

[yayi]

When they were kittens, Cali and Panda bent one blade of the dining room blinds. That's about it. 

 

[andrya]

l don't have any blinds, and l live in a townhouse, so not really relevant, but l did post a picture of my kitchen patio curtains that got ripped when the kitten tried swinging on them.View media item 160464

 

[archerbaby]

We have the sliding glass doors that have the long slat type blinds.  Archer has knocked down a few of those slats, but it truly wasn't his fault...the blinds are just very poorly made and snap off of the tabs that hold them with the lightest touch.  We've given up calling the property managers to keep fixing them because they'd have to constantly be here to do it.  They just use the cheapest materials that they can get their hands on and it makes me angry because it's not cheap to live here!  I hate those blinds!

And Andrya, that photo reminds me of my RB Boo (actual name was Whiskers but I doubt he even knew that name since we never called him by it, hehe) who was my first kitty from when I was a kid (Oh how I miss him!).  When we picked him out at the shelter (SPCA) we chose him because most of the other kittens were either hiding in the back of the cage area or up at the cage mewing at us, but he was CLIMBING the cage and mewing his little heart out!  He wanted out of there so bad!  The best part was that as soon as the shelter worker took him out and handed him to me he promptly climbed up onto my shoulder, stuck his head under my chin and purred so loud that it startled the worker  Of course with all of these adorable climbing antics we didn't think about the fact that he would continue this when we got home!

  Our curtains were ripped up very quickly with him  Luckily my mom was fairly understanding and didn't get too mad at him

 

[luvmy4]

We are required to have blinds in our townhouse. I used to never keep them because cats always wreck them and I prefer curtains. My partner has had to replace his blinds twice now because they were not up to code because of the kitties. They like to burst their heads through the middle and walk on through 

Yes our landlord knows we have cats! They are trying to get rid of the pet policy but my partner lived here when they are allowed so we are allowed since they new owners won't remodel until we move out anyways.

 

[dejolane]

We have the sliding glass doors that have the long slat type blinds.  Archer has knocked down a few of those slats, but it truly wasn't his fault...the blinds are just very poorly made and snap off of the tabs that hold them with the lightest touch.  We've given up calling the property managers to keep fixing them because they'd have to constantly be here to do it.  They just use the cheapest materials that they can get their hands on and it makes me angry because it's not cheap to live here!  I hate those blinds!

And Andrya, that photo reminds me of my RB Boo (actual name was Whiskers but I doubt he even knew that name since we never called him by it, hehe) who was my first kitty from when I was a kid (Oh how I miss him!).  When we picked him out at the shelter (SPCA) we chose him because most of the other kittens were either hiding in the back of the cage area or up at the cage mewing at us, but he was CLIMBING the cage and mewing his little heart out!  He wanted out of there so bad!  The best part was that as soon as the shelter worker took him out and handed him to me he promptly climbed up onto my shoulder, stuck his head under my chin and purred so loud that it startled the worker  Of course with all of these adorable climbing antics we didn't think about the fact that he would continue this when we got home!

  Our curtains were ripped up very quickly with him  Luckily my mom was fairly understanding and didn't get too mad at him

I have those same ones on our glass sliding doors too.When Bella and Thunder see another cat looking back or a bird they run  them like crazy and have only pulled 1 down so far ( knock on wood ).

 

[nuttygrandma]

My cat Westie is 2 and about 4 months ago he found he could just about manage to sit on the lounge window sill (quite narrow) he strolls along the bay and from time to time reaches up with his paws and stretches! His claws inevitably get caught in the nets and if we are not watching to help unhitch him he struggled to unhook himself thus out nets are becoming rather damaged! We try to stop Westie snagging the nets to no avail. If he just sat there it wouldn't be a problem. What can we do if we buy new he will do the same again but we can't have nothing at the windows! By the way he also did sneaks in behind the blinds and bends those but at least blinds are harder wearing - Any advice for new undamageable window coverings please help thank-you.

 

[Willowy]

Oh, we won't even talk about what my blinds look like! :lol3: If you rent, just replace them with cheap new ones before moving out so you don't lose your deposit. Otherwise, just learn to like the look of missing-tooth blinds. . .

 

[dejolane]

Yes I know what you mean,when we moved in our small apartment last August there was/is still one big blind in the only bedroom window and it did have 2 missing tooth pieces gone and now Bella & Thunder have tore them up. There wasn't even a screen in that window either. So we can never open that window for 2 reasons. 1 they can fall out the window, 2. the manager doesn't know we have the cats. Our cats are indoor cats and I want them to be safe. So when we ever move I may replace them. We had looked at 2 different places to replace this one but they didn't make them this size so we would probably have to get 2 of them.

 

[cat person]

Please, just be careful with blinds, more specifically, the blind strings and your cats. I am going to post a "old story" about my former (he passed away) F3 Savannah and my blinds: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/238275/loki-needs-vibes-and-so-do-i. This also leads me to another question, are pure domestic cats, prone to having/being injured by blinds? While, I have had many pure domestics, mine have always been indoor/outdoor cats, so, they never caused much trouble in my home. My exotic cat hybrids (F1 Bengal and F3 Savannah) and pure exotic (pure Leptailurus serval), when they all where alive, I can't say the same for

.
 

 

[dejolane]

Please, just be careful with blinds, more specifically, the blind strings and your cats. I am going to post a "old story" about my former (he passed away) F3 Savannah and my blinds: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/238275/loki-needs-vibes-and-so-do-i. This also leads me to another question, are pure domestic cats, prone to having/being injured by blinds? While, I have had many pure domestics, mine have always been indoor/outdoor cats, so, they never caused much trouble in my home. My exotic cat hybrids (F1 Bengal and F3 Savannah) and pure exotic (pure Leptailurus serval), when they all where alive, I can't say the same for

.
 

I cut the blinds strings off.mine.

 

[kitsuneko88]

We hide the cord string as high as we can, Loki doesn't seem to care for it though. The blinds at our apartment are super cheap though, I know our neighbor's cat bent her's in one spot from weaving in and out and the main blinds in our bedroom are destroyed at the bottom from Loki weaving in and out. The best bet I think is to pull up the blinds and find cheap curtains to cover the windows.  I know that's what I'll be doing when we move. 

 

[dejolane]

You just can't have nice things with cats that want to look out the windows and tear things up like scratching the furniture.

 

[Willowy]

For windows that I don't need to see out of, I just use privacy film: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0072YKLQK/?tag=&tag=thecatsite

Of course, if you need to be able to push the window covering aside and look out, that wouldn't be the best solution. But it's great for bathroom windows, especially. Nobody peeking in! And still lets light in.

For the few blinds left in the house, I either knot the cord way up at the top or wind it around the top of the blinds. My mom's dog has gotten herself stuck in the cord---fortunately she didn't panic, just waited for someone to untangle her---but they really are quite dangerous.