My barn cat wants to get in the house so badly that he is shredding my window screens. Help! Does anyone have a solution to this? I do not want to get rid of him because he is an excellent barn cat. I cannot let him in because he terrorizes my house cat. My screens are full of dozens of taped holes and look terrible.

-- Tiffani (cappello@alltel.net), May 02, 2002

Answers

Tiffani,

That's a tough one. Someone told me to put moth balls under my house to keep my cats out, but all that did was make my house smell like my great aunt's old house!!! The cats didn't seem to mind the smell. When we bought our place all of the screens had to be replaced because the former owner's German Shepherd was afraid of thunder and tore all the screens trying to get in the house. It's not hard or expensive to do unless you have to do it often. I guess there might be a tearproof type screen available , although I have not seen it. I would tack up some chicken wire on all of my windows, at least the screens would remain intact so you could open your windows without getting a house full of bugs. You could also try squirting your cat with a squirt gun through the screen. I'm sure that there is something you could spray the screens with that cats don't like. Good luck and let us know if you find a solution!

-- Cindy (ilovecajun@aol.com), May 02, 2002.

I've heard that Grape Juice keeps cats away. You may want to try spraying the screens with it and see if it helps. I use it to keep the cats away from my garden. It seems to work for me. Good Luck

-- Lori W (lswebster@yahoo.com), May 02, 2002.

A friend of mine uses black pepper on anything she does not want cats to get on...she hates cats and has problems with the neighbors cats. She says that this worked for her problem. You could put in on the window ledges outside..or the dirt below. Maybe you could make a solution of pepper and spray it on the screens? It might be worth a try.

EV

-- Evelyn Flesher (etflesher@netexas.net), May 02, 2002.

Is your housecat an unspayed female? He will rip the house up to get to her if she is. What a bizarre cat. Mebbe he likes the City Cat life better than the Country Cat!

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), May 02, 2002.

This may sound kind of cruel, but it works and doesn't hurt the cats. We will spray them with pepper spray. It just usually takes once a season and they won't do it again.

-- Terri (imtchr4hm@aol.com), May 02, 2002.

Replace the "favorite" screen with metal screening and wire it to an electric fence charger. Every few days, change which screen is wired. Unpredicatble shocks will probably be enough to fix the prob.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), May 02, 2002.

Hi Tiff, we had this problem at our farm. We kept a squirt bottle of water by the door, and whenever anyone noticed the cat near the door, we sprayed him with water, right through the screen. Cats hate water! This is a good kid job, to be ready to spray the cat - they love it! It only took a few squirts to work and the cat stayed away. We sprayed the cat even when he wasn't on the screen, just nearby. Close to the door is close enough to get wet. Mary

-- Mary (kmfraley@orwell.net), May 02, 2002.

I ended up stapling hardware cloth ( metal screening) to the outside frame of the screen. I had one older cat that was simply relentless about tearing out the screens on my screen doors to get in. When I fixed the bottom, she would jump up, sit on the wood strip across the middle, and go to work on the top half! !

-- Judy (JMcFerrin@aol.com), May 02, 2002.

Our inside/outside cat used to tear apart the screed when he wanted to be let in. My parents bought a metal decorative pannel that was designed for screen doors at the hardware store. It was raised out from the screen a little so his claws coultn't get to the screen. If you don't want to pay for this kind of thing then a bit of wire cloth raised off of the mesh would work just as well. You might also consider rescreening with metal screening. My grandperents house has had the same screening for 50 years or more. No holes what so ever.

-- Erika (misserika129@hotmail.com), May 02, 2002.

The simple answer is that there IS a pet screen. I spent $12 and bought a roll that came with splining and a tool to apply it to a screen. I have it in a sliding door screen and it has outlasted cats and 15 months of my puppy maturing. It is black in color and stretches a bit if you run into it, instead of opening it. Best investment I made. Bought the stuff at the local hardware chain.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), May 02, 2002.

Try spraying the screen with vinegar. If the window is not somewhere where you're smelling it, try a bit of ammonia.

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), May 02, 2002.

We also had this problem. What I did was squirt them with a water pistol from inside the house through the windows !! They didn't realize it was me and I didn't feel "too" guilty. We just had new windows installed and this was a problem needless to say. Also, do you screens go to the top part of the windows ?? I now leave my bottom window down with the glass in it and the top open with the screens for air. The cats can't get up to the screens because of the glass and they eventually did stop trying to get inside. With the old windows I did put some chicken type of wire on the kitchen windows but I did feel as if I was in prison with the wire. Hope this helps some !! Good Luck !!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), May 02, 2002.

try mixing some Pinesol with Poncho Pete's Hot Sause (I guess any old hot sause would do) and spray it on the screen. You will have to reapply after it rains but it will keep the cat away. It worked out here anyway.

Cheers

-- Joe Longshaw (ludite@positech.net), May 03, 2002.

Spray the cats with anti-freeze. -Stan

(JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!!)

Seriously, that pet screen worked for us. We used to go through a screen a week, but the pet screen worked all summer last year.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), May 03, 2002.