October 11, 2010

Doods, a fellow kitty needs your brains. Or actually his person needs your brains. Kind of like all people need help with brains, but this is specific brain-trust need.

OK. Wendell's person is looking at an apartment that's on the 10th floor, and it has ancient windows that open to the outside--no screens. It's not especially cat-safe and needs to be...if no good ideas can be coughed up, she's going to pass on the apartment, and other than the window issue it sounds like a good one.

So...ideas, please. What can be done to make these windows Wendell-safe, so that he doesn't accidentally plummet 10 stories down?

Baby gates are a no-go, the ASPCA says no.

Mucho thanks in advance.

21 comments:

Carli N. Wendell said...

Thanks, Max. But it's on da fifth floor

Amy & the house of cats said...

Oh we have seen things for this - I just don't remember where. They are like add on screen things for cats - we think one of the other bloggers has them - just don't remember who. Shoot it was at least a year ago we saw them - I tried looking for "cat safe screens" on the internet and didn't find what I was looking for - but they do make things for this exact thing. I think you just need to search (and not while at work with people coming around so you have to do it really fast like I just did).

Carli N. Wendell said...

I can't really post da picture 'cause it's got other peepuls stuff in it but lemme know if you have any ideas and heer's a picture of a similar apartment but my windows wouldn't be as wide. http://sovereignrealestate.com/index.cfm?page=details&id=34984#

I donnow why we hafta move but maybe it'll make me start blogging again.

I'm born Jersey, yo.

Katnip Lounge said...

Max, our Mommy will think about this, and Daddy too. They're pretty handy, actually.

Gemini and Ichiro said...

I hope that Wendell's person finds something. You would think that there would be screens on the inside--we had them in our place--there was a little flat that allowed you to grasp the window handle and open out but you still had screens inside the window.

Carli N. Wendell said...

Dis is New Yuck City. Dey don't much care bout people, let alone kittehs. Plus dis is a historic bilding or something, so dey can't just take da window out.

Fat lotta good history does me if I fall out da window.

Gigi said...

Well, it's not much of a solution, but we have the same situation and mostly the Human just does not open our windows wide enough for me to fall/jump out--we are only on the 2nd floor, so I probably wouldn't really go splat or anything, but I might get hit by a car or get lost or sumfing.

Sometimes, she locks me in the bedroom and opens all the windows real wide to air the place out, but usually, our windows are only opened a couple inches. That works okay since San Francisco is pretty cool most of the time.

Roses said...

Install a window air conditioner.
Then, remove all the innards of the AC.
Then, replace all the exteriors of the AC with chicken wire or some other kind of screen.

-or-

Build a screened box about the size of an air conditioner and install *that* in the window.
Might be cheaper that way. ;-)

Honker said...

http://new-york.window-gate.com/

There are tons of options for securing windows. There are security gates for windows that work like security doors, there are aftermarket screens for window that open outwards, and there are DIY options. I would go to the local big box hardware store and look there first, and ask the person selling security doors for window options.

With the right tools it would be very easy to make something, which is what I would do.

Amie Sugat said...

go to the doctors foster and smith website and order yourself a catalog (its free)for cats. its filled with all kinds of cat products like this AND then when you find something you think will work, search for it on craigslist or make it yourself.

Anonymous said...

Wendell, tell your Mom to not be so lazy...there is stuff all over the internet!

http://www.allpetfurniture.com/KidCo-S303-KCO1143.html#ReviewHeader

or better yet...google "window guard toddler".

Carli N. Wendell said...

Da Mom is a Google monkey and has been all over da Internets and is just trying to find da best option for 70-year-old windows dat may not work with today's window guard technology.

The ASPCA says toddler guards are not good for keeping kittehs out.

Also, a kitteh could jump right over that net.

Also, it's a casement window, which opens from da side and not da top or bottom.

But thanks for playing.

Carli N. Wendell said...

Wendell's Mom here. . . I think what we'll wind up doing if I get the apartment is putting a security gate over one window--the kind that keeps the burglers out. The broker also said I could install screens, though I am not sure he knows what he's talking about.

The windows are beautiful but will be a huge pain in the neck. Aside from the kitty situation, if I want an A/C in the spring I'll have to pay for a special one.

The price you pay to live in a piece of history. . .

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Zippy, Sadie, Speedy and M'Gee said...

Go to like Lowes or Home Depot, dey make deze slider screens in difrint sizes (tall, short, really tall) and dey slide to fit side to side in da window and den lock so dey can't be moved by paws (or little fingers). Daddy put one of dem in da garage window when he is out der wif Zippy so she don't jump out da window and run around da naybors yards.

Thumper said...

Screens would work with a little fiddling... Four flush brackets could hold them in place; depending on the lever to open the window (I'm guessing there's a lever...when we had open to the outside windows it was with a lever opener) you might need to make a screen with a reinforced hole.

Old windows can be tricky because they were never intended for screens... too bad it's all the way across the country, because the Spouse Thingy could whip something up pretty quick...

Frostin said...

Bob says when he was a kid his family had adjustable screens that went in under the open window.

Here's a link;

http://hardware.hardwarestore.com/72-156-adjustable-window-screens.aspx

Anonymous said...

We have skinny windows that open out. House is 50 years old. Windows came with screens. Screens go on the inside. They have pin things that you pull toward the inside to remove the screen from the window. I think you're going about it wrong to find something advertised as kitty-safe. Try calling local hardware stores and asking who can make a screen for you.

ThreeCatsandaMink said...

There is this thing called fish pond netting that is plastic. Comes in different sizes and easy to cut, but very tough (think tougher than monitor lizard) that we have used to replace window screens so big lizards can't claw out. Can be stapled in or use wood nails (tiny) and then cover with putty and paint when you leave. Works well in my Brooklyn apartment with 150 year old windows!

Hananas said...

i used to not open my windows at all but it just got too hot, now i have security grilles instead, one of my cats is pretty tiny so the standard straight bars were too wide to keep him safe but we got some diamond shaped ones and had them specially made a little smaller so he couldnt get his head stuck.
They're made primary for safety from burglary but they do the trick, you can get screen type ones but these are quite decorative looking, i like them

Mark's Mews (Marley, Lori, Loki, and Binq) said...

We think ya could just get an oversize screen from a hardware place an attach in on the inside with hinges an a latch...

Anonymous said...

There are adjustable screens that you set into the window. They're built on a wooden frame and we used them in our way up high second story windows for our cat. We lived in SF and bought them at the hardware store in Glen Park. They come in a couple of different heights if I remember correctly and adjust width wise.