An elegant cat deterrent, for a more civilized age

October 8, 2010 2:56 PM

[cat && fireplace filter] Do you know of a good fireplace screen that will keep my feline wards from exploring and getting covered in soot? My duct tape and cardboard solution works, but it doesn't really "tie the room together".
posted by simms2k to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

You need a flat screen, like this. My cat enjoyed exploring the soot of the fireplace as well, and this solved the problem. Unless your cats are little MacGyvers, they shouldn't be able to open the doors!
posted by fresh-rn at 3:26 PM on October 8, 2010

Best answer: We had this problem with our cats. Actually, the first time we had a fire, the black one ran into it (he wasn't hurt). Honestly, the more we tried to make the fireplace a place our cats couldn't go, the more they wanted to go there. When we stopped caring and they explored it a little bit and realized, yeah, it was dirty and sooty in there, they quickly lost interest.

So what I'm saying here is that you could try just letting them get in there a little bit, and once the novelty wears off (and it will) they'll probably stay out of there on their own accord. If you have a fire though, definitely keep watch.
posted by elder18 at 3:29 PM on October 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

To keep our toddler from getting into the fireplace, we bought an appropriately sized art canvas, covered it with felt and affixed it to the brick. We got the idea from here. Bonus: you can decorate with any colors/patterns you like. Downside: Not as easy to use fireplace, but if you're already using duct tape & cardboard...
posted by gnutron at 3:31 PM on October 8, 2010

This is basically nthing gnutron. When I lived with a cat and a fireplace, I just stuck a giant painting I had in front of the fireplace. But yeah, we didn't actually use the fireplace.
posted by asciident at 5:07 PM on October 8, 2010

I used a tri-panel fireplace screen like this one to keep my cat out of the fireplace. She isn't a very strong jumper, though, so it never really occurred to her to jump over it. Such a jump would require a good deal of dexterity on your cat's part, but if your cat can do precision jumps worthy of a Navy SEAL, then a screen like mine might not be the best choice.

Also, you're violating the rules about cat threads on Ask MetaFilter. Please rectify this immediately by posting pictures of said cats kthxbye
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:26 PM on October 8, 2010

Those scat mat things work pretty good on our cat and dogs to keep them away from things. Not sure a plastic mat would do much for your decor. :) Less visible than cardboard and duct tape, though.

On an only vaguely related note, my horse had bonfires in his field from the time he was 5 months old when we burned downed trees and the like. He would stand in the coals to warm his feet. He is still crazy at 24 but the smell of smoke has never sent him into orbit like it does other horses I know. Your cat being unafraid of the smell of smoke and soot could be helpful if you ever need to escape from fire, because the cat won't panic just at the smell.
posted by AllieTessKipp at 9:18 PM on October 8, 2010

Our former apartment had a metal mesh curtain for the fireplace. We used paperclips to keep it shut, and it kept our two rascals out admirably.
posted by bookdragoness at 5:50 PM on October 9, 2010