Sauna + safe kitty or fresh air + no kitty?
October 17, 2017 6:09 PM Subscribe
Rental house + indoor cat + summer = ???
In short, I'm soliciting ideas as to how we can throw open our sliding glass doors to prevent the house from turning into a sauna whilst not allowing our indoor-only cat outside.
We have two sets of glass sliding doors in the house which we would LOVE to fling open to allow fresh air through during the (southern hemisphere) summer months. One set is a pair of sliders (both a left and right that come together in the middle) and the other is a single slider (slides right to open, left to close at door-jam/wall). BUT, we LOVE our kitty and can't risk her escaping through said doors.
The obvious solution is to install screen sliding doors, but as we are renting, we: (1) don't want to spend that kind of money, and (2) can't really affix anything permanent to the property.
I have vague visions of simply buying screening/mesh material (is this cheap??) and doing something with it, but what? How can we fix it in place so that it doesn't do damage to the house and can be easily 'untethered' (e.g., when we want to actually walk through the doorway)? Note: our cat is quite old, but she can still jump fairly high, so a baby-gate would be hugely inadequate.
Anyway, if you have faced this sort of dilemma yourself and/or have any creative-but-cheap suggestions as to how not to melt whilst we keep our kitty safely inside, I would love to hear from you -- thanks!
Believe me, I have bigger problems than this but....well...one thing at a time.
We have two sets of glass sliding doors in the house which we would LOVE to fling open to allow fresh air through during the (southern hemisphere) summer months. One set is a pair of sliders (both a left and right that come together in the middle) and the other is a single slider (slides right to open, left to close at door-jam/wall). BUT, we LOVE our kitty and can't risk her escaping through said doors.
The obvious solution is to install screen sliding doors, but as we are renting, we: (1) don't want to spend that kind of money, and (2) can't really affix anything permanent to the property.
I have vague visions of simply buying screening/mesh material (is this cheap??) and doing something with it, but what? How can we fix it in place so that it doesn't do damage to the house and can be easily 'untethered' (e.g., when we want to actually walk through the doorway)? Note: our cat is quite old, but she can still jump fairly high, so a baby-gate would be hugely inadequate.
Anyway, if you have faced this sort of dilemma yourself and/or have any creative-but-cheap suggestions as to how not to melt whilst we keep our kitty safely inside, I would love to hear from you -- thanks!
Believe me, I have bigger problems than this but....well...one thing at a time.
I would get a magnetic curtain screen door, like this one. Then, if the cat is strong enough to open the curtain, I would reinforce the bottom with strong velcro. It will mean that you personally have to work a little harder to open it (the magnets are such that you can usually just brush the curtain open, but with velcro, you'd have to detach it to go in and out), but it would keep the cat in.
I might also consider a baby gate. This would be best if you want to leave the door open for long periods of time, since it takes a few minutes to put it in or take it out. If the cat can slip through the bars, you can cover it with a length of screen, as you mention above.
posted by gideonfrog at 6:24 PM on October 17, 2017
I might also consider a baby gate. This would be best if you want to leave the door open for long periods of time, since it takes a few minutes to put it in or take it out. If the cat can slip through the bars, you can cover it with a length of screen, as you mention above.
posted by gideonfrog at 6:24 PM on October 17, 2017
Can you ask your landlord to reimburse you for screen doors? It might be worth a try.
posted by aniola at 6:25 PM on October 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by aniola at 6:25 PM on October 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
You can buy mesh screen by the roll -- it's not *cheap* necessarily but it could be affordable. Not sure where you are, but in the US, you can just purchase it like this. I have done this before, as an old cat of mine liked to bust screens.
The difficult thing would be maintaining enough tension to keep the screen in place. If your cat is not very energetic, you could potentially try duct-taping the screen material in place -- solid edging of tape on both sides of the doorframe, inside and out. This would render the door unusable, but would give you a breeze, at least.
posted by halation at 6:25 PM on October 17, 2017
The difficult thing would be maintaining enough tension to keep the screen in place. If your cat is not very energetic, you could potentially try duct-taping the screen material in place -- solid edging of tape on both sides of the doorframe, inside and out. This would render the door unusable, but would give you a breeze, at least.
posted by halation at 6:25 PM on October 17, 2017
I have and use Magic Mesh screens, to let my dogs in and out without bugs, but they're not that tough and you'd be hard-pressed to make it impassable. Even regular screen doors are not much obstacle to a determined cat, especially if they've got some heft to them (the cat, I mean).
You could use the same shelving panes people use for diy catios, or adapt other catio plans (they're everywhere, google catio) to build a pane you could insert in the doorway. You could also frame one out with PVC and then use plastic deer/construction fencing to make a barrier that would be difficult to chew through and should deter any visiting critters who might approach it, but still be lightweight to lift away when you want to close the door.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:38 PM on October 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
You could use the same shelving panes people use for diy catios, or adapt other catio plans (they're everywhere, google catio) to build a pane you could insert in the doorway. You could also frame one out with PVC and then use plastic deer/construction fencing to make a barrier that would be difficult to chew through and should deter any visiting critters who might approach it, but still be lightweight to lift away when you want to close the door.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:38 PM on October 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I’d make a sandwich style door frame with 1X2s and put both chicken wire and screen in the middle. Use the tension from the doors to keep the insert in place.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 7:00 PM on October 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by PorcineWithMe at 7:00 PM on October 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
They make standard screens for sliders, just measure. They drop right in. They have to have stout metal screen, because your kitty will open the screen if it gets a mind to. Some places have metal CNCs computer navigated cutters. They sometimes have a big extra piece of 1/4 inch steel, they have cut pieces out of, it leaves a lace work of whatever was there. Some of these might have small enough spaces a cat can't get out. They can be cut to the size you need to drop in the door slider. Here are examples. Sometimes, for instance they are cutting a bunch of hinges, or half moons, for something else. It used to cost $15 for a 4'x8' sheet of 1/4 inch steel. I have friends who have several of these they use in their garden for trellises.
posted by Oyéah at 10:09 PM on October 17, 2017
posted by Oyéah at 10:09 PM on October 17, 2017
Your house will be hotter during the day with the doors open than with them closed and the curtains drawn. If you want to keep kitty cool, close all windows and blinds before you leave the house in the morning.
posted by Thella at 10:39 PM on October 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Thella at 10:39 PM on October 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
Screen doors should cost around $200. Ask your landlord to defray costs.
posted by samthemander at 11:02 PM on October 17, 2017
posted by samthemander at 11:02 PM on October 17, 2017
I'd negotiate with the landlord to start; as a small time accidental, unmotivated and conflict-avoidant landlord screen doors are the type of thing I'd pay for half of if the tenant was going to leave them at the end of their lease and my part wasn't going to be more than a couple hundred bucks.
Failing that, I like the looks of the magnetic option above. Failing all of the above I have totally just used two baby gates before stacked on on top of the other as a cat barrier, should be fine unless your cat is a very motivated and fearless climber.
posted by charmedimsure at 12:49 AM on October 18, 2017 [2 favorites]
Failing that, I like the looks of the magnetic option above. Failing all of the above I have totally just used two baby gates before stacked on on top of the other as a cat barrier, should be fine unless your cat is a very motivated and fearless climber.
posted by charmedimsure at 12:49 AM on October 18, 2017 [2 favorites]
Depending on where you live and how big the needed doors are, I think you could find them for less than $200. I rent and we got a screen sliding door for the same reasons, and while it's been so long I can't remember the price, they were definitely way less than 200, like 30 to 40.
Also, I wouldn't recommend the magnetic ones if you feel like your cat will be remotely inclined to try to get out. My yearning to play outside for a bit cat could get out of those pretty easily.
posted by not that mimi at 4:24 AM on October 18, 2017
Also, I wouldn't recommend the magnetic ones if you feel like your cat will be remotely inclined to try to get out. My yearning to play outside for a bit cat could get out of those pretty easily.
posted by not that mimi at 4:24 AM on October 18, 2017
All my cats would/will hop over a standard size baby gate, but they make extra tall ones that are around waist height (4 feet/1.2ish meters?)
Only one of the three cats will even bother to try to leap the tall ones. They'll jump on top of the refrigerator, which even with a boost is a higher jump, but the gates are too much hassle. You could give it a try and see how it goes with your supervision.
Ironically, the one that will jump the gate is also the only one that will leave the yard for anything. He apparently didn't get enough time living outdoors as a kitten. Regardless, you probably know your cat well enough to know whether the extra height would make a difference to them.
The other option, of course, is to just let it get hot. Unless it's over 100 degrees and there is no shade or water available, most domestic cats are fine with heat. They are, after all, from Egypt. They don't lay in the sun because they like to be cold!
posted by wierdo at 7:08 AM on October 18, 2017
Only one of the three cats will even bother to try to leap the tall ones. They'll jump on top of the refrigerator, which even with a boost is a higher jump, but the gates are too much hassle. You could give it a try and see how it goes with your supervision.
Ironically, the one that will jump the gate is also the only one that will leave the yard for anything. He apparently didn't get enough time living outdoors as a kitten. Regardless, you probably know your cat well enough to know whether the extra height would make a difference to them.
The other option, of course, is to just let it get hot. Unless it's over 100 degrees and there is no shade or water available, most domestic cats are fine with heat. They are, after all, from Egypt. They don't lay in the sun because they like to be cold!
posted by wierdo at 7:08 AM on October 18, 2017
Screen sliders are around $50 in my area and, assuming your cat won't claw through them, will work better than any cheaper DIY option. If your cat will claw through, add poultry or deer fencing to it. If you can make do with only one door opening for egress, use that for the smaller opening and duct-taped or Velcro-ed screening on the other.
posted by metasarah at 8:47 AM on October 19, 2017
posted by metasarah at 8:47 AM on October 19, 2017
Response by poster: Many thanks for helping me brain-storm options. There are a lot of good ideas -- I'll just need to investigate which things are available in my country in the first place and how much they cost, then proceed from there.
P.S. We will be closing the curtains in the hottest/sunniest part of the day during the summer, but when we are home and have an amazing view from our house, sometimes you just wanna have everything open and feel the breeze! But not lose the cat in the process.
P.P.S. Given that we don't even have insulation in our house (don't ask), I am doubtful that asking the landlord to defray the cost of screens for a pet that we have chosen to acquire is going to fly.
posted by Halo in reverse at 4:48 PM on October 19, 2017
P.S. We will be closing the curtains in the hottest/sunniest part of the day during the summer, but when we are home and have an amazing view from our house, sometimes you just wanna have everything open and feel the breeze! But not lose the cat in the process.
P.P.S. Given that we don't even have insulation in our house (don't ask), I am doubtful that asking the landlord to defray the cost of screens for a pet that we have chosen to acquire is going to fly.
posted by Halo in reverse at 4:48 PM on October 19, 2017
Response by poster: To conclude: In the end, we bought a $15 second-hand screen front door, which we can then 'sandwich' between the two sliders when we want fresh air (plus safe kitties); we use a bungee cord over the handles to tension the sliders toward one another. This has proven to be a nice, cheap solution. Thanks for all of the suggestions, which ultimately led us to it.
posted by Halo in reverse at 1:25 PM on November 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Halo in reverse at 1:25 PM on November 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by Freedomboy at 6:16 PM on October 17, 2017