Help with escaping cats!

Question
Hi Jessicca!

I live in the bottom floor of an apartment complex, therefore my windows are even with the ground.  Great for bird watching (and squirrels, and racoons, and everything else) for my three boy cats.  However, they are pushing their way through the screen - either ripping the screen or popping the entire frame out!  Meanwhile they are outside without claws in a complex that does not allow cats outside.

I am so afraid that they are going to get hurt or captured - and with the weather so hot, I can't keep the windows closed!

Any thoughts on products I can use (guards) or anything else I can do to keep my boys from escapping?

April-Mae  

Answer
Hi there.  I'm not sure what you are at liberty to do in your apartment.  If you can, change your screens to steel screens, rather than fabric.  I've never had a cat rip through those.

To prevent the cats from pushing the screen out altogether, you might be able to install window screen clips from the outside.  They're screwed into the window frame.  Then you would slide them into place to hold the screen securely.  It's difficult to describe, but I'll try.

You know when you buy a picture frame, and the back has these little holders that you slide to the side to remove the back?  Then you put the picture in, place the backing back on, and then return those little fixtures into their place just inside the frame.  The window clips work in a similar manner.  There are a few different styles.  You can see one at http://www.crlaurence.com/ProductPages/showLine.asp?GroupID=8565&Path=::733::856...

The products should also be available at the Home Depot, Lowes, or other hardware stores.  They might be able to show you how to install them, too.