Window screens and a claw happy cat

My cat loves to claw at our window screens. She knows she's not supposed to. Right now, all I do is give her a stern voice, pull her off the screen (as in unhook her claws), put her on the ground, and shut the window.

I've been tempted to squirt her with a little water. But, I don't want her to freak out and her claws get stuck in the screen. (Once she starts clawing at screens, her claws always get stuck... until she yanks her paw away and creates a new hole in the screen... a place that bugs think is a window!).

Does anyone have suggestions on getting the point across to my cat? It's getting very warm these days and I don't have air conditioning. I must have the windows open. But, I can't be on cat patrol all the time to tell her not to claw at the screens.

Thanks!

 

Hi Lucidity03,

The thing to be careful of when using a water gun is that they associate the water with the action (ie scratching the screen) and not you. I have a couple of suggestions that might work, I imagine some other people also have good ideas:

If you keep her claws trimmed while trying to break her of the habit then that will do less damage to the screens and make it more difficult for her to get caught. I personally have used the water pistol, but as I mentioned use this with caution.

There is a product on the market that I haven't tried that I understand is quite effective in breaking bad habits, it's called SSSCAT. It's a motion detector device that sprays a jet of air to startle the cat when they start doing something they aren't supposed to. It doesn't hurt them and the nice thing is that you don't have to be there for it to work. If there are a few windows that she is clawing then you could rotate it so that she learns not to claw all of them. Their website is at

http://www.ssscat.com/

Good luck!

 

I have the same problem. Footsie has climbed up all the way to the top of my screen door in the time it takes me to run across the room and get him down.

 

I wonder if you could put some double sided sticky tape across parts of your screen? I'm not sure if it would stick but it might be worth trying to prevent him from scratching them.
Bean has gotten his claws caught on the screen twice last week and in an attempt to free himself he ripped to holes in it. As long as I keep his nails trimmed this does'nt seem to be a problem...I don't think he is actually scratching the screen but just stretching and getting stuck on it.

 

I may take a shot at clipping her nails. Since she's 3 years old and not used to it, it may be an adventure!

As for the double-sided tape, I would have to think how to do it. But, if I think of an effective way, that may help.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

My kitten does it too. But wwhen I see it I give her a stern NO and take her to the scratching post. As for sticky tape, I have tried it for other areas and she just avoids the tape. Trimming nails is a goiod idea. My final thought, it's not that expenssive to rescreen a door so I don't really worry about it. Better a screen than a sofa.

 

seems like i read about a substance that is safe but repels cats from places you dont want them. i may have read about it on a bengal site. if i can find it i will share the info.

 

I think its a ploy.... THey are trying to create holes to let the bugs in....that way they can annoy they heck outta you and give the cat something to challenge himself with!!!! LOL

 

Samintentions, That would explain the influx of bugs in my house and very entertained kitties! They love to chase bugs (especially flying ones.)