Windows, Screens and Cats
I had a near miss with Charm and the bathroom window screen last year, and I should know better after years of cats who have tested every window and screen I’ve ever had with a few frightening escapes. I wrote this article on keeping cats safe by open, screened windows with this and my experience with nearly my entire household escaping from a damaged window screen years ago—which may have significantly changed the story of my life with cats had I not rounded them all up and gotten them back inside. I have a few others to tell too, in time. Both Namir and Kublai were escape artists—I would swear Kublai had thumbs when I wasn’t looking, and Namir had a Swiss army knife hidden in his right paw and you can read about one of his great escapes in Just a Little Adventure. Someday soon I’ll tell other stories of their little escapes.
NOTE: If your cat has escaped your home please read Your Indoor-only Cat Got Out the Door!
Rather than republishing the article this year I’m linking back to the original article, “Windows, Screens and Cats”, so readers can always refer to just one article.
Article contents:
Charm’s escape—twice!
Make sure your screens can handle your cats
Materials
Construction
Installation, new screens and reinforcing old ones
High-rise Syndrome
Meanwhile back in 1998, the first escape
Click here to read the entire article: “Windows, Screens and Cats”.
. . . . . . .
“Boys at the Window”, 1998
At the top, it just so happens the two principals in this story are at the very window they escaped from that morning! Allegro reclines on my desk and Stanley on the windowsill, watching me work. Some things never change—today I have Sunshine and Bean sprawled on my desk now and Mimi on the windowsill, watching me work. This scene was from 1998, in the house I rented before I moved here, when I was still experimenting with drawing materials and styles and techniques. The reference photo was poorly exposed, a little blurry and they were silhouetted, but I liked the composition and did a little sketch from this photo as well as photos of each of them individually on “coquille board”, an illustration board covered with a tiny raised pattern that would capture a drawing material like colored pencil, creating a sort of halftone pattern. This was used far more often when line art was required for printing in black and white, but I still like textured boards for things like this. I’ve never published this image or the others so I thought I’d use it to illustrate this story since there is a connection, of sorts. I’ve also used coquille in my set of notecards from that era, “Kitties Being Kitties” and also mentioned its use in “The Artist’s Life: Early Feline Influences and Memories”.
Read more articles in the category Health and Welfare
Browse some rescued cats and kittens!
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item. Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter. © 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski Weekly schedule of features: Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters Tuesday: Rescue Stories Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork Thursday: New Merchandise Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
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Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
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Pingback: Windows, Screens and Cats: Just a Little Adventure ~ The Creative Cat
The link to the original article is not working – it just goes back to this page. Is there some way to read the original article? Thanks!
Anonymous, I have no idea why it’s doing this. I have redirects from older articles as I updated the information because readers had bookmarked the older ones and I wanted to be sure they had the latest version, but all of them pointed to the 2015 version, which is the one you want. I removed all the redirects. It seems to be a Firefox thing because it works in Chrome just fine. Here is the actual link, so see if this works: https://thecreativecat.net/windows-screens-and-cats-2/
I worry about that and try to check them often.
I actually go around the house and check all the screens through the day, and I don’t leave the windows open if I’m going to be out for any length of time. Better safe than sorry!