Cool AND Safe Cats
Posted by terrepruitt on May 8, 2017
Wow! I thought I had written about this a long time ago. A long time ago as in almost two years ago when we got the cats. You may or may not know that we adopted two cats back in July of 2015. After bringing them home I discovered they had ringworm. So, going off of what the internet said on how to handle it – aside from just lighting the house on fire – I put a strict protocol in place for these new cats. They were restricted to a room until they had the course of medication and their cultures came back clear. It was 30 days. I vacuumed and wiped the room down twice a week. It was a long 30 days. The poor kitties new to us and their new home were locked in a room. And it was HOT. It was super hot that summer. Since it was so hot I wanted to leave the windows open at night for them. But my husband was afraid to. It would be really easy for an excited cat to jump through the screen at the animal in the yard. So I bought temporary screens.
I want to remind people that in July of 2015 California was still in the drought and things were very dry. Our area was very hot. When there is not enough water things get out of balance. So, the earth doesn’t have enough water to quench the thirst of the vegetation. The vegetation doesn’t grow so the insects and animals don’t get the proper nutrition. Things get out of whack. When the body isn’t in balance the things that are encountered every day sometimes get the best of a body. I am saying all of this – not that it is EXACTLY why, but – because that year there was a huge outbreak of ringworm in the shelters. A week after we got our cats I discovered they had ringworm. Shortly after I discovered that and let the place know where we got them, an article came out in the paper saying it was the worse they had seen in a long time. Kittens and cats were being brought in with ringworm in record number. This was AFTER I told my vet I thought my cats had ringworm and he scoffed at me. He said in all his years as a vet he had only seen one or two cases. Well, that year there were many cases. The shelters were having to treat all the kitties. I say all this so that people know it was just an unusual thing. Most of the time cats and people don’t get it even when they are exposed because we are healthy enough to fight it off. But I think the drought had a lot to do with it. It was unusual for there to be such an outbreak of ringworm.
Anyway . . . I read a lot of reviews on the internet regarding temporary screens. A lot of the reviewers were upset because they were using screens to try to keep dogs and large cats from getting outside. Well, I guess I am familiar with screens enough to know that if a large animal wants out bad enough it is doing to get through a screen. And I wasn’t planning on using these permanently. Also, I wasn’t planning on using them as the only screen. They were really just to reinforce the screens that were already there. I hate the heat. But I am thankful that it was so hot that summer because I think that it helped keep the cats’ energy low. So it was really unlikely that they would jump though the window screen so having this as an extra reinforcement was perfect.
I think they really appreciated being able to have the windows open. Even though the screen over screen allowed less air in than just the one screen would have it was still more than a shut window. Both my hubby and I felt better having that extra reinforcement. I thought they worked great. They weren’t a perfect fit, but they were perfect enough considering they were a standard order.
The one large screen fit in the large window great. It was able to be held in both ways . . . as in it didn’t fall into the room and the way it fit in the window frame it would not be able to be pushed out. The screen for the smaller window would only fit when we took the window out. It was something we had to do every night and every morning, but I think it was way worth it to allow the cats to have some air AND to give us peace of mind.
I know there are others out there that might want to have that extra reinforcement for their windows so I would suggest getting a temporary screen. The ones I got from Quality Screen Co, LLC (LP) were adjustable so they worked great. I went looking for my post regarding these screens when I saw this post – Stay safe and secure open windows! – on Katzenworld. That is when I discovered I had not written a post. I thought this would be a good time. The weather is getting warm and open windows provide relief from the heat. A temporary adjustable screen could help reinforce the screen already in your window and save you and your pet from an unfortunate situation.
Stay cool and stay safe!
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
Ann Coleman said
The shelter where I volunteer does see ringworm. I’m surprised your vet didn’t take your concerns more seriously at first, especially knowing that your area was going through a drought at the time! Glad you got everything sorted out and found screens that kept the cats safe!
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terrepruitt said
That is so nice of you to volunteer.
I called many vets that weekend trying to get an appointment. One receptionist asked me if I saw the worms. 🙂 I couldn’t get them in over the weekend, so when I finally did get to my vet, yeah, he didn’t really think it was a case of ringworm. But it was. It was a long process getting them well. We felt so bad bringing them home only to “torture” (oral meds, baths, shut in one room, etc.) them. Poor girls. We are lucky they are such good cats!
Now that the cats are allowed out of the room, if we leave the windows open we don’t put up the screens. It was mostly for when they were locked in.
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Marc-André said
Thanks for referencing our post. 🙂
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terrepruitt said
Thanks for posting it! It is a good thing for all cat owners to think about. My hubby thought about it. I thought they would be fine, but since he wasn’t comfortable, I got the screens!
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