Window safety

To find out more about how we can enjoy having the windows open without getting out please scroll down

Kitten adventures - click to go to our kitten web site

Links page

Cat accessories - favourite things!
Facts page - shows details of our breeding
FRIENDS page

Amy - my first Birman

Katy and Lucy's page

Great Danes

Video Clips - See the trio playing with 'Panic Mouse'

Comparisons - how we have changed over the years

As we told you last month we have had quite a bit of hot weather over here recently and Joan has been puzzling over the problem of keeping us safely indoors when she wants to without having to have the windows shut. She is keen to get a flow of air into the house but not run the risk of us falling out from the first floor when we are having a great game

It was a case of something of a balancing act - she wanted it to be secure and robust (she knows what we are like when we leap on to the window sill). However she wanted something that was easily put in place and taken down because she didn't want to go to work and leave windows wide open plus she knows how quickly the British weather can change!

She was also very keen that it didn't damage the windows or require permanent and unsightly fixings. She searched the internet for ideas but drew a blank in terms of finding something purpose made. She thought about using a child gate but figured we would very easily aqueeze through the bars plus none seemed to be quite the right size for the windows.

She thought about trellis which could be easily expanded and folded back up and she even went so far as to get some and put if over the window. Max and Oscar were fine with it but I did a quick demo of just how easy it was to put my head and shoulders through it so that idea was scrapped (except for using it in the patio door when she want to let the air in without us getting out - it works there because you can keep the openings small).

Finally she found something which she liked as a solution. She bought some 3ft by 2ft white coated mesh panels from a local garden centre and a pack of cheap 'G' clamps plus a couple of rubber tree ties.

She overlapped the mesh panels so that they were the right width to cover the windows and then fixed a tree tie through the mesh and round the central mullion. You can see the black tree tie on the picture on the left. Then she fixed a 'G' clamp at each corner with a felt pad to protect the window frame and hold the mesh in place.

It is great we can have the windows open when Joan is home which lets a cooling breeze through the house and we can sit on the window sill to get the fresh air. Even if we jump on to the window sill at speed we aren't in any danger of shooting through the open window!

All in all we are quite pleased with the result. It doesn't look too unsightly although the tree ties do show up a bit. The Mark 2 version of the system is where Joan just opens a single window and only needs one mesh panel which can be fixed in place just with the 'G' clamps.

We are much happier now that we can get the cool evening air into the house on hot days and on stormy days when it is humid we can use a big fan to circulate the air around.

We aren't sure if we mentioned it before but Oscar was one of the nominees for the PAT Cat of the Year competition 2005 and he got his picture printed in Our Cats magazine with the other nominees. Voting started in early June and people were invited to vote either by post, telephone or online for the cat they wanted to win. In the online voting Oscar did really well - over 15,000 votes were cast online and Oscar polled about 62% of the votes with a black and white cat called Duncan running second with over 30% of the vote.

Voting ended at the end of June and Joan tried to find out how he had done overall. Eventually she got a call to tell her that Oscar hadn't won but that the contest had been won by two Burmese cats (entered as one entry) called Sybil and Phoebe. Whilst Joan was a little surprised she assumed that there must have been quite a large vote on either the postal or telephone poll so she asked Maureen Hennis, Chief Executive of Pets as Therapy, if she could please have a breakdown of the results.

Maureen refused to supply any details of the voting so Joan contacted the editor of Our Cats, Burmese breeder Christine Stalker, to ask her if she could have a breakdown of the voting. Christine also refused.

Oscar takes everything in his stride

Oscar watching the world go by from the safety of a box

Joan is very concerned that neither Pets as Therapy nor Our Cats were willing to give any information so in mid July 2005 she wrote to the Sir Peter Baldwin KCB, Chairman of Pets as Therapy, expressing her concerns. That was almost two weeks ago and so far she has not had the courtesy of a reply. (Update as at 16th October - now twelve weeks since she wrote and still no response)

At Joan's request Trading Standards are now looking into the matter and as soon as we have any further information we will let you know. We are sorry that we cannot give any more information to the people who voted for Oscar in this competition using the online system but we do hope that clarification will be available soon.

Meanwhile Oscar isn't letting it bother him one iota and although his regulars in the old folks home are as mystified as Joan is about the lack of information he is still happily cheering them up with his visits and enjoying being made a fuss of!

Life goes on much the same for the three of us with lots of fun and games and all the food we can eat! I simply adore raw lamb (at the moment) which we have for breakfast and then the great HiLife sachets of meat or fish that we have for tea. That combined with the Burns dried food seems to keep us healthy and lively with lots of energy.

We think Joan is quite pleased with the results of our healthier eating as she says our teeth are now much cleaner than they were before.