Those on high floor apartments...

[Straysmommy]

...how do you keep your cat safe from falling out of the window?

I keep my windows almost totally closed, but I just found my cat walking on the air conditioning box outside the window (5th floor). I almost had a heart attack. I'm not sure if he managed to open the window or was able to squeeze himself so small.

In summer I won't be able to keep the windows closed...

[kwarendorf]

Screens. Without them cats on the 18th floor would not be possible.

[Straysmommy]

kwarendorf, don't they manage to tear it apart or push it aside?

[kwarendorf]

The screens are wire/metal screens, not the flimsy fiberglass ones. Every once in a while I will see one of my guys scratching a screen and I will discourage the behavior in a fairly loud fashion. The screens are pretty durable and fit well in the window frames. It's worked for me, and them

[Ritzpg]

I live on the top floor of a three story building. I have a balcony, with a vertical metal grills, roughly every 12 inches apart. Ritz could conceivably fit her head in between those grills. So shortly after I got Ritz I put chicken wire all along the metal grils; at the very least, it would prevent herfrom slipping through the cracks although not--goodness forbid--jumping on top of the grills. Obviously I keep the screen door closed 24x7x365.

I came home one day from work and saw Ritz looking at me from OUTSIDE the patio screen door. There was a small hole in the screen and she pushed through, no doubt to lunge at a bird(s). That chicken wire probably saved her.

You can buy special screen doors specifically for pets; the mesh is extra sturdy. Not that much more expensive than regular mesh.

As an aside, I have let Ritz go out onto the balcony twice and watched her like a proverbial hawk. My reasoning was that, if she satisfies her curosity, she'll be less inclined to try to push through the screen. So far (after one year) she shows no interest in going outside the balcony door. Though the front door holds some interest....

[Straysmommy]

Yes, I have to look for something sturdier than the one against mosquitos. I'll go check in Home Depot.

[Vivid Dawn]

That's yet another thing I have to save up for this summer (along with about a couple dozen other things!) is a sturdy screen door.
My ex-husband's cat who I'm "babysitting" is an indoor/outdoor cat - by ex's wishes (even though he's lost 2 previous cats on the busy road by the house...but oh well). I however did not want the stress of losing yet another one, even if she isn't mine, and got a screen door for the patio...but I'm poor, and got a flimsy one. She put 3 different holes in it, within a month. So now I want to get a metal screen, even though it'll probably cost twice as much.
My cats are content to watch through the door, and even after the holes (which I patched up, of course), they never bothered to go through them. Nebbie seems awfully tempted, but I think she can tell I have "Ack! NO! Danger!" vibes when I see her getting too curious about pawing at it.

[laurief]

I solved the "can't open the windows because my cats shred and push out the screens" problem by installing baby gates in front of every window I want to be able to open. Not exactly an attraction solution, but a very effective one. Now I can open my windows wide, and the cats can't get through the baby gates (though they can still stick their paws through and tear the screens if they're really determined).

Laurie

[Hepburn]

I need to figure out a solution to this problem, too. I'm only on the second floor, so it's less a worry about injury and more about escape (though I'm sure he could get hurt from the jump, too), and I live on a very busy intersection. My windows are all very old (building is over 100 years old, and aside from my two bedroom windows, I'm not sure if any of them have been redone, ever!) and of odd shapes and sizes, so normal screens wouldn't fit. The windows in my living room are all curved. And I hadn't even thought about him opening the window when the AC units are in. Gah. Lots to figure out, and soon, because I am very warm natured and only leave windows consistently closed during the coldest months (and normally, even when it's freezing out I usually have a window cracked for fresh air--this is an adjustment for me).

[Straysmommy]

Hepburn, sorry to say this, but lower floors are the most dangerous for cats, because the fall is too quick to give them time to adjust their bodies for the impact with the floor. If I lived on a 10th floor, I'd be less worried than on my 5th floor.