You have a cat. You have windows. You have blinds. That’s an impossible mix!
Cat owners know quite well how much a struggle it is to keep their cats away from their blinds. You can repel your cat from the window, you can give her a distraction, or you can give in to your pesky pet!
Table of Contents
To summarize, to keep cats out of blinds, you need to:
- Fulfill their needs in other ways.
- Prepare other attractive distractions for them.
- Don’t give them the attention they’re after.
- Use repellents and deterrents to mark territories.
- Make sure they have access to a window to fulfill their curiosity.
Why Do Cats Attack Blinds?
It’s nothing personal, we assure you. There are multiple reasons why your cat might be attacking your blinds. You need to know them so that you choose the suitable remedy to that problem.
It could be to fulfill their needs. Cats love to climb and scratch; it’s what they do in nature, and it’s what they’ll do in your home. Blinds and windows give them a perfect setting for that.
Another possibility is that your cat doesn’t care about the blinds; she’s after the window. Cats are inquisitive by nature, and they love to sit and observe. How can they do that indoors? Only through a window.
Lastly, she might be trying to get your attention. Messing with the drapes and producing loud noises, as a result, will annoy you and get your attention, which is what she needs.
10 Tips to Keep Cats Out of Blinds
Now that you’re familiar with the possible reasons for the problem, here are ten solutions to solve the situation, whatever its cause.
1. Use Double-Sided Tape
We want to mark territories here. To do this, apply double-sided duct tape on your window still and extend it as much as you want; right below the window, and maybe an additional layer after it to increase its width would be fine.
Your cat will hate the texture and feel of the duct tape on its paws. After a few failed attempts, it won’t approach the window altogether.
This is a well-known method to cat-proof your furniture as well. The only downside to this method is that double-sided tape can leave a residue on the surface you stick it on. To solve this, you can use tape that’s made especially for that purpose. Yes, there’s a sticky duct tape to drive cats away from scratching stuff! This Anti-Scratch duct tape is a perfect option and completely safe for cats.
2. Create an Appealing Alternative
Do you know when your cat will lose interest in your lovely blinds? When she has something else more entertaining to do. This is the core of this idea. Try to create an appealing space for your cat that she’ll approach and stay there till she forgets about your not-so-exciting blinds.
You can set her a nice perch in front of a certain window, with no blinds, of course. Try to make it as appealing as you can. There are a ton of these available online in a variety of shapes, sizes, and prices. Hammock perches are so trendy, for they’re easier to mount.
You can still get a shelf-like perch if you want to. Accessorizing the perch might be a nice idea; a comfy blanket and some stuffy toys would do wonders!
Finally, you can sprinkle some catnip to attract your little one. Evil, but clever!
3. Repel Them with Citrus
Back to evil repelling ways, another way to keep your cats away from the windows and the blinds is to apply a repellent on the window stills so that they won’t approach. Citrus essential oils are one of the most potent cat repellents. You can use citronella, orange, or lemongrass.
To do this, you can sprinkle some oil on the window stills or soak some cotton balls in essential oil and put them on the window stills. Cats have a sense of smell that’s way sharper and more sensitive than humans, so the cotton balls will do.
Warning: Essential oils can harm your cat if it comes in close contact with them. That’s why you need to dilute them with water if you’re going to use this method. Three parts water to one part oil would do.
4. Plant Some Lavender or Rosemary
This is a well-known hack for driving your cats away from your garden, and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t try to use it indoors.
Cats hate rosemary and lavender. Lucky for us, lavender has a nice smell that we enjoy. Try to plant some rosemary and lavender in a pot and place them inside, close to the window. Once they’re there, your cat won’t approach the blinds next to them.
Place your plant pots like guardians to the blinds, and they shall be fine!
5. Keep the Chords Away
The cords of your blinds hanging freely could be very intriguing for your cats, and what do cats do when they see something intriguing? Yes, they go and check it out for themselves.
Make sure to keep your cords away from your cat’s sight. You can wrap them in a knot or use a cord cleat for that purpose.
6. Fulfill Their Climbing Instincts
Your cat might be messing with your blinds because she wants to climb the whole thing and sit on top of it.
Why? Because cats are natural climbers, they climb trees to stay away from predators. That’s what they do in the open wildlife. When it comes to an indoor setting, your cat might be acting on its natural instincts, and it won’t resist the temptation to climb any high post in your home.
The idea here is to try to satisfy their love for climbing away from your window and blinds. To do this, you need to buy your cat a climbing post that’s designed specifically for it to climb and sit on it. They have multiple levels to pose a challenge for your cat so that it doesn’t lose interest quickly.
You can get a cat scratching post, which comes covered in a material that your cat can scratch without hurting its claws. This way, you satisfy two pleasures of your cat; climbing and scratching. You don’t want it to practice either of them on your blinds, do you?
A cat tree would be a fantastic idea as well, especially that it comes with different levels that your cat can climb so it won’t get bored.
7. Surrender
Maybe your cat is after the view? Cats are observers, and they’d approach a window to look at what they can find outside. Sometimes there’s no other way than giving in to your cat, especially if it doesn’t get outside much. Roll up the blinds and get them off the way. Let your cat enjoy the view. After a while, she’ll get bored!
8. Get an Alternative for Blinds
If it’s getting out of hand, maybe it’s time to consider changing your blinds altogether.
There are two practical solutions here that are not that expensive: vertical blinds and faux wood blinds. Vertical blinds give cats the space to squeeze in and get through them, thus they can enjoy the window’s view, and it won’t damage the blinds.
Another nice alternative is the wood blinds. These blinds have wide spacing between them that allows the cat to see through. If she’s attacking the blinds to try to get to the window, she’ll get there while the blinds are still there. Win-win!
9. Startle Them
You can try to discipline your cat by startling it with a sprinkling spray whenever she tries and climbs the window—no need to make a special formula. Just water will do!
You can also use loud noises whenever your cat messes with the blinds and the windows. This way, they’ll correlate the loud noise with their nasty behavior!
10. Act Dumb
Cats can be like starving children who need attention in any way. A cat owner knows that well. Whether it’s positive or negative, your cat is after your attention, and she won’t stop what she’s doing until she gets the attention she wants.
One way to grab your attention might be messing up with the drapes to produce that loud noise. We know how intolerable these noises can be, but if you act dumb and ignore them multiple times, your cat will learn that this way will fail to grab your attention, so she’ll stop it and look for another way.
If your cat is messing with the blinds to get your attention, then there’s a big chance she’ll stop if you never give her the attention she wants when she does that. Smart, huh?
Wrap Up
Cats have some weird behaviors, provocative ones if we might say. Yet we adore them!
Keeping your cat away from your blinds isn’t an easy feat, but it’s doable. It just needs some observation from you to your cat along with some trial and error within these tips till you get it right.
I’ve been living with cats since 2008 and I can confidently say I have more feline friends than humans lol. I currently live with 5 cats in different life stages; two of them are less than one year old, one is 2-ish years old and the oldest two are 9-ish years old. I’ve developed a strong bond with cats over the years and I’m eager to share my experience through this blog. You can learn more about my cats here.