LOL! I haven't had this problem yet, but perhaps locating a nice cat tree right next to the window so he can climb that instead. The swinging cord should be fastened by wrapping around an anchor, for his safety and any childrens' safety.

I don't have any good advice - except maybe the squirt of water or noise thing used to train cats to not do what you don't want them to do.

Your post brought to mind a cat we had when I was a kid. He would sit on the bed in front of a window that had Venetian blinds and run his paw down the blinds' slats until someone came and raised the blinds. Very annoying but hilarious at the same time. He had us trained.

Good luck!

That may be what he was doing rosesstink. I saw him eyeing them, and then he walked over and looked at them intently and just put a paw on them. That's when I grabbed him. He was kind of loopy with a sedative and wanted out and had given up on the other door. He's walked by these things for a couple of weeks without even looking at them until today. I've trained him so far with the noise thing so will try that with him if he looks at the shades again. He also jumped on the table today for the first time. I think he was trying to tell me he wanted out.

Yes, I know we need to do something about the strings. They are on a door without a lot of extra room for tie downs. Also, I want to shorten the cords as much as possible while the shades are down and then I think they won't hang very far. No kids here, just us old folks and the cat.

He's really not an indoor cat, at least not a house cat. He usually rules over the garage and office unless he is feeling lonely, and then comes in the kitchen and dining room. Today he went to the vet so I was forcing him to stay where I could see him.

This post was edited by marti8a on Wed, Feb 13, 13 at 22:03

We had duettes in the old house and we had to hang the cords way up out of reach otherwise the cat would use them as "dental floss" and chew right through them...then we'd have to restring...PITA!

Our first cat used to use the grass cloth wall paper as a scratch post...which required patching.

They do make motion detector cans that blast air which may be useful...or the hang balloons and as the cat tries to claw, pops a balloon and then stays away

Annie said: "They do make motion detector cans that blast air which may be useful...or the hang balloons and as the cat tries to claw, pops a balloon and then stays away"

Ok, this would give me a heart attack in the middle of the night because I know that is exactly when that would go off! (But maybe this is the answer for the deer in my yard and my quest to figure out how I will have a garden in the new house...)

I have no tips or ideas about cats and your blinds. I've had cats in the past, loved them dearly. But quite frankly, they are too smart for me and they have made it quite clear that they are the boss.....I'm sticking with my cockapoo. (Maybe try some double sided tape on the window sill, he might not like sticky feeling on his paws--I think that was a tip once to keep kitties of the counters)

This post was edited by beekeeperswife on Thu, Feb 14, 13 at 8:20

Ah, yes. . . cats and bamboo blinds. A constant source of annoyance in my house.

We have a 1 year old and two 4 month old kittens who love to play with the dangling cords. So now when I raise the blinds, I tuck the cords into the bottom fold of the blinds. Simple and works perfectly.

As for the climbing. . . I never even thought of that until yesterday, when I walked into my bathroom to find my little calico, Lucy, plastered to the middle of the window/blind! Looked like one of those Halloween witch crashing-into-a-door/tree/wall decorations! Hysterical sight, really, and once I yelled an "AHHHHH" she jumped down and ran. We'll see if that happens again.

The best treatments for cats and dogs are the cheapest you can find because they WILL destroy them.

Our cats have not destroyed anything we own - from kittenhood to now elderly years. We supply them with their own cat furniture, scratching posts and toys so they are happy to use those.