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When my cat wants to go on the balcony she starts “pawing” the window blinds which produces a horrible noise, especially when I sleep or rest. It’s like she is ringing a “cat doorbell” for me. It’s little to say it drives me completely crazy.
Luckily she is “civilized” enough so she doesn’t actually damage the blinds – but some cats are not so considerate, like playful kittens or anxious cats, and they may do substantial damage to your blinds.
So if your cat is temperamental and tends to damage things in the home, you need to find what are the best cat proof blinds that will serve you well and be resilient to cat mischief at the same time.
Windows blinds are a hassle to install, at least for me, so in my opinion, it would be better to choose them wisely than having to repair or replace them.
I’ve done some research on what are the best blinds to have with cats and I have separated some high-quality blinds for this purpose.
What Kind of Blinds Cats Can’t Destroy?
Go With Cordless Blind Or Automatic Blinds
This is a very important feature for a house with a cat: almost all cats love playing with a blind cord. I personally had to hide them high above on my french doors to keep them out of reach for my cat.
While it seems harmless there have been too many accidents involving blinds’ cords that it is best that you don’t risk injuring your cat this way.
Besides risking your cat’s health or even life, a cat playing with those cords can damage the blinds so it is truly in everybody’s best interest to simply get cordless or automatic window blinds.
This will ensure your peace of mind when you’re away from home.
Useful tip: if you already have blinds that are not cordless, for your cat’s protection I highly recommend that you get these safety wraps for blind cords.
Wooden Blinds Are Perfect Cat Proof Blinds
Wood blinds are one of the best blinds that are cat proof but before you make a final decision you need to know a few things about them, I will give this information below.
First of all, there are 2 types of wood blinds: real wood and faux wood window blind. I will give a brief description for both types with some product suggestions to make it easy for you to make an informed and confident decision.
Benefits of Real Wood Blinds
- Great durability: real wood has great resistance to daily wear and tear which is especially suitable for a home with cats
- Hard to break: the material is very strong, making it almost impossible for a cat to break it (if you compare them to aluminium blinds which are so easily bendable you can see the advantage of wood blinds)
- Top insulation: the windows are parts of a home where the biggest heat-cold exchange is done. In winter this is where most of the cold is coming from and warm air leaving the home and in summer where most of the heat is entering the home. Real wood window covering offer great insulation for these situations so the energy flow is brought to the minimum. As you can guess such good insulation will also save you money
- Beutiful look: nothing can beat a natural material in the way how it looks and how it creates a “homey atmosphere”. Real window covering will elevate the look of every room, adding a timeless and classic touch to it and will make you feel so cozy
Real Wood Cat Friendly Window Blinds
First of all, I want to let you know that these real wood blinds are customizable -which makes things sooo much easier don’t you agree? As a single woman, I truly appreciate everything that makes my life easier, and custom-made blinds are definitely one of those things.
This means that the blinds will be easy to install as they have been cut to fit perfectly your window, you just need to assemble them (which customers claim to be easy to do as well).
I always love reviews that directly involve cats and especially the ones that have pictures with the product and cats in it, and to my great joy I have found them for these blinds: you can see here that this is a cat owner who is very satisfied with the materials and how easy it was to install
Positive Reviews:
- Simple ordering process with double confirming follow-up
- Quick turnaround time on custom sizing built exactly as requested
- All needed parts were included and installation was a breeze
- Excellent quality blinds that were just as expected
- Beautiful wood blinds, much preferred over faux wood
- Sturdy blinds that raise and lower easily
- Friendly and helpful staff when contacted with questions about measurements
- Great looking, very light, and easy to install
- Dream blinds that deliver quality
Negative Reviews:
- Pricey blinds but you get what you pay for
- The wood grain on blinds is printed and looks plasticity, not as expected
- The cordless lift is tough to pull down and gets lopsided when raised
Overall, the product received mixed reviews, with some customers praising the product’s quality and ease of installation, while others found the blinds to be overpriced and cheaply made – but there are always people that won’t like a product and there were people truly satisfied with these blinds.
The genuine wood makes them look great in any space, if aesthetics is important to you then this is one of the best options for you. I truly believe that cat owners will enjoy them very much!
Benefits of Faux Wood Window Blinds
While the beauty of real wood blinds can’t be disputed, faux wood blinds are also very popular mainly because of these reasons:
- Affordable price: natural material always costs more and for those on a budget faux wood blinds are an excellent choice
- They look almost the same as real wood blinds: in terms of aesthetics there is almost nothing lost. The high quality faux wood blinds are made to match the original, with carefully chosen colors, stains and patterns. For the everyday people, like most of us are, these blinds will look authentic and you can’t tell the difference between the real thing and the faux ones.
- Great moisture resistance: this is one of the strongest point of faux wood blinds, they endure humidity extremely well. So for places with humid climate or rooms with increased levels of humidity faux wood blinds are highly recommended (like bathrooms or kitchens). Besides being moiture resistant, they are also perfect for other extreme temperatures, like very hot weather, or places with varying temperatures during a day or a season.
- Great durability: as they are made of (or coated above the real wood core with) synthetic materials such as vynil and pvc they are exremely resistant to wear and tear, hard to bend or break, and generally last a long time.
- Easy maintenace: the vinyl or the pvc materials can endure all kinds of chemical cleaning liquids so you can easily clean them with the right product
Faux Wood Window Coverings That Are Cat Proof
I have carefully chosen these faux wood blinds especially for cat owners – they are cordless which is exactly what a cat owner needs. Check what people have to say about how these blinds performed in homes with cats:
- The most convincing testimony from a household wih multiple cats – the blinds stood the test
- They loved the cordless feauture – their cat has nothing to chew on anymore
- I had to include one more review for the awesome cordless feature – it truly saves your blinds and your cat
- No strings for cats to get tangled up in, and asyou can read they give extra layer of insulation to the windows
Besides being truly cat friendly blinds here are the other benefits that these blinds offer:
- most customers found them easy to install but if you are not a handy person maybe it’s best to hire someone to hang them (that’s what I would peronally do) or find someone to help you
- The blinds are well constructed and beautiful, they have a very clean look and will fit perfectly in any home
- They keep a room cool and keep the sun out
- There are a lot of sizes to choose from
- They are light weight compared to real wood blinds but still sturdy and of good quality
- One of the best feautures is the way they open and close: this is done by simply pulling them down and pushing them up, here is a video to make it more clear, I think this is absolutely great, so smooth, quick and easy
- You get and expensive look for an affordable price, the slats have wood grain look
- They offer privacy when closed and block a lot of light out
A word of caution: please read the instructions for measuring thouroughly as even a small difference in sizes can have a big impact.
Faux Wood Window Blinds That Are Cat Proof (Great Budget Buy)
These blinds are extremely popular (the number of reviews is through the roof) – the reason must be the good quality you get for a reasonable price. As they are made of faux wood they will stand up to cats which is backed up by quite a few reviews:
- this buyer described the blinds as good and sturdy that can withstand a naughty cat
- the slats are strong enough not to bend which is perfect for cat owners
- they have a cordless lift mechanism – for a home with pets and/or children this is essential
- easy to install (and work great for a multiple cats home)
- you can push them up or pull them down, or you can twist the bar to open the blinds to let light in or completely close them to keep out sunlight
- they can give you the level of privacy you need
If you are on a budget I highly recommend these blinds – you’ll get quality at an affordable price and they will perform excellently both for humans and for cats.
A Smart Way To Make Your Window Blinds Cat Proof
Looking for solutions for a cat-friendly window treatment I came across a brilliant idea on how to make your already existing blinds cat proof – without the expense of buying new ones.
I thought it would be best explained through a drawing so below you can see how simple and wonderful this solution is.
If your window configuration allows it, all you need is a tension rod to put it at a certain height (determined by how high your cat paws at the window) between the walls or in the window frame and you’ll need a customized curtain to hang on the tension rod.
The best thing about this solution is that you’ll preserve your blinds, which now can be expensive, and you can use a replaceable, inexpensive curtain material to cover the space below the tension rod for privacy.
If you like this solution and you don’t already have a tension rod then the below one is of great quality:
- super easy to install, no need for drilling
- very sturdy, heavy duty rod
- easily expandable
- versatile: you can use it to hang all kinds of stuff (one of them as shown in the picture above), use it as an indoor/outdoor curtain rod, to hang clothes…
Plantation Shutter – Among The Best Blinds for Cats
These plantation shutters look absolutely amazing and people have given them raving reviews. As a cat lover, I think they will be perfect for a home with cats.
So what makes them so attractive for cat owners?
First of all, they are very strong, and they have huge slats – compared to other blinds. As you can guess, a wide slat is impossible for a cat to break so they will last a very long time in a home with cats.
They are extremely simple to install and also highly valuable – they are so easy to operate, you can open and close them with your hands – this simplicity is great in my opinion, it means that the chances of them not functioning are extremely small. I love this video which shows the best features of these shutters, it’s short and to the point.
I have to mention again that they will literally brighten up any room – they look so simple and yet will totally elevate the look of any window.
Not to forget – they are custom made, this is precious info for all the cat ladies out there (and also cat guys who don’t feel very crafty or are simply too busy in life to dedicate a lot of time on home installations).
There are no hanging strings or a dangling cord – which makes them 100% cat safe.
Even customer service is described as excellent – you truly get a complete product from your start of order to the finish.
A solid product with high quality that is guaranteed to make you happy and hold strong against any cat harassment 🙂
Window Blinds For The “Advanced” Cat Owners
I was debating whether I should include here these motorized blinds but the more I investigated the more I liked them so I had to present them to you. These blinds are perfect for people who get so carried away by what they are doing that they forget to get up and do the necessary things around the home! Like, put up or put down their window blinds…
You know how cats can be absolutely annoying when they set their mind to something. Well, at least you don’t have to worry about your blinds – with a push of a button you can make them unreachable to your cat! It CAN as good as it sounds :), check these smart blinds below:
Although smart blinds can be quite expensive, this roller shade is one of the more affordable ones that you can find out there. It is made of polyester fabric and is designed to block as much sunlight as possible.
The greatest feature of this shade is that it has a remote control to operate the shade motors which open, close, or adjust the shades in the middle position. It is possible for you to control these smart blinds even with voice control devices such as Alexa or Google Home.
Another great point is that these blinds are custom made for you so by precise measuring of your window you can ensure that you get a tight fit.
I have to mention the cordless design making these blinds cat safe as there will be no dangling cord as a temptation for the cat.
Cat owners should be able to get fancy stuff for their home too! With these blinds, you’ll be able to do this because as soon as you notice your cat hanging around the window you can simply and easily adjust the height of the roller shade and make it unreachable for your cat. Also, when you leave your home you can do the same and leave the blinds on the desired height – all done effortlessly on a remote control or voice control. Just perfect for busy (or lazy) cat owners 🙂
And I was able to find testimony from a cat owner (video included) – which proves that these roller shades and cats do get along just fine.
Are Vertical Blinds Good For Cats?
All over the internet you will read that vertical blinds are recommended for cats but I actually disagree, here is why:
It is true that vertical blinds by being vertical are easy for a cat to separate and see-through without damaging them, but all vertical blinds are connected at the bottom with strings (or louvres officially called) which is something even an adult cat can’t resist let alone a kitten. This is like putting an irresistible toy for your cat right where your blinds are.
Here is my cat watching a bird. I have aluminum Venetian blinds but my cat is actually very careful with them (aside from the annoying sound they make when she paws them) and they are pretty much preserved.
I came across a short but informative video that I would like to share with you:
