It seems as though replacing the screen door that leads out to my patio is becoming an annual event. I love my cat dearly, but her primary method of communicating that she wants to go out is to stretch with her claws gripping the screen door, then to glance back at me. I suppose I've reinforced this behavior, since I'm quick to jump up and let her out before she does too much damage to the screen door. Unfortunately, the cumulative effect of her clawing, combined with that of the cat from next door who thinks my screen door is his scratching post, is that by the time spring rolls around, my screen has gaping holes in it.



I know I could buy a screen door with a pet guard on it, but I suspect that my precious feline would still find a way to get her claws into the screening. Last year, I made my annual pilgrimage to the home improvement store and bought another lightweight (okay, flimsy) screen door. I also picked up some screening for my son's bedroom window screen, since that seems to be the neighbor cat's second favorite scratching post.

When I got home, I discovered - much to my chagrin - that when I'd closed the hatch of my PT Cruiser, it had squeezed the frame of the screen door. That squeeze broke the corner of the frame, making it impossible to install (I told you it was flimsy). In an unplanned, not very pretty home improvement project, I replaced the screening in the patio screen door. From that point on, I cringed every time my cat reached upward and into her claw-grabbing stretch.

Needless to say, I was faced with the same problem this spring - tears in my screen door from too may cat claws. I told myself that I wasn't going to go through the same trials and tribulations this time, so started to do some research. Much to my surprise and delight, I found an ingenious solution to my problem - a frameless screen door, the opening of which is secured by magnets.

Because it's frameless, it required no tools for installation. Think of a tension-spring drapery rod. All I had to do was slide the rod through the tunnel in the screening, and then attach the sides of the screen to the doorjamb with Velcro. There are magnets at the center and bottom of the screen, and the bottom of the screen door is weighted. Not only can my cat go in and out as often as she pleases, but I found that I can go through the screen with my hands full and it silently closes behind me. It's not only the perfect solution for pets and backyard barbecues, but my son appreciates the fact that I don't have to constantly remind him to close the screen door when he goes outside - it automatically closes!