How do I keep my cats from sliding the screen doors open?

Magnets actualy work surprisingly well for this, but you need to use **neodymium magnets** rather than the flimsy ceramic ones you find in a junk drawer. The trick is to mount one at the very top and one at the very bottom of the door frame. If you just put one in the middle, a determined cat can still peel the bottom corner away enought to get a paw through and eventually wiggle the whole thing open.

You can get small, nickel-plated magnets with pre-drilled countersunk holes. Screw one into the side channel of the house and glue or screw a matching metal strike plate—or another magnet—to the screen door frame. When that bottom magnet clicks into place, it takes significantly more force than a cat can generate by just hooking their claws into the mesh. Since you’re pulling from the handle in the center, you have the leverage to break the magnetic seal easily, but the cat pulling from the floor level just causes the door to rack in the tracks. Another thing that helps is checking your roller tension. If those screen doors glide too easily, they’re basically a toy for a cat. You can ussually find a small adjustment screw on the top or bottom edge of the door frame. Tighten them just a hair so there’s a tiny bit of natural resistance. It won’t stop a human, but it makes the door feel "heavy" to a pet, wich often discourages them from trying to move it.

If they keep clawing at the mesh itself to get a grip, you might want to look into **pet screen** material. It’s a much thicker, vinyl-coated polyester that’s way harder to puncture. Standard fiberglass mesh will get shredded pretty fast once they realize they have to pull harder against the magnets. Plus, the extra weight of the pet mesh makes the door harder for them to slide open on its own.

While magnets address the latching force, a mechanical stop involving a tension rod placed within the lower track channel provides a more definitive tactile barrier that exploits the door's inherent lack of vertical rigidity. If you use a spring-loaded rod precisely measured to fit the gap between the trailing edge of the frame and the jamb, it creates a physical deadbolt effect necessitating a specific manual dexterity that feline cognitive processes cannot accommodate. You must ensure the rod diameter is substantial enough to avoid displacement by erratic pawing, as a thinner rod might just rattle and fall, rendering your security efforts entirely moot.

Oh man, I finally found a group that appreciates doors as much as I do!! My orange tabby is a total menace with the screens too, but he usally just tries to climb them like a ladder. Since everyone is talking about sliders, does anyone know if those magnetic screen curtains actualy hold up against pets? I’m thinking about getting one for my back porch but I’m worried my cat will just treat it like a giant toy and rip the whole thing down in five seconds. Is the mesh on those things strong or just cheap?