The next best thing was to install a cat door in a window. I looked at some of the drop in versions (this one is actually quite affordable and cheaper than when I looked earlier)
I decided to build my own. I used a lockable cat door and some plywood to create my own version.
Basically, cut a piece of 3/4" plywood so that it is slightly smaller than the opening on the inside of the window but larger than the opening for the outside. Cut a hole the size of the tunnel for the cat door.
I just traced the outside of the tunnel onto the plywood. Drill a hole using a 1/4" drill bit at one corner of the traced hole and then use a jigsaw cut out the traced area.
Since my cat is getting old (16 years old) I used some of the left over plywood to make a little porch on the outside of the door for her to use to jump onto from outside. It was basically a 1 square foot piece with some 1' 2x4's on the sides to support it and then nailed into the larger piece.
After putting all that together, I gave it a couple of coats of white exterior paint.
I let that dry overnight.
To get the sheet to stay in the window I first lined the window with silicone weather strip tape on the outside edge and some foam weather strip behind that in the window track area.
The board with the cat door was then weatherproof, but wasn't actually secure in the window since it could just be pushed in from the outside.
To resolve that I got some metal strap (1/8" thick and 1" wide) with holes in it and cut it into 6" lengths. I put the board in place in the window and positioned the 6" metal straps so that they extended from the board and out to the edge of the window track. I traced two holes for each strap making sure to be far enough in to avoid the inside edge of the exterior of the window frame. Next, drilled holes where I'd traced and put carriage bolts with nuts and lock washers on the interior side. The carriage bolts have smooth rounded heads so that they can't be opened from the outside.
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