A new solution to an old problem

I'm  I have many reasons why I don't sleep much and I've always been a night owl. Even when I was a kid I could easily pull an all nighter playing Nintendo, Barbies if Katie came over to stay, or organizing something. Yes, my OCD started at a young age! Anyways, one of the major problems lately to having a restful nights worth of sleep is our cats. No, don't even say "get rid of them" because that is not and will not be an option. They're great cats except between 12-5 am because they want to go outside then come back in. 

Last night Nathan said he was 4 different times dealing with the cats. I didn't stir once because I took some tums for the acid reflux I've caused myself from stressing out lately and one Rx anxiety pill that I knew would make me sleep solid.i usually go for a long run on Saturday mornings with Nathan, but I told him last night "do not wake me up unless the house is on fire or there is someone with a weapon." I slept a solid 10.5-11 hours, but I feel blah and outta whack right now. Perhaps some fresh air and movement will help me. 

I  think I've found a new solution to help our sleep deprivation due to the cats. I found this on Amazon earlier today. Why didn't I even think to look for something like this years ago? It's a unit that you sit in your window sill and secure it. It comes with stuff to seal the edges to help insulate it better and to secure the window top so it cannot be opened from the outside. Genius!! The picture here shows a vinyl flap, but the other one I'm looking at says it has a piece that goes around the flap and you can lock the door, have it open in/out, in only, and out only. 

I briefly thought I could buy a $10-15 cat door and make my own window unit. I don't feel like investing my time or effort and I don't know what materials I would use. $123.50 is worth a good nights sleep to me and that's cheaper than one night in a nice hotel room.

Honestly I'm not concerned with someone trying to break in and as easy as this is to install I can take it out when we're outta town. What does concern me is other critters coming in! I've had a squirrel run in the window after I've enjoyed an adult beverage (OK FINE- several adult beverages) and I chased it around the house with a frying pan that I was beating on with a wooden spatula. It found its own way back outside and no harm. I haven't had any critters try to get in lately but my cats are so loving that they like to bring me gifts. Lots of gifts. I really don't want to find mauled mice, birds, voles, moles, and so on in the house. Sometimes my "gifts" are alive and well and my kitty gets upset when I return it back to its home. I'm weighing my options and will give an update if I do end up ordering this. It has great reviews online by the way. 

Other things I've tried to stop the noise is place double sided tape (bought at Petsmart) on my bedroom door and window sills. They don't like the feel of it and stop scratching the door, but it doesn't last long because they're hairy little beasts and once it loses the tackiness its game on again. I've locked them up in a pet carrier in the back room before. I hate doing that. No room to move around, bathroom, and or food or water. It's a small carrier and my cats are rather large. The squirt bottle and ignoring them doesn't work either. I have considered getting a portable electric fencing kit (like you would use for a garden) and hooking it to the outside of my bedroom window. They go out and stay out for the night. When they try to beat on my window 2-3 hours later...buzz buzz. I would use lowest setting, but that's still not very nice. Also the UPS guy and other visitors may question our sanity.  The wire would look better than a sheet of plywood secured like I considered as well. 

Do any of you have any ideas or solutions  for pets that constantly want to run in and out?