Real question this time...cats and front doors...

cheltenhamgirl

This is a real question, and one that my partner and myself would love to find an answer to....

We got our 9 month old cats (brother and sister) yesterday from a rescue centre. they are incredibly nosy and curious, and seem to want to know what's going on everywhere.

We live in a house where the front door opens out straight onto a pavement - it's not a really busy road, it's 30mph, but that's enough...

The front door opens directly into our living room, and the whole house downstairs is open plan, so no rooms to shut them in. Every time the front door opens they make a dash for it (they do this for every door in the house). As yet they haven't escaped, but we're really worried that one day they will, especially when we're coming in...

They have never been outside cats, but one day we'd like them to be. the rescue centre advised to keep them in for 6 weeks, then gradually let them out whilst we're there to supervise and build it up (obviously this would be into the back garden).

Has any one got any tips as to how to prevent them dashing out? Would it help taking them out to see 'outside' so their curiosity was gone? Would some sort of 'punishment' (not that I think I could ever punish them, they're so adorable) help? They love their dinner and are good eaters, but 'treats' don't seem to do it for them, so can't see those working. Any ideas? xxx

elvis_girl

Hi Cheltenham Girl. Whatever you do don't let them out to "satisfy their curiosity" - you'll make them worse!
What I do when I'm coming in is put my handbag or shopping bag in front of my feet to act as a barricade when I'm opening the front door. Other than that they will probably get tired of it eventually, but no amount of punishment will work

Phoenixx73

Perhapse a bag of catnip that you can toss as a distraction whenever you need to open the door from the inside. From the outside? carefully placed barriers ae the best. (legs work very well and they're handy.) perhapse with some very gentle persuasion from your fot to scoot them gently back indoors.. It's a tricky one but they'll pick it up quickly.

Oh and Acehole... We get it... you don;t like cats. please then don't post about them if you dislike them so much. leave these threads for what they were intended for.

cheltenhamgirl

Acehole wrote: »

I would suggets opening the door and throwing a ball into the street for them to fetch, then close said doot to cats and never open it again. oth

Sorry, but to ask the obvious question...why are you even on the pets board? You obviously have no interest in animals, in fact quite the opposite. Why waste your time and my time posting unhelpful and unnecessary comments. There are some boards on MSE i'm not interested in, so I jsut avoid them. Perhaps you should do that. Or maybe you're a sad lonely individual who thrives on making other people unhappy. Either way, please don't respond to any of my posts. (or any other animal lovers post for that matter).

Penny_Watcher

cheltenhamgirl wrote: »

Sorry, but to ask the obvious question...why are you even on the pets board? You obviously have no interest in animals, in fact quite the opposite. Why waste your time and my time posting unhelpful and unnecessary comments. There are some boards on MSE i'm not interested in, so I jsut avoid them. Perhaps you should do that. Or maybe you're a sad lonely individual who thrives on making other people unhappy. Either way, please don't respond to any of my posts. (or any other animal lovers post for that matter).

Becasue Ar*ehole is a troll. He/she/it is doing it for attention, like a stroppy toddler. *Yawn* They get their kicks from attempting to wind up normal well adjusted people who actually have a life.

Best thing to do is firstly add them to your ignore list under your User CP so you won't see their posts and secondly try not to react.

Bun

Have you considered one of the roll blind sort of baby gates that you can get over the front door? They may be able to jump it, but if they aren't able to weave their way through your feet it will at least slow them down.

cheltenhamgirl

Bun wrote: »

Have you considered one of the roll blind sort of baby gates that you can get over the front door? They may be able to jump it, but if they aren't able to weave their way through your feet it will at least slow them down.

Sounds good...although I've never heard of them....how do they work? Any ideas where I could get one? The door opens inward, so would that be a problem?

Bun

Was going to look one up on mothercare for you, but if it opens inwards that's a bit of a pain. In that case, you could have a big piece of card/plywood that you have somewhere to put across the base of the door when you enter, or taped in place. YOu could step over it. We did something similar with an internal door when we had kittens in the spare room.

Richie23_2

cheltenhamgirl wrote: »

Sorry, but to ask the obvious question...why are you even on the pets board? You obviously have no interest in animals, in fact quite the opposite. Why waste your time and my time posting unhelpful and unnecessary comments. There are some boards on MSE i'm not interested in, so I jsut avoid them. Perhaps you should do that. Or maybe you're a sad lonely individual who thrives on making other people unhappy. Either way, please don't respond to any of my posts. (or any other animal lovers post for that matter).

Hi Cheltenhamgirl.. ignore the idiot. had arguments with him all day as he likes drowning cats.. trust me he's not worth it. i think he spelt his profile name wrong..should be Arr$ehole!

Anyway our cats the same running out the front door..we find the more you try and get it in the more it wants to stay out. She is currently addicted to Whiska temptations ..98p from Asda..we let her out the back now and wheneve we want her in just shake her treats and shes in within a flash.

I would try and get them used to the treats and see how they react when you shake the box.. they might do the same as ours.

Have you thought of getting them chipped? if they do run off then easily trackable then!

Goood luck and remember ignore Arr$sehole.. imean Acehole..:D

Richie23_2

Acehole wrote: »

I would suggets opening the door and throwing a ball into the street for them to fetch, then close said doot to cats and never open it again. oth

Post reported - not just because of this post but all his other posts today..its unnecessary when people are looking gor help!

cheltenhamgirl

Richie23 wrote: »

Post reported - not just because of this post but all his other posts today..its unnecessary when people are looking gor help!

Thankyou, was going to see it as have read all his other posts on the other thread, but wasn't sure how to go about it. It hasn't upset me, but I do feel it's totally unnecessary.