How to keep a cat from running outside?? - Paw Talk

wellahart · #1 12-13-2005, 10:21 PM

Is there anyway to keep a cat from sneaking past you when you open the door? This past weekend, Millie gave me quite a scare. I had brought Shadow in from going to the bathroom and she somehow got past me without me even seeing her. She didn't have a collar on because she is really too small yet and she keeps getting is stuck on her mouth when i do put one on her. Anyways, it was probably and hour to an hour and a half before I even noticed she was missing because I went to give her her vitamin and she didn't come running like she normally does. I looked all over the house in all her normal hiding places and then I ran outside. I went up and down the sidewalk in front of my apartment and didn't see any kitty prints in the snow so I was really starting to get worried. (It had snowed 6-8 inches the day before and it was still below freezing out) Anyways, as I was walking back from the end of the sidewalk I saw her in my neighbors recycling bin squeezed into the corner.
The poor baby was so cold and her paws and tail were wet and dirty from the bottom of the recycling bin. I took her inside and filled the sink with some warm water and washed her paws and tail. Then I held her in a towel while she warmed up and then used the hair dryer to finish drying her all the way since I know kittens can get sick easy. She hasn't tried since that day, but she is starting to get closer and closer to the door again. I put the collar back on her and wrote her name and my number on it just in case, but I had to put it a little tighter than I would like because of her getting it stuck in her mouth. (it's not tight, but it won't slip off is she is caught on something even though it does have stretchy cord at one point to make it stretch) I'm just so scared of losing her. Even though I think as long as she sees white stuff, she won't be trying it again anytime soon!

Lou

pihlaja · #2 12-14-2005, 01:56 PM

Aside from either a) never going outside yourself or b) building a mudroom addition onto your house, no, there's really no way you can TRULY keep them from running outside.

You really just have to be very alert and adopt new ways of opening your door (I open my door a crack, stick my foot through it to keep the cat from squeezing through the crack, look around for her and then proceed to enter). When bringing gorceries in, I have had to lock the cats in the bedroom so we could keep the door open.

In the winter, my door-darter Gerona doesn't try to escape since she doesn't like the snow. But when the first grass blades of spring start to emerge and she sees the birds return, she's ready to go out! So, it's just a matter of being extra alert when you open and close your door.

Also, so Gerona gets some enjoyment from the outdoors, we occassionally take her out on a flexi-leash and let her run around in the grass. It has helped the door-darting problem to a minor degree, but there are days when she wants to go out sans leash and she'll do anything to try and run wild!

My husband and I are also planning on building a cat enclosure that is accessible through a window so the cats may be able to further enjoy the outdoors in a safe manner.

http://www.kittykouch.com/articles/catenclosure.html

You might want to consider that as well.

wellahart · #3 12-14-2005, 07:47 PM

I'll just have to be extra careful I guess. I'm in an apartment so there really isn't much I can do. It's a small one bedroom. I guess I could lock her in the room everytime I need to take the dog out. I was hoping that she would've learned her lesson and stay away from the white stuff, but just last night she tried to do it again. I think she thinks she's a dog and should be outside just like her buddy. I'll just keep her collar and ID on her at all times. She has a microchip too.

wellahart · #4 12-14-2005, 07:54 PM

Also when it gets warm, I'll get her a leash so she can go out with shadow sometimes too. My roommate used to do that with her cat, Shadow's best buddy before the move and the reason I got a cat, and he loved it! Millie was also named after Milo because she is the female form of him! He was quite a character and had a way of letting you know exactly how he felt and so does millie! I'm really glad I got her, but she is such a headache sometimes

savepaws · #5 12-15-2005, 04:36 PM

When I lived in town on a busy road we had to be so careful with our cats, so we started leaving squirt bottles at the exits and would grab it and spray them if they came anywhere near the door. Eventually, all we had to do was pick up the squirt bottle and they'd run in the other direction. They learned to stay away but if they ever needed a reminder we would grab the squirt bottle.

Just a suggestion, not sure if it'd work for your cat!

Fane81 · #6 12-15-2005, 11:15 PM

i agree with savepaws - give her a little squirt with a water bottle when she tries to run outside, and it might solve the problem. my brother and my best-friend both do this with their kittens (who also love to sneak outside and run around like maniacs) my friend's kitten learned the sound of her car and would wait by the door, and as soon as she opened it, Miss Jinx would go flying outside! however- since the squirt bottle, the kittens won't even go near the door - they just sit in the windowsills. hehe

wellahart · #7 12-16-2005, 12:46 PM

Thanks. I'll have to try that since I can't keep a collar on her anymore. She woke me up at 4:30 this morning spazzing out on the pillow above my head because somehow she had got the collar into her mouth. Don't ask me how this happened since the collar was tight enough to prevent this. I guess she somehow got it loosened. Anyways....she tore my hand up and bit me while I was trying to wrestle her to get the collar off so I guess I won't be leaving a collar on her. She is such a handful! I just hope the water bottle works because it didn't work with her namesake....he would just get mad and attack you when you least expected it!