Hi,
We have had our newest kitten, Sheba, since the summer. She is now 5 months old. In the past 2 months, she has managed to run out of the front door when it has been opened at least 10 times, usually because my father has "forgotten" to look for her before leaving, or because she has managed to squeeze past our blocking hands/feet/bags when we're coming in.
Although we live on a fairly quiet street, we are worried about her getting run over by a car or being hurt by one of the numerous tough-looking neighbourhood cats (three of them have fought our eldest cat through the door screen in the past).
Each time she gets out we spend upwards of a half-hour trying to wrangle her back inside. We are wary of leaving her to "find her way home" because she just gallops around willy-nilly at top speed - she doesn't stop to sniff anything or explore and I don't think she would neccessarily find her way back to the house on her own because she's not paying attention to her surroundings.
She obviously enjoys the "game" of being chased up and down the street, which probably has reinforced her wanting to get out. What can we do to discourage this? She does not respond to a spray of water, puffs of air, cans filled with coins or marbles, reprimanding, or anything else we have tried for this and her many other kittenish behaviours (climbing up drapes, jumping on the stove and counters, etc).
Is this wanderlust just part of her personality that will calm down as time goes on and she is spayed, or is there something we can do to really discourage her from bolting out the door? We definitely don't want her to be an outdoor cat and we're running out of ideas.
Thanks so much for your help!
tetheriel
We have had our newest kitten, Sheba, since the summer. She is now 5 months old. In the past 2 months, she has managed to run out of the front door when it has been opened at least 10 times, usually because my father has "forgotten" to look for her before leaving, or because she has managed to squeeze past our blocking hands/feet/bags when we're coming in.
Although we live on a fairly quiet street, we are worried about her getting run over by a car or being hurt by one of the numerous tough-looking neighbourhood cats (three of them have fought our eldest cat through the door screen in the past).
Each time she gets out we spend upwards of a half-hour trying to wrangle her back inside. We are wary of leaving her to "find her way home" because she just gallops around willy-nilly at top speed - she doesn't stop to sniff anything or explore and I don't think she would neccessarily find her way back to the house on her own because she's not paying attention to her surroundings.
She obviously enjoys the "game" of being chased up and down the street, which probably has reinforced her wanting to get out. What can we do to discourage this? She does not respond to a spray of water, puffs of air, cans filled with coins or marbles, reprimanding, or anything else we have tried for this and her many other kittenish behaviours (climbing up drapes, jumping on the stove and counters, etc).
Is this wanderlust just part of her personality that will calm down as time goes on and she is spayed, or is there something we can do to really discourage her from bolting out the door? We definitely don't want her to be an outdoor cat and we're running out of ideas.
Thanks so much for your help!
tetheriel