Door Training

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone has ever trained their indoor cats to stay away from the door to outside? Or at least not to go out it.

Right now, I live in a basement apartment and it would be darned near impossible for the kittens to get outside. They would have to sneak through the apartment door, go up the stairs, get through the wood and screen doors to outside, and escape the fenced backyard without anyone noticing. Since the both us and the people upstairs are very cautious about our animals, I'm not overly concerned. They have tried to get out the apartment door a couple of times, but I think they are mainly curious about what is out there.

However, thinking ahead to when we move to a house, have kids, etc., I can see more possibilities for getting out. So, if possible, I'd like to try now to teach them not to go through the door, even if it is open. Has anyone had success with this? Maybe eventually, inside cats just show no interest in heading out the door? (I've never owned a cat before, but I know that our dogs never really tried to get out unless they were going to see someone in the front yard).

We will be getting the kittens microchipped when they are spayed and I'm still deciding on whether we'll harness train them for walks once they are fully vaccinated.

I'm mainly just curious. If there's anything we can do, I figure we might as well start now before they pick up any bad habits! I've started training them to "sit" using kibble as treats, and they seem to be picking up on it, but it could just be wishful thinking!

Thanks for any advice!

I am not as experienced as most here, but this is what I am trying with my 7 month old kittens. These are orphans that I have had from a week old. They love to dart to the door when it is opened. I do not squirt them with a water bottle. I have a training session every day and stand at the door with the water bottle. When I open the door and they run to it I squirt the side of the door, not a kittie. The noise and residual sprinkle of water that bounces off the door stops them in their tracks. I hold the door open and wait for them to move toward it and make another squirt with the bottle. Next I empty the water bottle and repeat the process the next day just squeezing the empty water bottle to make the noise when they come to the door. The noise from the empty bottle is working so far. I hope that makes sense. Good luck. They can be trained.

Someone just emailed me an article from an animal behaviourist, and that was the main strategy. Unfortunately, my cats have become immune to the squirting sounds due to us having a few of the glade freshmatic sprayers around the apartment. I don't know if the sound of the spray bottle will deter them, but I can figure someone else out for that!

They also suggested not greeting your cat just inside the door. They suggested picking a spot inside the house/apartment to say goodbye and greet them!

I figure both strategies are easy enough to get started now!

Thanks for the advice!