Training a Kitten Not to Try Escaping Out the Door

Taking care of an elderly parent, and we have a 2 1/2--month old male kitten that is as fast as a greyhound.

I am woried to death he will escape and run out a door whenever one of us goes outside. We both are ever so careful--pulling the inner door closed behind us when out in the yard, etc. I know we will get the microchip inserted when he is old enough (vet said that happens when he gets fixed at 6--months).

Well, yesterday, he got out while I wasn't home and became so scared by this new experience of the outdoors that he, thank God, scampered back in the house--much to the relief of my mom.

How did all of you deal with an active cat that was a stay--in only cat?


Dale

Perhaps the "scare" will be a cure because that's what happened with my cat.

She was a stray who adopted me when she was about one year old. Cats like to rush doors as a form of play, and since I wanted her to be totally indoors, I tried to be careful when coming and going. However, when she had been with me about six months, she got out one morning when I came back in after taking out the garbage--and ignored all my pleas to return.

I had to go to work, so she remained outside all day, but was waiting at the door when I came home that afternnoon. She could hardly wait for me to unlock the door, scampered onto the couch--and slept for about four hours! She hadn't realized that she would not be able to get back into the house as easily as she'd exited, and she'd forgotten how vigilent she had to be out in the "wild"--i.e., unable to nap all day as she had been used to doing.

From then on, whenever she saw me preparing to leave the house, she made sure that she was nowhere near the door! She had lost her taste for escaping.

I'm sure there is a thread on here somewhere relating to this fear of escaping; I'll find it.
Thanks.

I guess a collar is always a safe and peace-of-mind piece of hardware to consider for an indoor-only cat (kitten).

I'd love some tips on this, too. My new kitten is microchipped and I ordered an id tag for him but I am still paranoid about him getting out.

He is SO fast and everytime I come home and open the front door a crack his nose is pushing as hard as possible to get out. He's never been outside before- I think he's just trying to get to me.

I was unsuccessful in trying to keep my older kitty inside. I have given up and he is now an indoor/outdoor cat.

I'm really hoping I can keep my new little kittens inside. Hopefully someone has some tips.

It's a bit hard to stop them from trying.

But if they do get out, most kittens who have never been outside will stop near the door for a while because they're nervous and checking out the surroundings. If you chase them or yell or act agitated, that's when they run... it becomes a game.

It's somewhat similar to the other poster's experience. Try shutting the door with them on the outside; then they'll want to get back in. Or I've had luck with just leaving the door ajar and calmly walking outside, paying no attention to the cat. Then they often come up to you and you can just pet them and then pick them up to take inside. It's the chase and excitement that gets them running away.