Cat opens cabinets?

We were warned when we got our 2 year old kitty Bella from her former foster mom that she would try to get into our cabinets. She was right! One night we woke up to hear our kitchen cabinets slamming. They don't have handles on them so it's not like we can child proof them and they are too heavy for her to keep open so she can open them and then slam them shut again. This happens about 1 night a week. We have tried to train her to stay out of the kitchen in general so she wouldnt get in them, but she just doesn't learn. We have tried to keep her off the dining room table, out of the kitchen and especially off the kitchen counters. It's like nothing we do works! When we had our Christmas stuff out for wrapping, we put those in front of the cabinets but it's such a pain to find things to put in front of them every night. Help!

My cats open my cabinets at night too but they don't get in them. I just shut the doors in the morning. Aren't there child locks that attach to the insides of the doors that don't need handles to work? I'm not a parent but I think I've seen those around.

Originally Posted by howtoholdacat

My cats open my cabinets at night too but they don't get in them. I just shut the doors in the morning. Aren't there child locks that attach to the insides of the doors that don't need handles to work? I'm not a parent but I think I've seen those around.

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Yes there is. The cabnet door will open like an inch and you push down on the lock to open it the rest of the way.

Good luck - Charlie knows how to open cabinets (lower ones by the floor) by swinging on them and wrapping his feet over the top. He figured it out by accident.

Toby does this too. I found him sleeping in a laundry room cupboard above the dryer the other day. He somehow got in and closed the door behind him. I try to make sure there's nothing dangerous in the cupboards and if there is, I use some duck tape on the bottom. It works. I'm sure there are things you can get in a baby store to "kitty-proof" your cupboards.

I can only say that mine do this, too. One had his brothers gathered around him one day and all were intently watching him open the cabinet door.

I now know how the term "copy cat" came to be. They all learned how to open the doors. There was nothing in mine that would be harmful to them, so I just gave up and they got bored with it.

I keep my clothes in one of my kitchen cabinets, and Athena sleeps in that cabinet nearly every day.

Child-proof cabinet locks at the top of the cabinet are the way to go if you want to prevent your cats from getting into your cabinets. I've actually never seen nor heard of a cabinet lock that required handles on the cabinets. Usually you put a piece on the inside of the cabinet door and piece on side or top of the cabinet frame, and they operate exactly as Emy4cats described.

^I have some basic zip tie type that does hook through the handles. It works. I only need them for one cabinet, the one under the sink where the kitchen trash is kept. Though sometimes I wonder if the only reason Tomas is so eager to get into that cabinet is simply because I lock him out of it - he peeks in the others but stays out.

My suggestion is to only lock those holding food that can be gotten into and chemicals. There's no need to spend a lot of money locking everything - what's a cat going to do with can goods? Mind you, my kitchen has a lot of cabinets. I can't lock up 26 doors.

My fur-baby Crush is weird... he doesn't like to actually open the cabinets. Well, he does, but he only likes to open it just enough to listen to it slam shut. He likes the noise! And my other baby, Waffles, just sits there and watches him.

We had to get a step-stool to put in front of the cabinet so he would quit. He's pretty much stopped, so we move the step-stool out of the way, but once in a while he goes at it and we just move the stool.

Steffy

icanhazkitty.blogspot.com

Speck can open cabinets, but Daisy makes it a regular habit. Right now we have a paint can in front of our kitchen sink to keep her from getting in to where the cleaning products are stored. I'm following your post to pick up solutions, too...

I just put some child proof latches on one of my kitchen cabinets today, it is the kind that attaches to the inside of the cabinet and the back of the door.

My big kitty started getting cozy by climbing over the plates laying on top of my coffee mugs and I was getting tired of it already... so far so good! Sad kitty, I'm sure he'll find something else to get into soon enough.

http://www.bronius.com/node/30

I'm a visual person and found this yesterday to help with installing the child safety latches. It shows a drawer I think but at the bottom of the page there are some under the sink cabinets with the latches installed. Basically install them wherever is easiest for you to unlatch them. Having a drill also helps.
Good luck!

yup...Nipper got into my cabinets a couple times, we call him the trouble maker of the house

Thank you all so much! You were all great help!!