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How do you discourage a cat from going outside?

post #1 of 5
8/22/10 at 3:00pm
Thread Starter 
Teddy has a habit of sneaking out an open door when people are coming in or leaving. I've caught him every time within minutes, but today I was at work and he got out. Teddy was out for about 4 hours and my father couldn't find him. Finally around 3, he heard Teddy meowing at the back door. Is there anything I can do to discourage Teddy from getting out? I usually scold him and isolate him in the bathroom for a half hour. I'm just so worried he's going to get out again when I'm not home. We try to be so careful, but he still manages to get by us every so often.
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post #2 of 5
8/22/10 at 3:15pm
I can only speak from personal experience, but IMO the best way to stop this behavior is to do your best to make sure he doesn't get out again. Every time he escapes reinforces the idea that he can, but if enough time passes without his getting out again, he should with any luck stop trying (or at least, stop trying so hard).

I know this can be tough, especially if you have multiple people living in the house, or if you tend to have a lot of guests. Good luck to you!
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post #3 of 5
8/22/10 at 7:44pm
You can go "pssst NO!" if a cat gets too close to a door you're opening, but otherwise it's just a simple matter of never allowing the cat to be successful in it's escape attempt.

I used to have problems with Sho sneaking out because my MIL doesn't know how to shut a door behind her.. she'd leave it open for several seconds or leave it open entirely. At this house my utility room has two doors on it, so the cats can't slip out that way. Most people we're expecting to come over come through that door.

(note: the in-laws still leave their house doors hanging open and they always have a problem with flies. )

You're facing a bigger problem than Teddy... correcting people's behavior who probably think they're not doing anything wrong. Good luck.
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post #4 of 5
8/23/10 at 7:22am
I used the PSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTT NO approach with Da Lip then reinforced it by teaching him 'Go upstairs' 'Go Downstairs' with a few treats. Da Magpie learned from him and learned so well that when I want out and she is sniffing around the door (they know you are leaving) that all I say is Upstairs and she heads up the three steps to the kitchen. Oddly, it seems to help if I tell them where I am going. Evening chores are the easiest, though, as I make that cat feeding time as well so they never care about the door opening. They can also learn "Stay' and other things if you are patient with them. As to the people problem, that is gonna be tougher retraining them than training the cats to follow simple commands.
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post #5 of 5
8/23/10 at 7:27am
After a few weeks of my kitten running outside whenever my driving instructor was at the door and taking ages to catch him again, my driving instructor was poised at the gap of the door waiting and scooped him up as he was running out.

Alfie got so freaked out at this strange man picking him up that her never went near the front door again when it was being opened!
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