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She's trying to run away...

post #1 of 7
3/29/11 at 10:06pm
Thread Starter 
...every single time we open any door or window. Like, she's getting obsessed with it and it's been getting worse and worse, likely because the snow is finally (mostly) gone and there's life outside once again. There are birds, squirrels, all sorts of smells, neighbours' dogs, cats... even raccoons at night.

Of course we are not letting her out without supervision and when we do, she's on a leash and we monitor what she does.

But she's really going nuts. Today she managed to sneak out twice (well, she actually turns into a bullet, comes out of nowhere and runs out through nonexistent openings, pretty much). First time she ran around the house and under the deck, where she just laughed into my face for a while. Then I got her out by bribing her with some Merrick tuna (she refused to care about her treats, of course). Second time she ran the same way, but some bird made a loud noise so it confused the cat and, therefore, I grabbed her.

There are no cars in our neighbourhood and there is no... clear and present danger, so to speak, yet I don't want her to roam outside.

Do we need to build a fortress of some sort? I assume she won't just randomly stop trying to go out.

Argh.
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post #2 of 7
3/29/11 at 10:16pm
I have a cat who tries to door dart. She wants horribly to be outside. Fortunately it goes through phases. Right now she's pretty calm. I take her out on a harness and leash so she can have some outdoor time. Sometimes she gets better after that, sometimes there's no change.

Having her be a true inside/outside cat is NOT an option. There's no traffic here (I live in a very rural area) but it is so dangerous. My neighbors had outside cats. One of them managed to stay alive for a few years. The other ones had all been eaten by a coyote, javelina, mountain lion or some other desert critter in less than a week. So I feel your frustration in not wanting her outside.

Basically my answer is yes, you'll have to build a fortress. To keep Molly inside windows can't be left open, if we're bringing in groceries she gets put in my bedroom so I can have the door open, I count cats before I open the door at all, people get serious lectures on door etiquette when they're coming over when we're not here, etc. etc.

I hope someone here has found an easier way to manage.
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post #3 of 7
3/30/11 at 11:04am
From reading your kitty's bio, didn't she come to you from the outside? Chances are now that it's spring, she's wanting to go back to her old stomping grounds and... do whatever it is that Kitticas do.

Unfortunately you may have to nix the leash for awhile and just keep her inside until she stops this behavior- she might be smelling something blooming/growing/etc that she wants OMG RIGHT NOW. I know it's going to be hard keeping her in like that, because she'll beg and cry and freak out, but be strong! This too shall pass.
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post #4 of 7
3/30/11 at 11:41am
IMO if they don't go out, they lose interest in it.
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post #5 of 7
3/30/11 at 11:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
IMO if they don't go out, they lose interest in it.
Yeah, that's what I thought was must happen, too. Uhh. Not so much, at least with Molly.
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post #6 of 7
3/30/11 at 12:00pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, she lived outside for a while. No idea how long, though. She was around 8 months when she decided to move in, but the vet was convinced that she must've belonged to someone else at some point. She was potty trained and overall... house trained. All of this happened out in the country, where we lived at the time.

We then moved, soon after she came to us and have been living in town since. It's a nice quiet neighbourhood, but, like I said, I don't want her to freely roam around. It's just too dangerous. Whatever exists in our new neighbourhood is pretty new to her, too. She's only seen some parts of the driveway and a little bit of the back/front yard so far. (And the area under the deck, of course. )
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post #7 of 7
3/30/11 at 3:18pm
My ex had door darters.

He placed his vacuum, turned on but unplugged, right next to the door, with the plug in easy reach.
Every time his girls went near the door, open or not, he would plug the vac in and startle them.

It only took a couple weeks, they aren't at all interested in the door now.
His vacuum lives next to the door as a friendly reminder.
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