Door beaters vs. scratchers

We were idly wondering about this the other night and I told DH that when I remembered I'd ask about it on the forums.

We all know cats always want to be on the other side of a closed door , if mum and dad are on the other side that's just a plus. When we adopted a retired Maine Coon queen she let it be known that she wanted through the door by beating on it, rather like a prize fighter with one of those hanging bag thingies. I don't know if Melichus (from her last litter) picked it up from her or it was genetic but he did it too. It got results 'cause you could not ignore it! In thirty years of cat-keeping I'd never before run across this behavior; scratching, yes, poking a sad paw under the door, of course. But beating?

Anyone else with a door beater?

I have a door beater here too, Cindy!
Once I had to seriously laugh when I was sound asleep and Lovey was beating down the door...BF said I didn't wake up but just yelled out "Come In!"

The boys get locked out for part of the night so they can party while BF can sleep.
I can sleep through a train wreck but BF has this thing about quiet or something

I usually let them in when Lovey "knocks on the door" in the a.m

All of my doors are kept open (well, not the front door!!) so I can only go by what I call door "jabbing". If Charlotte wants into the bathroom when I'm in there and the door is closed, she will "jab" under the door. Does this count? I'm not sure about Izzie, but I think she'd be a scratcher since she LOVES scratching the scratching post almost every time she passes it!!

Only JC, here, but he makes a thumping sound,not the loud banging you've described. But curiously enough, all my cats try pawing the door knob repeatedly, as if they think that they can open the door themselves. My cats sleep with us so if they need through a door, it's usu. when I'm in the restroom. They can't bear the thought of missing out on watching the toilet flush! Sometimes if I yell, "Privacy!" they go away, but not often.

My Molly was a door beater. I think she used to hit her head against it!

Sounds like Loveysmummy has a "beater!" Nope, sorry MissCharlotte, that doesn't count ! Kinda hard to describe really, trust me, if you had one you'd KNOW it LOL! It's kinda like a "bap-bap-bap-bap-bap-bap ..." staccato and if the door's at all loose in the jamb it's a "bap-bang-bap-bang-bap-bang-bap-bang..." ! really, really fast, standing up on the hind legs against the door with both paws going! I'm hoping it was a learned trait and not a Maine Coon idiosyncrasy that these two are going to come up with !

my sister in law's cat used to beat on their doors with her nose, and there would be blood everywhere and she wouldn't STOP. It was awful. Now they can't close any doors.. that would drive me nuts.

Originally Posted by RoseHawke

Nope, sorry MissCharlotte, that doesn't count

!

Click to expand...

That's ok. It just means I have cats who don't beat up doors!! I'm happy with that!!

Yep Cola is a beater!

Elliot will scratch on the door to be let in... Aerowyn might do the same, but usually she will lay down beside the door and stick her paw under the door crack and wave it aroudn while I am in the bathroom the bathroom door is the only one I ever close, and I have to make sure now to let the cats in first before I close the door, or to leave it unshut, because they can push open the door themselves, and use their paws to open the door so they can go out they dont use the doorknobs though.

Spaz 'knocks' politely

She actually opens doors with loose doorknobs.

That's so funny! hehehe (except the one kitty who made it's nose bleed...eeck!)
I never had a knocker, or banger cat, unfortunately...that would have been most entertaining.
Both my current babies meow softly, then louder and louder while passing their paws under the door, sometimes all of the paws, lol. But I don't close doors that much, I can't stand to hear them cry like that.