- Joined
- Sep 30, 2012
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Ok I'm at my wits end... I've resorted to things I never thought I would have and I'm at another dead end.
I have a little female cat who's about 9-10 years old. Don't know for sure since I picked her up off the street. Very social kitty, with a tude. She laughs at squirt bottles and is generally fearless. Tries to have a stand off with the vacuum every few days. Loves kids, is very in your face, greets strangers and visitors, tried to climb in their purses, etc
She has a very dangerous habit of darting out the door. for the first year she was locked in my bedroom while I was still living with my parents so this wasn't an issue. Then we moved into an apt complex for 8 years with indoor hallways so this wasn't a major issue either. Now we are in a house and the doors open directly outside. There is a large feral cat population out there and people around here are NOT friendly to animals. Think about the animals you hear about on the news being lit on fire, etc. If I was in a more rural area I might not worry about her too much.
To discourage her darting out the door I've tried
Tossing treats away from the door to distract (she is 100% uninterested in ANY food when the lure of the door calls)
compressed air
banging pots and pans to make outside a scary place
setting her up with a not so cat safe dog outside
squirt bottle (cat plays in the tub so she waits until she's about 1/2 wet glares at you and stomps 2 feet away to clean herself)
Double gating the back door (there is no way to double gate the front door since the stairs are right there)
can with pennies
scat mat (back before I had dogs)
The only thing that has worked with any success is the indoor cat fencing with the electric collar. That has been working for the past year with almost zero issues. Except her making me crazy while trying to fall asleep while she scratches at the collar. LOL She constantly tests the collar every day. She will sit there and listen to the warning beep until she gets zapped. Then she glares and moves back a step. I'm telling you if I EVER put that on my other cat he would die instantly of fright. This is one tough super cute kitty. We go through a replacement nylon collar every three months because she keeps shredding them and a new battery every 5 weeks.
This has been ok until today when I saw that the collar is rubbing her and she has a couple scabbys on her neck now. They are fresh since I check her neck every day and really minor, so I'm not too concerned. Except now the collar is off... and we are back to square one! Should I let her heal, try to keep her inside and go with the collar again? Litterbox is in the bathroom and I can't really lock her in there indefinitely without also locking in the other cat... Considering just putting a litterbox in a dog crate and letting her live in there! I have 2 dogs and we have a fairly active house so it's not even like I can lock her up and let her out for half a day ever day. I've even considered rehoming her even though I'm not sure I would trust anyone else to keep her safe. Plus, lets be serious, it's pretty much impossible to even rehome a kitten these days let alone an adult cat with door darting issues. Should I just take her soft claws off, let her go out and hope she survives? I couldn't sleep at night if I did that
Sorry for the book... I'm out of ideas and hoping someone else might have some advice??
I have a little female cat who's about 9-10 years old. Don't know for sure since I picked her up off the street. Very social kitty, with a tude. She laughs at squirt bottles and is generally fearless. Tries to have a stand off with the vacuum every few days. Loves kids, is very in your face, greets strangers and visitors, tried to climb in their purses, etc
She has a very dangerous habit of darting out the door. for the first year she was locked in my bedroom while I was still living with my parents so this wasn't an issue. Then we moved into an apt complex for 8 years with indoor hallways so this wasn't a major issue either. Now we are in a house and the doors open directly outside. There is a large feral cat population out there and people around here are NOT friendly to animals. Think about the animals you hear about on the news being lit on fire, etc. If I was in a more rural area I might not worry about her too much.
To discourage her darting out the door I've tried
Tossing treats away from the door to distract (she is 100% uninterested in ANY food when the lure of the door calls)
compressed air
banging pots and pans to make outside a scary place
setting her up with a not so cat safe dog outside
squirt bottle (cat plays in the tub so she waits until she's about 1/2 wet glares at you and stomps 2 feet away to clean herself)
Double gating the back door (there is no way to double gate the front door since the stairs are right there)
can with pennies
scat mat (back before I had dogs)
The only thing that has worked with any success is the indoor cat fencing with the electric collar. That has been working for the past year with almost zero issues. Except her making me crazy while trying to fall asleep while she scratches at the collar. LOL She constantly tests the collar every day. She will sit there and listen to the warning beep until she gets zapped. Then she glares and moves back a step. I'm telling you if I EVER put that on my other cat he would die instantly of fright. This is one tough super cute kitty. We go through a replacement nylon collar every three months because she keeps shredding them and a new battery every 5 weeks.
This has been ok until today when I saw that the collar is rubbing her and she has a couple scabbys on her neck now. They are fresh since I check her neck every day and really minor, so I'm not too concerned. Except now the collar is off... and we are back to square one! Should I let her heal, try to keep her inside and go with the collar again? Litterbox is in the bathroom and I can't really lock her in there indefinitely without also locking in the other cat... Considering just putting a litterbox in a dog crate and letting her live in there! I have 2 dogs and we have a fairly active house so it's not even like I can lock her up and let her out for half a day ever day. I've even considered rehoming her even though I'm not sure I would trust anyone else to keep her safe. Plus, lets be serious, it's pretty much impossible to even rehome a kitten these days let alone an adult cat with door darting issues. Should I just take her soft claws off, let her go out and hope she survives? I couldn't sleep at night if I did that
Sorry for the book... I'm out of ideas and hoping someone else might have some advice??