What to do about an escape artist?

tunanuna

We adopted our two cats almost 2 months ago.  The 1yo male is an escape artist.  Every time we open the door he tries to get out and he has succeeded about 5 times now.  Luckily it's been pretty easy to catch him each time but I'm worried that it soon won't be, or that he'll get out as we are leaving and we won't notice.

Do you have any suggestions?  I'm open to any and all.

ndolehan

He needs some kind of "distraction". He obviously thinks there is something outside that is way more interesting that everything inside. So - make inside the best playground!

ie) vertical activities, cat trees, stuff to climb. etc Sometimes, this can get pricy, but if you're savvy and kinda creative you can make a few climbers etc. yourself.

He needs to climb and run and jump.  You can also attach a laser pointer to  your keys and when you come in/out. Distract him with the pointer so he forgets about the door.

Our cat, Rosco, used to do the same thing. We had to make sure he had something really interesting to do inside. 

LinZem

You could try to find a delicious treat and train the cat that when the door opens treats appear at a certain location far away from the door. I'd also recommend stepping up the amount of time you spend playing with interactive toys with your cat, swapping out toys to keep them interesting, and adding various places in your house for cats to explore. If you cat enjoys watching birds perhaps you could set up a bird feeder outside a window where the cat could view it.

Also be more mindful yourselves. I think a large part of success in preventing door darting is making sure it is never successful.

tunanuna

ndolehan:

He needs some kind of "distraction". He obviously thinks there is something outside that is way more interesting that everything inside. So - make inside the best playground!

ie) vertical activities, cat trees, stuff to climb. etc Sometimes, this can get pricy, but if you're savvy and kinda creative you can make a few climbers etc. yourself.

He needs to climb and run and jump.  You can also attach a laser pointer to  your keys and when you come in/out. Distract him with the pointer so he forgets about the door.

Our cat, Rosco, used to do the same thing. We had to make sure he had something really interesting to do inside. 

I actually thinks he just likes the fresh air. Looking outside doesn't satisfy him, it just makes it worse.  I'll try adding some more toys but the only thing he seems interested in so far are the fishing pole type ones.

LinZem

Definitely look into "da bird" My cats (and dogs) love it.

My cats also like those little puffy balls (we call them sparkly puffs) and they like milk rings that they can bat around. My cats do eat milk rings, so I buy the little tropicana OJ and grapefruit juices from costco because those rings are the perfect size and thickness for the cats to play with them. Difficult to get off but definitely worth it.

breaness

LinZem:

Definitely look into "da bird" My cats (and dogs) love it.

My cats also like those little puffy balls (we call them sparkly puffs) and they like milk rings that they can bat around. My cats do eat milk rings, so I buy the little tropicana OJ and grapefruit juices from costco because those rings are the perfect size and thickness for the cats to play with them. Difficult to get off but definitely worth it.

 

Yes, Sherlock LOVES da bird. He'll start batting at my leg when he wants to play with it... it's pretty funny. He has lots of toys around the house, and I leave the feather bird out (without the stick) during the day when we're not home, but he knows that when I go into the window seat to get the stick, it's play time.

Another toy he likes to use is this mouse that I found on amazon. It squeaks when he bats it. He plays with this a lot too.