Keeping your cats indoors

[Jasmcauley]

I'm fully aware that the cats need more attention than a normal cat,
I've only had them a week and they are so fun.

everything they do is hilarious, I just love watching them.

BUT.. how do you guys find living with them for years and trying to keep them indoors?

our back door has 2 doors leading into the kitchen so we're just making sure that we close the doors before coming into the house.


the front door on the other hand opens directly onto our patio with a gate about 2 meters away.


do they always want to dart out? do they get used to being in the house?

Im just curious

 

[Tort518]

So far my two have shown great proficiency at door darting. They had to spend two months primarily cooped up in the safe room and began darting constantly toward the end of that time period.

Now they seem content not to try to get out, and Yuki even climbs into the cat carrier I have near the front door when I am leaving the house. (Unless she is clinging to my shoulders refusing to let go.)

The only door they try getting through now is the basement door where they can only be while supervised for the time being. That's where the aquariums are located.

The one with the black stand is 150 gallons and the other is 180 gallons. I have others as well.

 

[Christina_]

We have had Sofia for just over a year now, and we try to let her out on her leash as much as possible so she doesn't get an overwhelming need to dash out the door.
That being said, she sometimes decides that she needs to dart. This has happened maybe 5 times over the last year. We are very good at going through the minimally opened doors taking up as much space as possible, and she seems to just look outside with curiosity.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

They do have a lot of curiosity and they can move fast, so door darting will remain an issue. The best thing you can do is have a routine maybe with your front door....always know where they are when opening it. People do train them sometimes to do things like go sit on a chair with a treat when they go to the door. By having them accustomed to being somewhere other than the door, they aren't there able to take advantage of a lapse in attention to run past your legs. Some shut their cats up when answering the door. Some use adverse conditioning by having someone outside the door with a leaf blower or something to startle the heck out of kitty when the door opens.

It's not so much them getting used to being in the house... it's more that they look out the windows and see stuff and think what an adventure it might be.

We used to have a lot of door-darting until we added an enclosure off our back door... when they could go outside and sit in the fresh air and chase insects etc they steadily decreased any interest in the front door. Thankfully!

 

[Trish Allearz]

I'm not sure I'd say door darting is something that they'll always do... but it's something you always need to keep an eye out for since they may decide to forgo it and then one day, be drawn to something outdoors. If you treat them like toddlers- ie- never truly predictable- you will probably do okay

 

[NikkiA]

We have one door darter. He is consistently inconsistent with his darting, some times he is well behaved for a week, sometimes he darts multiple times per day.
When he is engaging in imminent darting behavior, we tend to pick him up, open the door, step outside, put him back inside and close the door.
That would not work if more than one of our cats door darted.
It only works with the front door. With the back door, he will jump over us if necessary to get out. I think this is our fault- we would let him out there when he was a kitten before we learned he could jump the fence- he now goes out back wearing a leash, but he doesn't want to wait for us to put a harness on him if the door has already been opened.
He ALWAYS darts for the garage, I think because he has never been punished for darting out there.
He does beg for walks and he does go for regular walks, but walking has minimal impact on his door darting.

 

[Kristin]

My DSH is a door darter...but he used to be indoor/outdoor until we had an incident where he almost didn't come home.
My SV never door darts...if the door is left open for a long amount of time (my sister) then she will casually stroll out the door and on the grass until I grab her and toss her back in the house. We had it once that my DSH opened up the patio door and let her out, and she just followed him around and then sat in the window waiting for us to notice she was outside and let her in.
I think it helps that she gets to go outside on leash

 

[Wyldthingz]

They usually go though what I call "the terrible ones"- a stage where they test all the limits which include door darting. If you keep at it,then they will eventually give up. Some are worse than others. I did have one (F6) that would sit on the counter, and while you opened the door, she would jump on your shoulder and scramble over into the garage. I was so frustrated at chasing her all over the garage that I devised a netting that went over the door. She only had to try it a few times and gave up the game. It made it really had to go in a out but fixed the problem. The best way to fix door darting is to never allow it to start. With my F1, we were very careful and she never even tried to dart out the door.
another door darting problem can be from leash walking. The best way to leash walk is to only allow them out that certain door that is most secure or you don't use it much. ONLY leash walk them through the door or carry them out the door prior to walking.
I have an enclosure to the outside but still have door darters. Grass is always greener I guess!

 

[Jasmcauley]

Well I live in Wales,UK. so it doesnt get much greener


We'll just be really careful, we have mountains about 200 meters from my house and I fear they would disappear pronto.


all part of the fun I guess

 

[Wyldthingz]

Well I live in Wales,UK. so it doesnt get much greener


We'll just be really careful, we have mountains about 200 meters from my house and I fear they would disappear pronto.

all part of the fun I guess

Fun yes. Wales? Nice. At least you won't have to worry about the predators we have here, bobcat, coyote, mountain-lion. I have lost escapes to cars- that is probably the most dangerous predator for the Savannah anywhere!