How to stop cats from darting out open doors
Kids and frequent visitors leave doors open, creating constant opportunities for bold cats to slip outside or camp by the exit. This behavior puts pets at risk of escaping into dangerous areas and makes it difficult for owners to keep them safely indoors.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Using a spray bottle near the door
- 2Putting a GPS collar on the cat
- 3Installing a higher door lock that children cannot reach
- 4Yelling loudly at the cats when they try to dart
- 5Training the cat to go to a specific corner away from the door
- 6Placing a cat tree or perch near the entrance with a view of the door
- 7Keeping him in if possible
- 8Going outside with him instead of letting him roam alone
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I just found out my cat has been sneaking out pretty regularly.”source ↗
“tonight I caught him slipping in the gap where my AC is sitting”source ↗
“We have two cats. What is worse is we have two young kids (6 and 4) who have a lot of young kid friends. There are a million opportunities for them to escape.”source ↗
“one of them had a near death experience with some neighborhood dogs, and now we are trying very hard to keep them in. But, one in particular is so bold and just camps by the door waiting for a vulnerable four-year-old to open it.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 7How to stop indoor cat from constantly crying at the door after escaping
- 8How to block gaps so a cat can't squeeze through
- 2Why does making the pspsps sound scare my cat away?
- 10How to stop an elderly cat from jumping on tables
- 2How to get a cat to stop sleeping on your legs
- 5How to show an indoor cat isn't a stray in a rural area