Trying to keep kitty inside

Meko my liitle kitten has decided a couple days ago that she wants out. She is only 6 weeks old & I do not want her outside, at least not yet. She bolts & i mean bolts to the door as soon as she hears it open. I have been lucky so far as she has only gotten out twice and as soon as she gets out on my porch she just freezes for a second & I grab her, she's still scared of the outside, even though she was found as a feral cat 2 weeks ago so I am sure she will get some guts up soon to just take off. Now I know she wants out so I am more careful but she is a fast little devil.

I have tried to squirt her with a water bottle but she loves it she thinks it's a game.
I have been trying to teach her like a dog by telling her NO & to wait or stay but she does not seem to understand that at all.

I do not want to shoo her or push her away as i do not want her associating my hands or feet with punishment. I've never trained a cat before, can it be done?

I currently have 5 cats, but none of them are "dashers". Although I am sure they would LOVE to explore the bird feeders I have on the patio :rolleyes: . I have found that when I open the screen door I then just undo the locks (without opening the door). Then I stick my foot in the door as I open it up, it helps to prevent them from even trying to get out the door.

The one cat I got as a kitten, I have trained to be taken out in a harness and a leash. So that helps to satisfy his "craving" to be outside.

Other than that I don't have any real suggestions for you. Although once you get her spayed she might not have the same urge to get outside...

I have 4 dashers in the house, so what I do is when I'm getting ready to come through the front door I put either my hand down by the door opening so when say Abner gets to the door he gets my hand but not like a punishing hand instead he gets a friendly hello from me and a nice head rub. This way he does not associate my hand with something bad instead he gets a loving and I gently take him and move him back into the house.

If I am bringing in my groceries, I use the grocery bags as my "blockade"

My cats do not dart for the door, but nevertheless We are extremely carefull when coming in from the outside. If water does not work, a metal can with pennies or pebbles in it might scare her away....have her associate the area right by the door with that awful sound.

I have been going through the same thing with my 12lb, 4yr old siamese. He had spent over 3 years getting to go outside in the daytime, but after two rattlesnake bites i have kept him in . He lost some of his hearing also, from these bites. Coyotes are bad here and can sneak up on little creatures, even those without a hearing problem . I have tried everything to keep him from trying to make dashes out opening doors, so i know what you are going through with your Meko !
Jenluckenback... good idea about the noise trick; I will try that ! Sunny lost his hearing only in one ear, so that might work . :)

For a while I kept a section of the newspaper outside the door to foill my dasher. It covered more area than my hand alone and acted as a great block that he had a difficult time getting around. Later I took him out on a leash so he would get familiar with the surroundings. That way, if he did get out and away he'd know where home was and, hopefully, stay nearby. It did work. He pushed a screen open one night (a painter didn't latch it) and spent the early hours before sunrise chasing squirrels in the backyard. He knew the yard and stayed there and came right in when we opened the door. It was breakfast time...

I've got the "blockade" down to a science I just wanted to know if you could train your cat to stay from the door. I iwll try the noisemaker, I have a feeling that it will only work a couple times as not much scares her. And if it does as soon as she learns it causes no harm she is not scared anymore.

Speaking of training she is starting to jump on my kitchen counters & table. I do not mind if she gets on other things just don't want the same feet that walk in a toilet on my eating space. Any ideas how to keep her off the counters? I have tried aluminum foil but she likes the cruchy sound, she starts playing with it. I am also trying to keep her off all my tables (coffe & end tables, bookshelves) so she does not get confused as to which ones she is allowed on or not. Do you think she will get the hang of it?

My cat Sunny does that walking on the counter to get to a window too ,he breaks dishes , so i used that can with coins thing and it worked ! Just shook the can and he was off there ! Thanks Jenluckenbach ! :D





Thank you treyi52 for making me such a beautiful signature ! I love it !

Double-sided tape is unpleasant and works as a deterrant. Be careful as it can take paint off with it when you peal it off.

Ron became interested in going outside when we got our puppy. (He'd see us let him out throughout the day.) I finally gave up and left him out one day after he'd dashed. Now he's addicted. No matter what you do, don't let the kitty out! Once she gets a taste of the outdoors, she'll stay out. I adopted Raven declawed and she's never been interested in going out. Now, all of a sudden, she's trying to dash. It's freaking me out since she can't defend herself, so I'm interested in hearing everyone's suggestions too!

Hey that sounds like a good idea ! Putting double-sided tape around the edges of counters or tables . Wouldn't have to leave it very long ,because cats just don't seem to like sticky stuff . Thanks Randy-K !
I had a hard time keeping Sunny from using my couch as a scraching pole and so the way i stopped him was spraying a strong lemon-scented household deodorizer on my couch . :)

The double-sided tape is a good idea. I used it to keep Ally away from my husbands bike when it was parked inside! (His new one arrives in a few days - heaven help me:rolleyes: )

Another possible solution could be a "ScatMat" - it gives off a static buzz which is unpleasant to cats and dogs when they walk on it. They soon associate the area where the mat is with the unpleasant sensation, and so avoid the area, then you can move the mat to another spot which you want them to stay off! (I haven't tried them yet, but am thinking of getting one for my study - I HAVE to find a way of keeping the hooligans off the desks!)

Has anyone else tried one?