Does anyone else with indoor cats know this fear?

Sometimes I think I'm getting paranoid, but often I really have problems leaving my apartment. I live in the constant fear that one of my girls could slip out with me, and I wouldn't notice. Especially when I know that I'm out all day (i. e. for work), I need to be sure that they are still inside.

I have started throwing treats or toys in those corners of the apartment where I can see Luna or Lily from the entrance door before I go, and I only leave when I see them the very moment I close the door. Sometimes it won't work and I have to repeat the procedure, so this can become really nerve-wracking.

Am I just paranoid, or does anyone else know this fear?

Kirsten

I used to have that fear. I couldn't go to bed at night unless I counted tails. I finally overcame it when I had 9 (my own plus fosters) this past summer. It was too much to count 9 tails and I felt rather silly hunting down 9 cats! I'm glad I overcame it because I realized it was starting to become and obsessive compulsoive act with me. I could have seen Abby five minutes earlier, but since I didn't see her right before I rolled into bed, I would irrationally fear that in the past 5 minutes she somehow snuck out.

Try this - get a plastic cup with a screw-on lid and fill it with hard treats. Shake the cup and when the girls come running they'll get a treat. After a few times, they understand REAL quick that this means food. So when you leave the house, leave the treat cup by the door, shake it as you're about to leave then offer a treat to both of them right before you slip out the door. They'll come to you much faster than if you simoply offered them a toy.

Mine never go near the door when it is open but I am always extreemly nervous when someone is leaving and stands there with the door open talking... Grrrrrrr!

OMG im like that too.When I leave Felix is usually near by.To make sure he never slipped out I close the door and knock on the window till he is in my site.Hubby says im teasing him,but I just need peace of mind while im gone.Sometimes he wont come in my view and I have to go back inside to check,he is usually just around the corner,I think hes paying me back for all the times i do it to him. :rolleyes:

I never worried about leaving them until once when I had an overnight guest, and we were gone all day the next day.

I always keep our guest room door closed (try to have it a kitty-free zone). We came home from a very long day to only have 2 out of 3 cats greet us. I started getting concerned, then my guest went into her bedroom and out zoomed Lucky! :eek: He was locked in her room ALL day long! Good kitty though, didn't do anything wrong, but the second he was let out, he ran to that litter box and pee'd and pee'd :rolleyes: :D

We have also had kitties locked in a pantry, closets, etc. I must be slow & blind in my old age, or those kitties are quick, I don't know how they get closed in there! :rolleyes: :eek:


Now, every night, and every time I leave the house, I do a head check!

That will teach me!! :rolleyes:

You are not the only one, Kirsten! Eveytime I leave the house, even for a short errand, I do a head-count!! As long as I haven't found where all 4 are, I will NEVER leave!!
It is not paranoid, it is being a responsible cat-owner :)

I am the same way. I won't leave the house until everyone is accounted for and if I get up during the night to get something to drink or use the bathroom, I won't go back to bed until I have found everyone. Sometimes by the time I accomplish that I am wide awake and can't get back to sleep, but I feel better knowing I have found everyone.

I do a quick check around to make sure I didn't shut one of them in a closet just before I leave, and I do look down to make sure one didn't squeeze past me when I stepped through the front door. I consider that very practical since I have had cats that dart into closets frequently, and out the front door on occasion. My Artful Dodger was quite capable of shooting through a door and up on to the roof in the blink of an eye. I once glanced back at the house to see him up there and, since he used the top of the door to get up and down, he would have been up there all day (a hot day) if I hadn't noticed. I agree with catnapper, that you should stop the re-checking now before you become tied to it.

I do tend to over-check on making sure appliances, etc. are all turned off. My fear is a fire while I am at work. The thought of driving up to my home to be faced with the fact that my cats perished in such a horrible way does haunt me. I could never, for instance, leave a television on while I was out of the house.

:) Yup sure do know this fear & I used to worry all the time.. But with my house now I come in thru the garage in which has a direct door to the kitchen & if a girl slips thru she will just be in the closed gargage & then comes back in.. But I do still count heads before bedtime..

Kirsten, you are not alone in your fears!!! I do a head count at bedtime for all 8 cats. I have signs on doors to alert people that these are indoor cats and they DO NOT GO OUT despite how they might behave!! We recently had the township tax reassessor at the house. He WAS told about the cats and to close doors quickly. As he was leaving, he was talking with the kitchen door open. and Norton took advantage and flew down the steps to the basement!!! I inform workmen, telephone repairers, EVERYONE that we have cats and if they are in my house doing work, they, too, are responsible for the safety of the cats. Most are cat folk and understand completely! My greatest fear was when we were on vacation on Cape Cod. I was so afraid that one of the cats would get out. We would still be on Cape Cod if that was the case!!!
Sometimes when Barry and I go out, I put treats down for each cat on the floor. They are so busy eating that they do not notice us leaving.
Our fault is we love our cats and would not want anything to happen to them!!!
PS: One fear is that if someone breaks into the house and leaves a door or window open....you know what will happen....All have breakaway collars with ID's and are microchipped(still my mind does not rest easy)...

I'm glad to read that I'm not alone with this! :)

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I have signs on doors to alert people that these are indoor cats

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I have such a sign, too, but still people tend to stand in the open door to talk, something I really hate. But people like my landlords are too old to keep in mind that there are cats that will leave the apartment when the door is open.

One or two years ago, I got a real shock when I got up one Sunday morning and found the apartment door open, and the cats gone. There was a storm that night and I guess the wind has pushed the door open. Luckily I found both Lily and Luna in the stairway, but the very next day, I fixed a hook to make sure the door cannot open again.

Kirsten

Oliver is an indoor/outdoor cat, so I never worry about him, but once Bella slipped out the front door, and was alone outside so about an hour before I realized. Thank goodness she didn´t go farther then the doormat.

I am so thankful just to know there are others that struggle with leaving the fur kids in the morning. I can't tell you how many times I have drove around the block and then quickly ran back into the house to make sure everyone was o.k. I also worry about house fires probley more than I do about them sneaking out of the house. I will check and then double check to make sure that my curling iron has been turned off along with all of the our heaters ect. My husband sometimes thinks I am losing it but I love them like they are my children only my children would go to day care and they don't get left home all alone with no one to care for them till I get home. I have gone so far as to figure out what I would do if there was a house fire and how I would find all three cats before I would get out for myself out. Every night before I go to bed I make sure that all of the fur kids are in bed with me before I can truely fall asleep and really sleep. I can't tell you how much I appreiciate knowing there are others of you out there that do the same things. Thank Goodness ;)

I Didnt Until The Recent Escape Of Pouncierge This Week,and Now I Make Sure That Theres Noone Near The Door When I Leave.

I always come in and go out of the doors to the outside looking DOWN. :eek: I can't realistically do a head count any more, I'd never find them all and by the time I did I would forget who I counted. :o But I always look around before I leave and shoo them from the door and go in extra carefully.
I do not have "door runners", but I never allow the door to stand open. I step all the way out even if it is just for the pizza delivery person and close the screen/storm door behind me.

I have to watch my Missy around the back door. I know she would walk right out if given the chance. I usually shoo her away from the door if something's going on. If anyone is over, I'm careful to watch the cats. If a repairman is coming I lock them in a room. I only have two and I'm sure it would be difficult to keep track of more cats. ;)

Hopefully, Lillycat won't see me post this here! She is the ULTIMATE worry wart. I do admit one of her cats is 'cagey', but, she is soooooo hyperviligant. Even with me, the cataholic of the family. :D She is always shaking a plastic bag, and nearly clipping heels when the door is closed. Sometimes, I have to say, "uh, mom, I cannot fit through 3 inches of opened door".

Mine? With the exception of Minnie, who wouldn't come near a door anyhow, most of mine are 'okay' outside. They don't take off for the trees. In fact, several of mine are yard cats. They don't venture out of the yard if I am out there with them. Since Jonah is now here, I don't think I would let cats outside anymore. While they don't run from me, they do from him (not that I blame them!!).

Like someone above, I enter/exit through the garage, and my porch is enclosed. So, there is a safety net, so to speak.

well, not a worry syndrome to me until that incident where shaddow went missing after a guy came in when I wasn't home! :eek: :mad: well, before that, with 13 cats and you can't hear, it just becomes a habit!

I can't hear them crying if stuck behind refrigator/stove, in closets/cabinets or bedcats who think frightenly that s/he can't find way out under king-size blankets so I check frequently. even though my doggie, he would often alert me when one of them is crying. sometimes it's hard to tell if he was trying to tell me when I'm on way out or in, he gets too excited! :p

for going out, I usually have my eyes down behind me (facing the room, not outside) before I open the door, squeeze backwards without blinking through it if any comes close and shut quickly. the same for going in.

extra work with my furtravelers, they're more naughty when we're at other houses, since they are at new house, they curiously explore & go anywhere, in any directions (even into ceilings) than knowing a way to escape. at home, the very same door you get out in and after many times you say "no no no!" they knew where, when and would attemp! anyway, there, I headcount extra, at bedtime and after I get up, not just when I go out and in because you don't know their house very well. for me, better late than sorry!

thank god they all are one big ark, (and most are followers) so they all often cuddle together, stay in a pack or at least all in one same room so that made my headcountings faster. :rolleyes: :D I headcount the cats in order I got them so I won't get lost my count. poor you, you only have two and this already is a big worry for you!

Yes, I always try to do a head count every morning before I leave for work. Sky used to be a door dasher but he's calmed down quite a bit and Starr and Pearl are sometimes very curious about what's outside the front door. Luckily my front door opens up to a hallway and not the great outdoors.

Since I've had Starr and Pearl I've been making sure that both bathroom doors are closed when I leave because they like to play with the toilet paper and get into mischief. A few weeks ago, I was running late so I don't even remember doing a head count. Some how I managed to lock Starr in my bathroom all day. :eek: I didn't even notice that he wasn't there greeting me like he usually does but for some reason or other I went straight to my bedroom and opened the bathroom. Out came Starr like a speeding bullet. He didn't run to the litterbox but he did run to the nearest water dish because he was very thirsty. I felt so bad. Now I always try to do a head count before I leave.

if anyonegets really worried, they can always put child gates around the door, and by the time the cats realise whats happening, you can get out the door. just open the gate go in, shut the gate.open door, go out, close door. pretty complex but thats if anyone gets really desperate. omg i get annoyed too when someone stands there taslking or holds onto the door and is standing inside. you cant exactly grab the door from them lol. my two get outdoortime and i spend 20 minutes a day getting them out of trees etc, the family tells me to leave them. i wish they would understand that after reading hundreds of cat books,I know cats ok. it drives me mad.
perhaps you could keep the door to the room with front door in it closed??

I'm glad I'm not alone! I always check before I go to work to make sure my boys are safe; head-count, saying "I have to go to work", and kissing good-bye. Nighttime isn't as bad because my hubby stays up later than I do, and he makes sure they are all right for the night.

This happened to us! I felt terrible cause I went to take the garbage outside (it was dark) and when I walked by the driveway I see a cat. I bent down and said "hi kitty, who are you"? Lo and behold it was Olive! I don't know how long she had been out, or how she got out. I grabbed her up fast and have been paranoid about this since.

This thread is very interesting and like heidiv, it is rather comforting to know that many of us are this way. I don't know if it is paranoid or not - maybe - but it seems to be pretty common I see :)

Now that I have six cats - I also want to see everyone before I leave through the door, and count tails in order of the way we adopted everyone (starting with the first residents and then counting down)

I cannot leave without looking down and watching the door close. Lizzie and Robbie like to be near the door :rolleyes: Emily, Eliot, Robbie and Lizzie never seem to be near an opening or closing door.

I have to find everyone regularly throughout the day. When I have to leave - I say goodbye to them and leave the radio playing for them.

Oh and I MUST find everyone before I fall asleep, though most of the time - they are in bed with me and Eliot will be in his bed on the dresser.

Kirsten - it sounds like you are just a caring and careful meowmie. Luna and Lily are your girls and you make sure life is safe and happy for them. They are your family :)

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if anyonegets really worried, they can always put child gates around the door,

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Actually, I did, sort of... I made this thing when I moved in here:

http://www.catmom.de/pix/door.jpg

I only set it up when I plan to go out... It cannot hold them back, but I should notice when they pass this "gate". It was much easier in the old apartment. There, you first entered a tiny little hall, and from there, you entered the rest of the place. Pretty safe.

Kirsten

Well, when we had Brando (Zsa-Zsa's late brother:( ) and Zsa-Zsa was fit and healthy, they both loved the outdoors, travelling about the park near our house and having a good stroll throughout our neighbour's gardens. Brando used to have a gentleman's lounge with his friend Yoda, a cat who still lives and belongs to one of our neighbours, and Zsa-Zsa used to love climbing along fences and generally being in the warmth of the sun (when we did actually have sun!). So i was never paranoid then, the cats clearly enjoyed having a little independance and free-time. Well, old age began to set into Brando, so he began to venture no further than the garden, although Zsa-Zsa would still venture out. But then, just after Brando passed away, Zsa-Zsa went blind. I daren't let her go outside save for the garden now in fear of losing her. She could become disorientated and lose her way, get attacked by dogs as she wouldn't see them coming, wander into a road... the possibilities are too much to think about. But i swear that even though she is blind she knows when the front door is open, as if anyone comes to the door she's there and attempting to get out. We thought about getting her a collar with a tag stating that she's blind in case she did ever get out, but being a very dignified lady she won't have it. So yes, i do get a little paranoid now she is blind. I never doubted her sense of direction before her disability, but now i would tear myself up thinking about her if i let her out.

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But i swear that even though she is blind she knows when the front door is open, as if anyone comes to the door she's there and attempting to get out.

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Oh yes, I'm sure she can sense it because the sound is different, and the scents, too... It's definitely better to be careful!

Kirsten