How do you keep a cat from going outside ?

[Ottakee]

My 20dd just got a kitten 2 weeks ago. He is about 5 months old and has had his shots and is fixed. Today for the first time she is letting him out of her bedroom.

 

Now, how do we keep him from running out the doors? We are a family of 7, live on 5 acres and have 3 doors that are opening and shutting constantly. All of our previous cats have been indoor/outdoor ones that came and went as they wanted.....the dog was actually "trained" to wake me up in the middle of the night to let the cat in or out :-(...don't miss that part.

 

Dd though would like this kitten to be an indoor only cat.

[bolt.]

You get used to moving quickly and shutting the door when you normally wouldn't (ie talking on the doorstep, calling kids). You watch your ankles.

 

You can also kinda scare it a bit if it's right near your feet when you go out, or right on the threshold when you go in. (We clap our hands low down in front of the cat, and say loudly/firmly, "Back!") -- but don't take that too far. If it's just there to be lovey, pick it up.

[Miss Peregrine]

We just shoo ours away when he he gets too close. Honestly, it's a pain but we live with raccoons, coyotes, and bears. He has escaped a few times. He still tries to escape sometimes.

 

We let him out on a deck off our bedroom that us impossible for him to escape. He enjoys the sunshine and the birds. Is there a place you can make as a safe outdoor space?

[Carrie12345]

Ours have only ever gotten out when someone's left the door open (more than in and out) and they've almost never gone farther than the deck/porch.  One of them did go through a stage of sneaking through when kids were too slow, but that was really weird, considering he was probably about 8 years old at the time!

[Audrey]

You just have to all make the conscious effort every time you leave to check you feet for the cat, and learn to scoot in and out quickly without leaving the door wide open.  We have several cats in the house and they are not allowed to go out even though they can see the barn cats from the windows.  We tell them it's an either/or life.  Either you're a house cat and you get the cushy indoor pampered life, or you're a barn cat and good luck with that!  I half kid.  The barn kitties have shelter and they get kibble everyday and have a fresh running water source, but we are out in the country and their wanderings are at their own risk.  Some kitties are just not house cat material, and some just aren't barn cat material.  It is what it is.

[Ausmumof3]

Once they are used to it they don't tend to try as often.

 

Ours has a habit of escaping when we are about to go on holiday, unfortunately.

[TheReader]

Echoing what everyone else said, and adding that if you really need to train the cat to avoid the area around the door, you can try a squirt bottle and a gentle squirt when kitty is hanging out around the door. We have had to do that with ours, as we have a dog door she is trying to figure out. A quick squirt when she tries to investigate it shoos her away and keeps her away from it for at least a month.

[candicane]

We have a few mouse toys that we leave by the door, so when our cat is too close and we don't want her outside, we throw the toy and off she runs after it.

[Lady Florida.]

Everyone in the house must learn to do a very special dance with fancy feet moves. That's the only way I've ever known to keep a cat from going outside. :D 

 

I've had cats with no interest in leaving the comforts of home, and cats who took every opportunity to get outside. Hopefully your kitten will be the former type. 

[Ottakee]

Thanks for ideas. So far kitten has just ventured around the landing up stairs but I am sure that will change.

[SparklyUnicorn]

One thing with a lot of cats who are used to being indoors, they really don't try to escape after awhile.  I won't say every single one of them, but that has been my experience.  In fact some will be literally terrified if they end up outside (if they have spent the bulk of their life inside).

 

So it likely won't be too difficult at all after awhile. 

 

 

[Lady Florida.]

One thing with a lot of cats who are used to being indoors, they really don't try to escape after awhile.  I won't say every single one of them, but that has been my experience.  In fact some will be literally terrified if they end up outside (if they have spent the bulk of their life inside).

 

So it likely won't be too difficult at all after awhile. 

 

We had an indoor cat who was a master escape artist. Most of the time we were able to quickly catch him and bring him back in, but every once in a while he'd get away and be gone for several hours. Then he'd come to the door and meow to be let in. He'd spend the rest of the day/night fussing at us for actually letting him escape out there where there was...nature!  :lol: