How to stop the cat scratching at the door....
Discussion
I posted on this about a year ago, but this is now slightly different.
The cat used to have free run of the whole house, but with the birth of our daughter last March (2008) we now latch shut the kitchen door so that cat can't come through at night and get in to our daughters room (which the cat would).
We started latching the door shut in about February 2008 so this isn't a recent thing - At night the cat has free run of the Kitchen and conservatory (which we can't secure).
The other reason we have done this is because nothing we've done stops a neighbours cat from coming in (we don't know which neighbour though) - not a magnetic collar (the other cat just follows ours in) or an infrared one (our cat just sits in front of the cat flap which unlocks the cat flap and the other cat just comes in) - the other cat has, on a few occations, sprays in the conservatory which is bloody awful to clear up.
The other cat isn't the main problem as our cat will try to get through by scratching at the door, pulling at it and in general making a right racket.
The evening routine is - and has been for well over a year - that the cat is shooed out before we go to bed and the door latched shut. The cat is given biscuits, water and a big soft cushion to sit on so it's not like is given any discomfort so it's not like it's disadvantaged.
Lately it's been even worse - the cat, at 5am today, tried to get through and made a lot of noise for over half an hour waking the OH and our daughter (I slept through it for a change) but the cat did the same at about midnight.
I would have though that the cat would have learnt that the routine means that the door is locked and that it can't come through - something that I would have expected that it would have learnt after a month - not still trying to get in after well over a year.
So much for cats being intelligent
So my two questions are how to stop the other cat from coming in (although I think we're on a loser with that one) and how to stop the catch scratching at the door?
I'm not a cat hater, but I am about [< >] that close to locking the cat out at night (which the OH doesn't want to do)....
A hastily arranged accident isn't far off either
The cat used to have free run of the whole house, but with the birth of our daughter last March (2008) we now latch shut the kitchen door so that cat can't come through at night and get in to our daughters room (which the cat would).
We started latching the door shut in about February 2008 so this isn't a recent thing - At night the cat has free run of the Kitchen and conservatory (which we can't secure).
The other reason we have done this is because nothing we've done stops a neighbours cat from coming in (we don't know which neighbour though) - not a magnetic collar (the other cat just follows ours in) or an infrared one (our cat just sits in front of the cat flap which unlocks the cat flap and the other cat just comes in) - the other cat has, on a few occations, sprays in the conservatory which is bloody awful to clear up.
The other cat isn't the main problem as our cat will try to get through by scratching at the door, pulling at it and in general making a right racket.
The evening routine is - and has been for well over a year - that the cat is shooed out before we go to bed and the door latched shut. The cat is given biscuits, water and a big soft cushion to sit on so it's not like is given any discomfort so it's not like it's disadvantaged.
Lately it's been even worse - the cat, at 5am today, tried to get through and made a lot of noise for over half an hour waking the OH and our daughter (I slept through it for a change) but the cat did the same at about midnight.
I would have though that the cat would have learnt that the routine means that the door is locked and that it can't come through - something that I would have expected that it would have learnt after a month - not still trying to get in after well over a year.
So much for cats being intelligent
So my two questions are how to stop the other cat from coming in (although I think we're on a loser with that one) and how to stop the catch scratching at the door?
I'm not a cat hater, but I am about [< >] that close to locking the cat out at night (which the OH doesn't want to do)....
A hastily arranged accident isn't far off either
There are two reasons the cat is scratching the door, one is routine, they have their own routine and it takes a while for a cat to adopt your new routine - maybe 5am is a time when it usually goes outside - have you put a litter tray down? the other reason that cats repeatedly scratch the same place is scenting it's territory (scent is released from the paws).... you can help break this by using an anti scratch spray on the door which they don't like. As long as cat has a familiar bed + food + water + litter tray then stick to the new routine and the cat should settle down after a while.
ts itself (metaphorically) and doesn't do it again.
parakitaMol. said:
There are two reasons the cat is scratching the door, one is routine, they have their own routine and it takes a while for a cat to adopt your new routine - maybe 5am is a time when it usually goes outside - have you put a litter tray down? the other reason that cats repeatedly scratch the same place is scenting it's territory (scent is released from the paws).... you can help break this by using an anti scratch spray on the door which they don't like. As long as cat has a familiar bed + food + water + litter tray then stick to the new routine and the cat should settle down after a while.
We started latching the door before our daughter was born so that the cat would get used to the door being shut - this was in February 2008 (which should have been long enough for the cat to adapt I'd've thought) - It's an established routine now and the cat has never been allowed back through until we're up.We don't shut the cat in at night and it has free reign of the conservatory where the cat flap is and of the kitchen which can't be isolated from the conservatory.
If we shut the cat in, that would deal with the other cat, but wouldn't stop our cat from scratching at the door.
The cat has a familiar bed - with water (which is changed every day) - biscuits (topped up every day - the invading cat often eats them which is a source of another annoyance) and the (covered) litter tray is outside.
The cat isn't marking the door, it's trying to get through - I've seen it do just that if we've closed the door if we've got the fire on and are trying to keep the front room warm (It doesn't close the door behind itself though which is the next learning curve!)
Not sure how you can stop your moggy scratching to get in, but this http://www.petporte.com/ will deal with the invaders.
I have one and it works very well.
I have one and it works very well.
Marf said:
Not sure how you can stop your moggy scratching to get in, but this http://www.petporte.com/ will deal with the invaders.
I have one and it works very well.
We currently have a Staywell catflap fitted to the conservatory wall (it's a foot deep) - would that cat flap "fit on to it"?I have one and it works very well.
It seems to be mains powered which may be a problem....
Edited by james_tigerwoods on Tuesday 5th May 15:13
james_tigerwoods said:
Marf said:
Not sure how you can stop your moggy scratching to get in, but this http://www.petporte.com/ will deal with the invaders.
I have one and it works very well.
We currently have a Staywell catflap fitted to the conservatory wall (it's a foot deep) - would that cat flap "fit on to it"?I have one and it works very well.
It seems to be mains powered which may be a problem....
Edited by james_tigerwoods on Tuesday 5th May 15:13
Edit: scratch that (
) they do sell tunnel pieces http://www.petporte.com/buy3.htm bottom of the page.Edited by Marf on Tuesday 5th May 15:31
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