Clever Cattys Opening Doors
Now, cats may not be as easy to train as dogs – but these videos of cats opening doors prove that this is not necessarily because they are less intelligent than dogs. It is only because they’ll only do things that benefit themselves, and don’t necessarily give a rat’s behind what you want them to do!
In the post on dogs opening doors, we talked about how cute it was – this was the general consensus on YouTube also, that it was cute. But nobody stopped to ask the doors what they thought, did they?! Not to mention the owners of clever cats and dogs who also happen to own some gorgeously restored doors and furniture… If you have a cat which has learned to open doors, and scratching the varnish around your handle just isn’t an option, you have a couple of choices. Replace all of your door knobs with lever handles, which are easier for pets to open (as you can see in the Maine Coon cat video). This doesn’t provide total protection from scratching though, so if you prefer to be on the safe side, use these tips to train your cat not to scratch your doors – or any of your furniture.
Teaching a cat not to scratch anything is a bit of a different proposition to teaching it not to open your doors, and thus scratch them. To teach your cat not to scratch anything:
- Realise that it will take a bit of work, because scratching is natural for cats – it conditions their nails by removing dead cells.
- Temporarily protect your cat’s favourite scratching sites by covering them in loose fabric or netting – cats don’t like snagging their claws.
- Get a scratching post, so that they can condition their nails – either from a pet store or online.
- Confine your cat if you are not around to train her not to scratch something
- Hang toys from the post, or place treats on top of it.
- Grab a cat treat – make sure your cat is hungry – then stand by the post and call him. When he shows interest, hold subsequent treats higher and higher, until climbing the post to get it is the only option. Praise and encourage him when he does actually climb the post.
- Whenever you catch your cat scratching something he shouldn’t, startle him either with a clap and a shout (or a handheld horn, if the other members of your house don’t kick you for it!), or a spray of water from a water pistol. If you can get the water in his nether regions, the fright will be all the more effective. For this method to work, you have to be around, and paying attention, though!
To train your cat not to open doors specifically, start by:
- Not reprimanding her. This teaches cats either nothing or the opposite of what we want them to learn
- Set up your house so your cat can be rewarded by asking to be let out properly
- Set up your house so that opening doors is not rewarding. So, either keep them locked, or put a guard around the handle so that she can’t open it.
Once your cat meows to be let out, since she can no longer open the door for herself, come running. Praise her for calling you, and then let her out straight away. This is the reward part of the training.
Cute as it is when it isn’t your door, it can become frustratingly when cats are wrecking your house … good luck!
5 Responses to “Clever Cattys Opening Doors”
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i put a milk bottle on my lever handle that my cat was jumping up on. when she jumps up it falls off and frightens her. although the effect wears off. you can fill the bottle with something noisy. or heavy.
Wow!! Thats impressive..really impressive. Did these cats have to be trained to do that or was it by watching humans or natural instinct??
[...] patience, persistence and watchfulness – have a look at our post in the April 2007 archives about training cats not to open doors, or this one about training dogs for the same thing. Many dogs love learning things, too – [...]
[...] we haven’t just been sitting around, surfing the web looking for cool antique door furniture and cats that can open doors. We have actually been quite busy! Yes Mum, I promise that’s why I haven’t [...]
We lock our bedroom door EVERY night and now every door in the whole house & our female cat still trys to open it to this day it has been a whole year since we have been locking the doors yet EVERY morning she will sit there on the stair ledge & try to open the door & meow & meow & meow forever it is so annoying we ignore her & she still does not stop!