Cat Opening Drawers

[jellycatfish]

I tried to search the forums for a solution for this but I could only find people with the same problem, their cat opening drawers/cupboards but not how to stop them. Maybe I searched with the wrong keywords
So Meeko has a new habit of opening the bottom drawer in the bathroom, crawl inside then behind it and open the drawer on top by pushing it. He was able to do this easily because the drawer was empty. I thought I could just put something heavy in it to stop him, but then I'm pretty sure he'll soon be able to open the second drawer. The drawers are quite long and close to the door and he might get hurt if we open it quickly while he was hiding. He also opens the drawer in the kitchen at night since he saw last week I had hidden his crinkle ball in it. I can't let him play with it without supervision because my little guy loves it so much he EATS parts of it and then gets sick. Obviously I changed my hiding spot, but he keeps on opening it anyway.
He also tries to open the cupboard in the bathroom which would be bad because the cleaning products are in there. Even though all the bottles/spray are closed, I wouldn't want him to rub himself on them.
I spoke to my parents about this and they told me to use some babyproof things. I looked online and I found some tying up thingy for the cupboard but not the drawers, since it's 3 drawers high.
We moved to a new apartment almost 2 months ago but he had no way of opening the drawers before since the handles were buttons, now the drawers have bars for handles. I also have to keep in mind that I cannot drill the drawers to attach safety things, since this is an apartment, not my own house.
Has anyone experienced this before? Any tricks for me? Please advise, The Cat Site's great community!

 

[pipperoo]

You have a smart and curious cat! Mine figured out how to pull out the baseboards below the kitchen cupboards and shimmy under the cabinets!

If the drawer handles have space behind them, you could slide a yardstick or dowel in behind all three. If they are just solid bars, then I would probably tie a string around all three. There are definitely baby-proof things for drawers (check out toys'r'us).

Sometimes cats get into areas they really shouldn't because they are burning up excess energy and brain power -- and like children, they want your attention (good or bad!). I found with my cat that "I" had to change in order to get her to change. So, that means more physical play to tire her out, especially play where she has to be tactical like hide and seek.

Also, on a whim one night, I decided to see if I could teach her to sit. No lie, in under 10 minutes, she had "sit" down pat. She was a most willing and eager student. A couple of weeks later, I taught her how to high-five. that took about a day to learn. Pip is really intelligent and I think she really enjoys anything that requires brain power--it definitely helps keep her out of things she shouldn't be messing with.

Good luck!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Best of luck, says the woman whose cat is currently sitting in the cabinet over the stove. Hekitty can open every door in my house, although to date the deadbolts are beyond her (thank goodness!). I also rent, and can't install the baby-latches. I keep cleaning supplies in Rubbermaid containers with lids and rinse cooking and eating items before use. I've given up, given in, and just enjoy the ride now.

 

[kittens mom]

Best of luck, says the woman whose cat is currently sitting in the cabinet over the stove. Hekitty can open every door in my house, although to date the deadbolts are beyond her (thank goodness!). I also rent, and can't install the baby-latches. I keep cleaning supplies in Rubbermaid containers with lids and rinse cooking and eating items before use. I've given up, given in, and just enjoy the ride now.

I'm where you are. In fact the cover photo for their FB page is a picture of Frog and Toad sitting in my cupboards. When we have a cat sitter I put up post it's that say Bad Cat Hiding Spot with arrows.

 

[DeannaF]

This cracks me up as mine does the same.

One morning I woke up to this repetitive banging and I was like what is that?! It was my kitten that got into my daughters bathroom vanity and was just pushing the cabinet door open ever so slightly that it was just banging (so not fully opening it). I woke up and he came out and started purring.

I've had to get creative with the cleaning products..mostly putting them up in my garage and in my linen closet that has a door so he can't get in there.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

This cracks me up as mine does the same.

One morning I woke up to this repetitive banging and I was like what is that?! It was my kitten that got into my daughters bathroom vanity and was just pushing the cabinet door open ever so slightly that it was just banging (so not fully opening it). I woke up and he came out and started purring.

I've had to get creative with the cleaning products..mostly putting them up in my garage and in my linen closet that has a door so he can't get in there.

Hekitty does that banging when I've been online too long and it is TIME FOR A TREAT! She has me very well-trained.

 

[jellycatfish]

You have a smart and curious cat! Mine figured out how to pull out the baseboards below the kitchen cupboards and shimmy under the cabinets!

If the drawer handles have space behind them, you could slide a yardstick or dowel in behind all three. If they are just solid bars, then I would probably tie a string around all three. There are definitely baby-proof things for drawers (check out toys'r'us).

Sometimes cats get into areas they really shouldn't because they are burning up excess energy and brain power -- and like children, they want your attention (good or bad!). I found with my cat that "I" had to change in order to get her to change. So, that means more physical play to tire her out, especially play where she has to be tactical like hide and seek.

Also, on a whim one night, I decided to see if I could teach her to sit. No lie, in under 10 minutes, she had "sit" down pat. She was a most willing and eager student. A couple of weeks later, I taught her how to high-five. that took about a day to learn. Pip is really intelligent and I think she really enjoys anything that requires brain power--it definitely helps keep her out of things she shouldn't be messing with.

Good luck!

I just realized I never replied to you, even though I thought you had a good point with burning his excess energy.
How did you teach your cat, with a lot of treats? My father sent me that video of a cat high fiving a guy 2 months ago and said I should try that with mine, lol!

 

[danteshuman]

Why not install child safety locks? That should keep cupboards & doors closed. *giving my punk the stink eye* I finally gave up on my linen closest and put all my sheets in one of those comforter storage things and my blankets in a laundry basket on the shelf ... so there is no secret hide away for them anymore ... I might crack and give them half a shelf to just be and store my extra blankets in large plastic storage bin on the ground of the closet.

 

[jellycatfish]

Why not install child safety locks? That should keep cupboards & doors closed. *giving my punk the stink eye* I finally gave up on my linen closest and put all my sheets in one of those comforter storage things and my blankets in a laundry basket on the shelf ... so there is no secret hide away for them anymore ... I might crack and give them half a shelf to just be and store my extra blankets in large plastic storage bin on the ground of the closet.

Sorry i didn't reply sooner! I bought child locks for cupboards but couldn't find any for the drawers that I didn't have to pierce/drill/glue something on the drawer for it to work. I have an apartment and these drawers are not "mine" so to speak. I don't want to modify the drawers and end up with problems from the building owner. Especially since I'd like to stay in this building for a while! (I might have to move to another apartment in July, while staying in the same building so I'd like to be in good terms with the owner)
It's starting to be a real problem though because he learned to open any kind of drawer with a handle... and this week he successfully opened one with a round handle while I was at work and chewed on a black plastic with metal in the center tie-thingy (the one you'd find around cables when you buy new electronic stuff). I was horrified to see this when I came back from work -he could have eaten it! I didn't know I had stuff like that in this furniture, I don't use it often (which is 5 small drawers high and he can open all of them now!) And yesterday he opened my nightstand, which contains my yarn, cat treats and medication. He also jumps in my bookshelf and tries to munch my books Anyway, sorry for the rant. I can't really empty all my drawers, where on earth would I put all that stuff? My own furniture I could install child locks, but the kitchen and bathroom drawers wouldn't be safe. Plus when he opens the drawers in the bathroom my other cat wants to get in too, which ended up with one cat BEHIND the drawer and another one inside it. I was so scared they would hurt themselves!

 

[danteshuman]

Have you asked your landlord? I don't think you would be fined for installing child safety locks, since if you use the right screws, it doesn't show on the outside. You can do what I did though and put everything in those zip lock gallon bags with the zipper or small Tupperware containers. That way if the cat does open a drawer, he still can't get into anything.

 

[Ardina]

Could you rig together something with long strips of stick-on velcro? So you could maybe anchor or just stick on one end at the top of the drawers, run it down the face of the drawers, loop around something, and velcro attach at the top again? It would be annoying to open whenever you needed something from the drawers, but it might keep your cats out.

 

[pipperoo]

I just realized I never replied to you, even though I thought you had a good point with burning his excess energy.
How did you teach your cat, with a lot of treats? My father sent me that video of a cat high fiving a guy 2 months ago and said I should try that with mine, lol!

Hi Jellycatfish,
Yes I taught Pip with treats (I had to be sure though to not give her treats just for being cute, otherwise they lose their power!!). So with "sit" I would try and push her into a sitting position while saying sit over and over then giving treat the second she was in the correct position. Like I said, 10 min and she had it. With "high'five" I needed to keep picking her paw up and laying it on my palm while saying high five. One day to learn. Now I do "kiss"--i pucker my lips and she gently puts a paw on my shoulder and gives me a smooch! Oh-oh, crazy cat lady here.

A friend sent me this excellent video that showed a very simple training method - it will work for any trick
Cats are smart and they need to use their brains - drawers and cupboards are a way for them to do that, so to get them to stop, we just need to challenge their intellect in another way.

 

[sargon]

There are a few drawers ( and closets... that Freya likes to try and open, plus a couple more she hasn't tried, but which are especially unsafe, so i lock them just to be safe), so I use a child lock on them. I own my house, but use the stick on strap style, because they are easy to use, and I happened to get a good deal on them. I've had very good results with them.

Here is a link to the type of lock that I use. Lots of companies make that type, so I literally just linked the first I searched for, you can probably find a better price if you try. Since the locks are just held on with double sided tape, they shoudn't be an issue with your landlord, sicne they don't permanantly modify things.