"Cat Proofing" Closets That Don't "Close"?

hollie ordway

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Lots of quotes in there, I know.

So I don't know if this is the correct forum for this, but I figure it's honestly the best place for it. So I have a very sweet, very lovable tortoiseshell named Venus. She's a big ball of love, but she is also incredibly mischievous. This cat can open ANYTHING. She knows how to open all manners of cupboards, closets, drawers, and even some containers. I have a window unit in my HIGH RISE apartment, and she even managed to the get little accordion screens that seal the gap in the window open and was trying to climb onto the outside of the window unit, this darn cat!

I've gotten most things to the point where they are "cat proofed" except my two hallway closets. All doors in my apartment are a little weird - essentially, they have a door handle, but they do not have a hole in the doorframe for the little latch of the doorknob to latch into essentially making it so you can just push the door open whenever you want with extreme ease. The issue is, I have no idea how to cat proof these things - the most anyone has been able to suggest is door stops, but since door stops sit on the floor on the outside of the door, I am almost certain Venus would be able to pry those out and be able to open the door as she does already. I REALLY don't want her to be able to open those closets because A. it's just annoying that when she does, she grabs all my blankets and things and throws them on the ground, and B. One of these closets does have heavy stuff in it, and I would hate for it to fall on her and hurt her while I'm away.

Does anyone know any no damage (or at least little damage) ways of being able to make it so these closets stay shut? There has to be some child proof thing out there for instances like this, where you have doors that can be easily opened. I can't drill large holes sadly, though small ones are fine. My apartment has also already explained to me they do not want to put a hole in the door frame for the latch to latch into, so that's out of the question.

Heeelllppp!!!
 

shadowsrescue

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Could you put a baby gate in front of the door.  It would be pain to move each time, but it would keep the door closed.  You also could place something heavier such as a brick in front of the door to keep closed that would be too heavy for the cat to move. 
 

LTS3

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 You also could place something heavier such as a brick in front of the door to keep closed that would be too heavy for the cat to move. 
I have a 10 pound kettle bell to keep the cats from opening my laundry closet door and exploring behind the machines and chewing on cords. I have to keep the door open a little because I leave the front loading washer door open so it can dry out and not get moldy and horribly stinky inside. The closet is just barely big enough to fit a full sized asher and dryer inside so that's why I have to keep the closet door open a little to accomodate the washer door being open. I actually need to get a heaveir kettle bell. The cats occasionally push the 10 pound one out of the way to get into the closet


I know the typoe of closet door you have. They're a pain since they don't latch. Have you looked at child-proofing kits for doors?
 

jcat

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If you can drill small holes, how about hooks and eyes placed at (your) eye level? They don't even have to be very big. We've been using that trick for years.
 

nicsd

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Baby latches? I use a fridge one. It sticks to the door and to the wall next to it and you have to slot it out to open the door. Just google baby proofing items and it will give you lots of options. And they just have sticky backs so you can put them at whatever height and doesn't do any damage to the door
 

ginny

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I gave up trying to keep cats out of closets, so I keep them propped open all the time.  However, I do not live in a high rise like you do, so I see your need to keep kitty safe from opening those windows that lead to outside!  Hope you find a suitable solution!

My problem is, I have found "missing" kitties because closet doors got shut.  Sometimes overnight!  Once three of them spent the night in my bedroom closet without me being aware.  One of them, Ned, likes to rub his cheek against any surface, so I'm sure it was him that shut his 3 family members in there.  Oreo was one of them.  He reached out and snagged in 3/4 of the bath mat as a signal of distress, otherwise I might not have known the next morning.  I did recall Oreo's distant meow, poor baby!  Now I make it a habit, have for a long time now, to count noses and make sure doors are open when I leave and when I get home.  
 

magiksgirl

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I gave up trying to keep cats out of closets, so I keep them propped open all the time.  However, I do not live in a high rise like you do, so I see your need to keep kitty safe from opening those windows that lead to outside!  Hope you find a suitable solution!

My problem is, I have found "missing" kitties because closet doors got shut.  Sometimes overnight!  Once three of them spent the night in my bedroom closet without me being aware.  One of them, Ned, likes to rub his cheek against any surface, so I'm sure it was him that shut his 3 family members in there.  Oreo was one of them.  He reached out and snagged in 3/4 of the bath mat as a signal of distress, otherwise I might not have known the next morning.  I did recall Oreo's distant meow, poor baby!  Now I make it a habit, have for a long time now, to count noses and make sure doors are open when I leave and when I get home.  
Wow! I'm glad you found them.

I also count noses
!... well... I count tails 
 I have 3 beautiful tuxedo babies (a spayed momma and her 2 kitts: a boy and a girl). When they began exploring baby Wanda went missing for a whole day, I called and yelled for her up until 11 PM, I asked all the neighbors and nobody saw her 
. The next morning she "came back". My guess is my next door neighbor saw her roaming around and since she' was so pretty (still is) he took her in and locked her in his home to keep, and that when he heard me calling for her he didn't want any trouble so he waited until were were asleep to let her out and have her return home. I was so worried, that now everyday I count tails, making sure they are getting their meals, etc. I always count... small, medium, large... 1-2-3.... Girl, Boy, Momma.

@Hollie Ordway, I would also recommend baby proofing latches. They are easy to install, use and remove 
 
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