College Kitten Meowing When Alone And Door Darting

[Accs1]

Hello all! I have an lovable 4-5 month old Kitten named Merlin. I have been lucky that he is such a friendly purr bucket and has no major issues to work on but there are some things I would like to fix/curb him from doing.

I start my freshman year of college in about a week and will be taking Merlin with me as my emotional support cat. One concern I have is that when I leave my room, even if its just to us the bathroom or get some food, he sits by the door and meows. Thankfully he only does this for about 5 mintues or less but he is loud with it. He has at times also jumped at the door but he doesnt do this too often. It's not too much of a bother for me as I can tune it out and he stops rather fast but I dont want to disturb the other students in the dorm with his meowing. I've had him for about 2 weeks now and hope that he may just still be adjusting to the new house or it maybe just a kitten thing.

My second concern is that when I open my door to leave or enter my room he wants to dart out. I'm hoping he's doing this in my house because he is confined to my room and usually only spends a few minutes exploring the rest of the house. He normally would have free range but my mom has a puppy that is still learning to be gentle and not paw or chase Merlin. When I leave my room I try to either get Merlins attention with a toy so he plays with it and auickly leave the room while he is distracted or I put him in the opposite side of the room from the door on to his cat tree that is by the window, which he loves to look out of, and give him some pets or a treat and tell him bye and quickly leave. These worked in the beginning but he has started to catch on and is quick to run to the door before me so now if he does run to the door I get on my knees and hold him back by his chest and crawl backwards out my door while still holding him.

I do try to play with him twice a day for about 5-8 minutes or until he is panting, usually in the morning or early day and evening time or before I get into bed. I do also have cat tv that plays calming music cats and also has visuals such as birds and fish for him to watch which he loves so I do turn this on for him when I leave the room for awhile/often and at night.

 

[Furballsmom]

Merlin sweetie!!
I can help a little, maybe, with his mental/emotional state while you're gone although it sounds as though you are doing really well already with things for him.
The cat music and TV, will you be able to have that for him at college, I hope? If not a full screen TV, a laptop or even smaller should work, try that already so he's used to it.
I don't have good ideas about the door darting. That won't change at college and could be even more challenging when you have other people coming in and out who won't know how to stop a feline darter or even to watch for him.
You may want a large crate for him although that won't take care of all possibilities for darting but it'll help. Also, aside from all that you may want to train him to a harness and leash. I think you'll both enjoy that.
Hopefully someone with more experience with door darting will weigh in for you

 

[Accs1]

Merlin sweetie!!
I can help a little, maybe, with his mental/emotional state while you're gone although it sounds as though you are doing really well already with things for him.
The cat music and TV, will you be able to have that for him at college, I hope? If not a full screen TV, a laptop or even smaller should work, try that already so he's used to it.
I don't have good ideas about the door darting. That won't change at college and could be even more challenging when you have other people coming in and out who won't know how to stop a feline darter or even to watch for him.
You may want a large crate for him although that won't take care of all possibilities for darting but it'll help. Also, aside from all that you may want to train him to a harness and leash. I think you'll both enjoy that.
Hopefully someone with more experience with door darting will weigh in for you

Thanks! I am able to bring my tv so he will still be able to have his cat tv. I also plan to hang a little white board on the outside of my dorm door to let others know that I do have a kitty who likes to try and escape and explore so hopefully that will make others take care.

 

[Furballsmom]

There might be something here, I looked for articles on TCS but nothing came up for my dearch results...
How to Stop Door Darting Behaviour in Cats

 

[Kyashasu]

It is a kitten thing, but also him adjusting. It could be his personality. You are his companion and he wants to follow you. My cat who is 4 years old still follows me majority of the time when she isn't sleeping. He'll get use to it, but it might be hard. once your schedule with school starts it will get easier. He will learn. I'd talk to the people on either side of your room to see if it bothers them after a while, maybe.

I'm pretty sure that the article says the same thing,but if you got treats and a clicker and trained your cat to not door dash, that might help, especially with the leash and harness. YOu can look up videos and stuff, but in the college setting it might be hard.

As for dealing with you being gone, I would up the play time if possible or add more play times. Kittens need alot more time with you, especially if they don't have a lot of space to roam. What kind of toys do you have? I have those "Da Bird" toys that are wands, most kittens love those and you have to hide them afterwards because they want to play with them all the time. Any wand toys from amazon would work though, it is like 10 dollars for a pack of toys with one wand, very good deal.

Scratching posts are good too, if you have the money. Might keep him more entertained especially near a window. There are 9 foot ones at walmart for 40 dollars. Measure your room first though, you can look it up online or amazon as well. It has three tiers and can keep your cat pretty busy sometimes especially when young.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Catcraft-3-Tree-Cat-Tree/10319490

If you are able to, I think the leash and harness would be a good thing, especially for the cat to explore in case he ever does get out, then he knows where he is going. But it might take a while for him to understand that it is the only way he gets to leave the room is on the harness and leash. I thought I read something about this in the previous posts but couldn't find it. It should probably be fine that he doesn't get to go out if you can get a gate going cause he hasn't been out in the whole house and I don't know dorm policies.

I am assuming that you have the room to yourself with this suggestion. A big cardboard box taped properly could be used as a gate that he can't jump over( as long as you don't have anything close by that he could see over it on and jump over) and you can easily move a section of it to go into your room and then put it back. It gets annoying sometimes, but it works. I added a picture of mine. I wish I would have thought of this a while ago. The picture is from the outside of my room cause I had a hard time keeping my brothers cat from coming in and eating my cat's food. Other things can be used, but cardboard is cheapest and easiest to work with.

I attached what I did. I have a weight set that I set against the door frame on the right side of the picture. And then the open door against some other stuff that you can't see. But I take the box out from the right side and fold it back up against it's originally folds so I could get through and taped the bottom flaps so she couldn't burrow under it. Likewise, my cat cannot get out sometimes if I do it correctly.

I don't know which way your door goes, but as long as you made it high enough it should work. I don't move the door so it is a little bit different, but might work for you, if you think it'd be a good idea. Look up DIY gates if you want to.

Hope you figure something out! Hope some of this helped.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Here's one more thought;
Door Darting

 

[Pjg8r]

Could you keep a laser toy by the door and play with him for a minute, ending away from the door?

 

[talkingpeanut]

Less than 20 minutes a day of play really isn't enough for a kitten. He probably needs several 30 minute play sessions throughout the day.

How big is your dorm room going to be? I know bringing him would be the best choice for you, but I do worry about his wellbeing.

 

[Accs1]

Thanks for all the great help everyone! Those articles were helpful and I'll be sure to do some more digging on it too. Luckily Merlin's has slowed a bit on wanting to dart out and mostly looks at me when I leave/enter or does a slow trot out the door that I am easily able to grab either his collar or himself so he barely makes it past the threshold.

I checked with the college and sadly I cant take him to any common areas so I can't let him explore my dorm hall on a leash and harness but I may still be able to use it in the dorm for some training. I do also have an adjustable gate that I may take and use, depending on the space. The room is 12 by 12 feet, so a decent size.

My dad and I also built him a small cat tree that he loves to perch on and look out the window and I am definitely bringing that with me. For toys I do have a laser pointer, 3 different cat wands, a bunch of different balls of all sorts of kinds, 3 crotched/braided yarn toys and an odd ball/stick/feather roller toy.

I will also try to do a 20 minute play session before my morning classes amd then two 30 minute session when I get back in the after noon and before bed.

 

[Furballsmom]

Bless your heart!! This sounds good, and do let us know how things go, for you and your baby

 

[Accs1]

Bless your heart!! This sounds good, and do let us know how things go, for you and your baby

Thank you! I will definitely let everyone know how it goes.

 

[Accs1]

Hello all! Sorry for the (very) late update, this year has been one wild ride! College life has been great, Merlin probably likes the dorm better than my actual house (of course the house has his doggie best friend!). He still loves to play and also loves to 'help' me when I'm trying to study or do work.

He's only gotten out the dorm about 4ish times when I had my hands full with the laundry bin, but as soon as he gets out he takes a few steps and stops to look around so I just quickly scoop him up and toss a toy for him to play so he leaves the door alone.

He's also my smart boy, he watches when I leave for class and greets me when I get back. He's so smart though, he has figured how to open the door! It's a lever type knob and the style of it makes it so even if the door is locked it can be opened from the inside. I've had to devise a cardboard contraption so when he jumps he doesn't hit the handle, and for this year I've gotten some baby locks to use.

He still likes to meow, but I'm not as concerned with it as I was before now that I know how the dorms are like. Talking with the girl in the room next to me she says she can never hear him, even if he meows like he hasn't been feed in years! My friends and I like to call him the mascot of the hall, everyone loves him! He gets lots of visitors and pets to last him all his nine lives.

He is my strange kitty (I call him my dog-cat) as he loves the bathroom and water. He will even go in the shower with me! He loves to cuddle and take naps with me, he also enjoys staring at me, especially when I'm trying to sleep!

 

[Furballsmom]

What a great update, thanks so very much for taking the time, I'm so glad to hear things are good, and you sound terrific!