How To Allow Kitten To Roam Around The House Without Escaping Throughthe Front Door???

[egogallego]

Hello all!

I'm pretty new to this, as well as to the having a kitten. I have a kitten that is about 4-5 months old and she's so full of energy and playfulness, I love it.

Anyways, I live in a two story small house and the kitten (Aerys is her name) sleeps with me in my tiny room and stays in my uncle's bigger room in the day & when no one's home.

The issue is that every time I open the door to one of the two rooms she runs out under my feet and runs downstairs to try to explore the rest of the house. However, we have a bigger dog that stays downstairs and they have never been left alone, although they do get along pretty well.
There are also about 5 people that live in the house and one of them is very careless with leaving things such as the front yard gate open when we ask him not to for the sake of our dog.
For this reason I am terribly afraid of leaving Aerys alone in the house to roam around with the possibility she might run out the front door the second someone comes home, but at the same time I feel bad confining her to one room when she very clearly wants to run around.
A friend of mine said she should be allowed to be roam the house so she doesn't get bored or anxious.

She has not gotten spayed yet (2 or so more months the vet says) and I don't know what to do.

Do any of you kind people have any ideas on what to do???

Thank you all,
Daniel

I included a picture of my little munchkin

 

[orange&white]

The biggest problem I read in what you wrote is not the cat, but the careless person. It's probably easier to train a cat than a human.

I instinctively "look down" whenever I open a door, as two of my three cats are door dashers. Fortunately, once out, neither has any interest in running away from home...they stay on property. Not sure how successful you'd be at teaching the careless party to "look down" and go get the cat if she does dash out.

If that's impossible, then you're probably best to let the cat roam the house only when you are there to supervise the careless person and make sure the kitten doesn't escape. Or perhaps of the others in the house, there are more responsible people than just you who could post watch.

You definitely do not want to take a single chance of her getting out until she is spayed. Kittens can get pregnant at 5 months, so whatever you do, I'd keep a very close eye on her. After she's spayed, door dashing may not be an issue. She's likely to stay close to the house, and you would be able to pick her up and bring her back inside without a chase.

 

[orange&white]

....and Welcome to TCS! Your little munchkin sure is a cutie!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

What a cute kitten! May I ask where you are, generally? Most vets here in the USA routinely spay at 5 months, some at 4. Others at 2 pounds.

Since you have a large number of people in the house, you're just going to have to keep her confined until you can convince everyone that certain things MUST be done for the safety of both your kitten and your dog.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Can you put a self closing hinge on the yard gate that would cause the gate to close every time? These aren't that expensive.

Can you, as suggested, let her out (geez she's darling!!) when you're there to supervise.
Also you could maybe give her access to certain rooms with a baby gate or two in the doorway so she can still see out and somewhat be a part of the action?

 

[egogallego]

The biggest problem I read in what you wrote is not the cat, but the careless person. It's probably easier to train a cat than a human.

I instinctively "look down" whenever I open a door, as two of my three cats are door dashers. Fortunately, once out, neither has any interest in running away from home...they stay on property. Not sure how successful you'd be at teaching the careless party to "look down" and go get the cat if she does dash out.

If that's impossible, then you're probably best to let the cat roam the house only when you are there to supervise the careless person and make sure the kitten doesn't escape. Or perhaps of the others in the house, there are more responsible people than just you who could post watch.

You definitely do not want to take a single chance of her getting out until she is spayed. Kittens can get pregnant at 5 months, so whatever you do, I'd keep a very close eye on her. After she's spayed, door dashing may not be an issue. She's likely to stay close to the house, and you would be able to pick her up and bring her back inside without a chase.

I think you're definitely right, the human is much more stubborn. I am very concerned about her dashing out so that's actually a great suggestion to let her roam when we're all home, thanks!
I'm just concerned about when she's alone but I guess as couple of hours in the room wont hurt

 

[egogallego]

The biggest problem I read in what you wrote is not the cat, but the careless person. It's probably easier to train a cat than a human.

I instinctively "look down" whenever I open a door, as two of my three cats are door dashers. Fortunately, once out, neither has any interest in running away from home...they stay on property. Not sure how successful you'd be at teaching the careless party to "look down" and go get the cat if she does dash out.

If that's impossible, then you're probably best to let the cat roam the house only when you are there to supervise the careless person and make sure the kitten doesn't escape. Or perhaps of the others in the house, there are more responsible people than just you who could post watch.

You definitely do not want to take a single chance of her getting out until she is spayed. Kittens can get pregnant at 5 months, so whatever you do, I'd keep a very close eye on her. After she's spayed, door dashing may not be an issue. She's likely to stay close to the house, and you would be able to pick her up and bring her back inside without a chase.

Also, thanks for letting me know about the possibility of pregnancy at 5 months. She is a very curious kitty though so I'm worried that the minute she steps outside she'll never come back

the worried life of a cat parent now

 

[egogallego]

....and Welcome to TCS! Your little munchkin sure is a cutie!

thanks!

 

[egogallego]

What a cute kitten! May I ask where you are, generally? Most vets here in the USA routinely spay at 5 months, some at 4. Others at 2 pounds.

Since you have a large number of people in the house, you're just going to have to keep her confined until you can convince everyone that certain things MUST be done for the safety of both your kitten and your dog.

thank you !! I live in the NYC area, its specifically that vet that doesn't spay until 5 or 6 months, I thought it to be weird too

 

[egogallego]

Hi!
Can you put a self closing hinge on the yard gate that would cause the gate to close every time? These aren't that expensive.

Can you, as suggested, let her out (geez she's darling!!) when you're there to supervise.
Also you could maybe give her access to certain rooms with a baby gate or two in the doorway so she can still see out and somewhat be a part of the action?

haha thank you! I've tried the baby gate but she seems to have superhuman jumping abilities !

 

[ailish]

Spay, chip, collar with tag... I might even be tempted to try to harness train her. Why? So she can learn not to be scared outside. My cat is strictly an indoor cat. She has gotten out twice and has been difficult to round up each time because she is so scared of being on unfamiliar territory. Cats used to being outside usually just come waltzing home when they are ready. Additionally, teach her to come when she's called. It may or may not work if she gets out, but it may. Ailish pretty much knows she will get food when she's called and she's very food driven, so she pretty reliably responds to her name while inside.

Baby gate? Ailish shape shifts into water and walks right through a baby gate.

 

[egogallego]

Spay, chip, collar with tag... I might even be tempted to try to harness train her. Why? So she can learn not to be scared outside. My cat is strictly an indoor cat. She has gotten out twice and has been difficult to round up each time because she is so scared of being on unfamiliar territory. Cats used to being outside usually just come waltzing home when they are ready. Additionally, teach her to come when she's called. It may or may not work if she gets out, but it may. Ailish pretty much knows she will get food when she's called and she's very food driven, so she pretty reliably responds to her name while inside.

Baby gate? Ailish shape shifts into water and walks right through a baby gate.

I have a collar for Aerys (one of those breakways) but I've been hesitant because of the bad things I've heard that can happen with them. Its for kittens and I've tried to break it away myself and it feels like too much pressure is required for the 5 1/2 lbs she weighs, but im not sure.

Maybe harness training her and walking her would be a good idea, the more familiar she is with the outside world and where our house is in relation to that then the more she might feel comfortable getting back if she were to escape. I would NOT want her to become an outdoor cat though. Thanks for the advice!

Haha Ailish sounds very resourceful xD

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'm just concerned about when she's alone but I guess as couple of hours in the room wont hurt

Nope. Once she has adjusted to that, she'll spend most of that time doing cat chores. You know...nap, eat, nap, groom, nap, play...

haha thank you! I've tried the baby gate but she seems to have superhuman jumping abilities !

I've actually resorted to three baby gates stacked on top of each other. The wire mesh kind that slinky little bodies just won't fit through. A friend went so far as to install a screen door on her bedroom at one point.

Since she's such a little Houdini, I'd have her microchipped, for sure. I'll be glad whe GPS tracking has reached the point that we can do that via microchip, as well!

 

[maggiedemi]

I know the answer to this because I went through this myself. I had to tape signs on every single door leading to the great outdoors, warning people not to let the cats escape. People just don't think.

 

[danteshuman]

This sounds very much like a human problem. I would keep her on a harness when she is out and about out of the rooms until you have her spayed and chipped. I would also make sure I have some good photos of her and work on training her to come when called. That way if/when she gets out after she is spayed you can get her back easily. All that said I would add one final thing, are there other vet's nearby you can take her to? If your current vet is good, you can always keep him but get her spayed elsewhere.

 

[orange&white]

I think you're definitely right, the human is much more stubborn. I am very concerned about her dashing out so that's actually a great suggestion to let her roam when we're all home, thanks!
I'm just concerned about when she's alone but I guess as couple of hours in the room wont hurt

Ah. Cats love consistency. She won't mind roaming the house when people are around and being in her "safe room" when no one can watch her. One of my cats (the only one who doesn't dash out of doors) is in my bedroom when I'm not home. When the door's open, she still prefers my bedroom for the most part. She and my dog haven't quite made friends unsupervised, but I think she's still quite content having "her room".

 

[orange&white]

Also, thanks for letting me know about the possibility of pregnancy at 5 months. She is a very curious kitty though so I'm worried that the minute she steps outside she'll never come back

the worried life of a cat parent now

One of my cats spends most of her time outside on the patio. She was born feral and deemed "too wild to socialize or ever be a housecat" by the animal shelter which spayed her. She disappeared for a couple of weeks after I brought her home from TNR and set her free, but once she figured out that the "best food" was here and I wouldn't harm her, she started sticking around on the patio. I can pick her up and bring her in for the nights now. She doesn't run from me. Female spayed cats calm down, pick a small territory, and don't venture very far.

Your kitty may be different and might want to run if she gets out. Cats' personalities are all so unique, but I think after she is spayed, and doesn't have mating on her mind, she'll know that she's home, even if she does "dash", you'll will be able to just go get her immediately and bring her back inside.

It is still the irresponsible person you have to worry most about. You will probably never want her to get out and be left out without someone being able to retrieve her. She's an indoor kitty, so she shouldn't ever be left outside wanting to get back inside. My senior domestic cat dashes out the door, but then wants back inside immediately if I'm not out there sitting with him. He doesn't like being outside alone.

 

[tinydestroyer]

I agree that she won't mind being in her safe room while you're not home, and that's the best thing for her safety if you can't get everyone in your house on the same page. You can always put cat trees, window perches, or toys for her while you're gone so that she has some enrichment when she isn't roaming the house supervised.

Although baby / dog gates are totally useless in the long run for cats, I used them between interior doors whenever they need to be isolated (like after spay and neuter.) Although they don't stop the cat from getting past, if they're tall enough that the cat must climb on it, it gives you a couple of seconds of reaction time to grab them before they're through the doorway. Since your problem is a human, though, you wouldn't want them to think it's fine to leave the door open just cause the gate is there, so weigh your options and see what works.

In my experience, the breakaway collars do come off with any outward pressure placed on them. Maybe try another brand so that she'll have some ID if she gets out.

 

[maggiedemi]

I wish all houses and apartments had a double set of doors. I guess they don't think about door-dashing pets when they build houses. They should sell something where you can make your own second door somehow. I don't know exactly how it would work, but I'd buy it.

 

[aradasky]

How about a self closing screen door?