Scared Of The Front Door

[Gladden]

Whenever I open the front door, Zoe scampers off. At the moment, she's hiding in the kitchen because I opened the front door an hour ago.

Anyone else's cats do this? Anyone have any success in reducing this apparent fear?

Here's a pic of Zoe staring at me after the vet.

 

[susanm9006]

Probably something in this girl’s past made her fearful of doors. Perhaps she was shut outside or maybe there was a dog on the other side. In any case, it is far better to have a cat fearful of the door than one ready to run out. I would just ignore her behavior and not make a fuss over her hiding. As she spends more time in your home and nothing scary happens when the door is opened she will likely become less nervous about it.

 

[rubysmama]

Actually, that's a good thing. Better than her accidentally darting out the door and getting lost or into something dangerous. And, yes, friends of mine have a cat that runs when the front door is opened. He'll sit on the stairs, though, and watch, and once the door is closed he'll come back down.

Your Zoe is a beauty, btw.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Once you've closed the door, you could let her be in her chosen hiding spot for a few minutes, but then maybe entice her away from it with a treat or two, and a few pettings and/or some play time? Something that would at least reduce the amount of time it is taking her to get over the opening of that door - so, that she can realize more quickly that she doesn't need to hide so long.

Of course, that may not work. Feeby runs from the screened in patio to hide in the house whenever she hears a large truck go by - not see it, just hear it. And, she can hide anywhere from a couple of minutes to over an hour. I will go see where she is though if she's gone for more than 15 minutes.