What To Do W Cats When Workmen Come Inside

[wannahelp]

What does wverbody do with their cats when workmen have to come inside?
I always end up pulling my hair out, with my cats scratching on the bedroom door, while I’m locked in with them, until the workers leave.
Just getting them into the room is a nightmare. I get one in the room and another runs out. I use treats but that doesn’t always work. Now that I have the younger male, it’s an even bigger problem because when anybody unfamilat comes in, he runs and hodes. I can’t pick him up, so if my mother is around, she has to stay doenstairs to make site he doesn’t run out the front door. It’s such an imposition that sometimes it seems like whatever’s broken should stay that way.
Some people don’t mind working around cats. However, they aren’t going to be conscientious about opening and closing doors.

 

[Furballsmom]

You're right, you can't leave them out in the house, there are just too many open doors etc.
Can you start feeding them in a room with a door on a regular basis, or with a treat bag, shake it to get their attention, and then to follow you into a room with a door. Do this regularly...
Then when workmen are scheduled, get them into the room early on so you aren't stressed.

 

[wannahelp]

That might work with the older ones but the young one becomes suspicious anytime I try to lure him into a room with treats.
Plus, I don’t have a safe room downstairs, which means I’d have to start feeding them their regular meals upstairs to get everybody used to going in there.

 

[Furballsmom]

It'll take time, he'll eventually learn it's ok...or even lay a trail of treats now and then. Don't really look at him when you do this, talk nice to him with no intensity, dont get frustrated when he is reluctant, don't be concerned at all.
After a while he should be fine with it...

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

What does wverbody do with their cats when workmen have to come inside? ...

I use a soft crate. (My cat actually enjoys strolling in and out of the crate anyway, and playing inside of it... a good thing, as I usually tuck her in one & put it in another room when I vacuum, plus I tuck her safely in one when a workman needs to come over.)

I think this soft crate that I like may be soon unavailable. (Not sure??) They don't even sell it at Drs. Foster and Smith anymore; a lot of other places are out of stock. And even when you find them in stock somewhere, looks like they are trying to cut the prices...
Pet Gear Octagon Pet Pen

For what they are, I feel they are worth the money. We have two medium ones in storage, and we keep the small one available in our apartment. (I had used these three soft crates, which I had temporarily connected together, when I had to crate my cat for surgeries in the last few years.)

 

[wannahelp]

Can they flip those?

 

[Furballsmom]

I don't know, are you thinking a big wire dog crate? I guess I was thinking if you can't pick him up and he's so wary, maybe an upstairs room is the way to go...

 

[neely]

Funny you should bring up this subject because we just went through workmen having to be here all day but we had no choice. We are down to one cat now but always put him in our bedroom for safety no matter how much he dislikes it. It's the furthest room from downstairs so less noise. We keep a food and water bowl in there all the time as well as downstairs. He gets breakfast upstairs and dinner downstairs - he is spoiled rotten, lol.

Even though he is used to being in our bedroom as soon as we have to put him in there and close the door he senses it and hides under the bed. This last time I blocked off all the sides to the bed and he slept comfortably in bed. I visited him regularly, made sure he had fresh water and food but didn't coddle him. He did amazingly well so I was encouraged.

I don't blame you for being concerned about the cats getting underfoot of the workmen or getting out when they open and close doors. That would be my biggest fear which is why we put our guy in our bedroom, safety first. Best of luck, I hope you find a suitable solution for your household.

 

[wannahelp]

Having them all in a room together is ideal as long as they aren’t scratching at the door and walls or fighting.
Alao, I don’t want to have to be locked in there with them. Training them to go in willingly is the hard part.

 

[Kieka]

I must be lucky, I've never had a problem locking my crew into a room. Two years ago we had a garden show at our house. Lots of people going all around the outside of the house and with the layout of the house we thought it would be best to keep them all in one room. Just so they didn't freak out seeing everyone outside, surrounding the house. I stayed with them on and off all day and they mostly slept. Did the same thing when my Aunt brought over her dog, when the roof was replaced and when we had the air ducts worked on. They've all been fine.

I do think keeping the cats in a single spot is best with workmen around. My crew are indoor/outdoor but we've still kept them confined when major work is being done. Just don't want to chance something dropping on them or scaring them.

 

[maggiedemi]

I have 2 former ferals. I just make sure that I get them into another room ahead of time. They usually just go to sleep.

 

[ArchyCat]

I live in a townhouse. When I have workmen visit, I keep two cats that panic when strangers visit isolated in a spare bedroom. The other two have the run of the house. Sometimes they will act shy, and hide from the visitors. When they do not, I just sit outside the door the workers use and ambush any cat that ventures out the door.

 

[Furballsmom]

ambush any cat that ventures out the door.

LOL, in my case regarding the ambushing a cat trying to door dart thing, the circumstances were different but the feline attempt was all the same, I managed to react and grabbed that cat mid-air. It could have been a crazy situation had he made it past me.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I've always had to put everyone in one room, like it or not, like when painters were here. With litterbox, of course. Then when they needed that room cleared, I moved everyone into another room. I stayed in the room with them for the most part, taking a device with me so I could work/read email/do whatever I needed to do on that. Plus, their food and water was in the room, and I took stuff in for me, too.

 

[Joan's Kitties]

What does wverbody do with their cats when workmen have to come inside?
I always end up pulling my hair out, with my cats scratching on the bedroom door, while I’m locked in with them, until the workers leave.
Just getting them into the room is a nightmare. I get one in the room and another runs out. I use treats but that doesn’t always work. Now that I have the younger male, it’s an even bigger problem because when anybody unfamilat comes in, he runs and hodes. I can’t pick him up, so if my mother is around, she has to stay doenstairs to make site he doesn’t run out the front door. It’s such an imposition that sometimes it seems like whatever’s broken should stay that way.
Some people don’t mind working around cats. However, they aren’t going to be conscientious about opening and closing doors.

 

[Joan's Kitties]

I can identify with that! One of my cats is terrified when a worker comes into the house, even if it is downstairs, and only certain workers. Go figure! I have solved a lot of problems in keeping cats in or out of places in the home by putting removable gates in doorways and hallways. Wish I had thought of this sooner! I now can keep them in or out of the kitchen, and if I wanted to keep them in a particular room, I could leave the door open, and just use the gate so they don't feel so confined. The first gate I bought didn't work well. They actually were able to move it little by little and get in or out. This one, on Amazon, is great! I have several and think they even look nice.

 

[1 bruce 1]

What does wverbody do with their cats when workmen have to come inside?
I always end up pulling my hair out, with my cats scratching on the bedroom door, while I’m locked in with them, until the workers leave.
Just getting them into the room is a nightmare. I get one in the room and another runs out. I use treats but that doesn’t always work. Now that I have the younger male, it’s an even bigger problem because when anybody unfamilat comes in, he runs and hodes. I can’t pick him up, so if my mother is around, she has to stay doenstairs to make site he doesn’t run out the front door. It’s such an imposition that sometimes it seems like whatever’s broken should stay that way.
Some people don’t mind working around cats. However, they aren’t going to be conscientious about opening and closing doors.

We always, always, always lock them in a room that does not involve any work people going back and forth to their truck. (No back porches, etc.)
Usually we choose our bedroom. It's the quietest, most "out of the way" room in our place, and the cats ALL spend most of their day in there on their own watch. So if they're working in our space, that's where they go. Dogs are either crated, in a run so they can be outside as well as in, or (a few cat lovers) are simply left in the bedroom with them.

It's safer this way. They might be mad, they might cry and claw but the last thing they need is to be spooked while facing an open door and bolt, run, and get lost or be afraid to come home. Most work men are very good with animals, but some are not fond of them or haven't been around them much. Surprisingly, work men that aren't "cat people" often think that a cat that hasn't been outdoors since 8 weeks old and is now 10 and suddenly runs off and disappears that they'll just magically "survive in the wild". I dislike that cavalier attitude.
I also think it's courteous to keep nosy cats and dogs that want to "help" away from workmen if possible. They're here to do a job, and sometimes (even those who really like cats!) just want to do their job interrupted. If they express interest in cats or dogs, I always let them out at the end of the work day for everyone to mingle.
Some people are actually AFRAID of dogs and cats, I'm not surprised by the dog thing but I've met a handful of people who expressed disgust at cats but showed later it was nothing but fear.
if I was hired to do work at someones house and they insisted their pet tarantulas crawled all over me as I worked and laughed at how cute it was that they were "helping", I'd run away and never return!
We have a few regular work guys that are hired several times a year. They're "regulars" because they do good work, don't rip us off, and DO like animals. I wouldn't write someone off if they did NOT like dogs or cats, but I do feel better knowing that if someone slips out a door or a dog should bark at them, they're not going to go into a suppressed rage. I just feel more comfortable.
I'm a sucker and a cat and dog slave but even so, if I have a job that needs to be done and I just want it DONE I do usually keep dogs and cats away so I can work, un-distracted and un-interrupted so the job is completed quickly and efficiently. It's JMPP (just my personal preference.)
Plus, as much as it makes me sound like a stick in the mud, I'm paying you hourly. Please don't let 40 minutes of your hourly pay be spent playing with my cat, cute as it is, this is costing us money =D

 

[LTS3]

I put the cats into the bathroom since it's the only other room I have with a door, not including closets. The one time when the workers needed access to both the bedroom and bathroom, I took the cats to the groomer for a spa day because I had no where else to put them. I didn't want to bother a neighbor for a spare bathroom to put the (noisy) cats in for the day.

 

[artiemom]

It depends on where, what the repairmen are working on.

I have kept Artie in my bedroom, with litter box, food, water... and me.... and radio on...if they were doing a big job..

If just a some issue, I would be home, and monitor his behavior.. If he was too inquisitive, I would just pick him up an put him in his tent... or I would put him in my bedroom...

I tried to stay home when repairmen came in.... Artie was calmer that way... and he seemed to get used to my super....

 

[wannahelp]

Th master bedroom has a lot if space. Plus, there is another room adjacent, with a litter box and cat trees. So, I don’t feel bad about leaving them in there. It’s just getting them in there and trying to keep them from eesteoying the room and each other, while they’re in there.
The other major problem is that if I don’t stay with them, I can’t check on them because they’ll run right out the door as soon as I open it. My cats are very uncooperative.