Whining at the Front Door...

gc_nerd

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Hi Everyone!

We have a 3-4 year old kitty, who for the past year has had an obsession with our front door. She is an indoor only cat, who has only been outside a handful of times.
We are getting very frustrated, since day and night she constantly whines at the door. We live in an apartment building, so letting her out is not an option, nor do we want her to be an outdoor cat.
How can we get her to stop making such horrible sounds at the door?? We've tried ignoring her, we've tried playing with her (she gets tons of attention anyways), and we've tried squirting her with a water gun. We're running out of ideas and patience! We love our kitty, but we do not love this behaviour! Please help!!!!

Thanks!
Meaghan and Luke
 

white cat lover

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Welcome to TCS!


First off - is your kitty spayed?

Many members do not like/do not advise using a squirt gun, as it is all too easy to get water in their ears & cause severe damage (deafness & balance issues).

Is she toy oriented? Perhaps you could try distracting her with a toy?

Another option, if you have the ability, is to consider building an outdoor enclosure for her. It doesn't have to be fancy or big, but then she can safely have access to the great outdoors.
 
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gc_nerd

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Thanks for the welcome! XD

Our kitty was spayed when she was young, so that's not the problem.
I'm not too fond of squirting her, we just don't know what else to do!!! It's literally every 5 minutes that she cries at the door lately! She recently "escaped," but she got out through a window, so I don't know why she's obsessed with the hallway of our building!!!! As I mentioned, she's been crying at our door for about a year now, but lately it is MUCH worse.

She is usually not toy oriented. We can get her to play with them for a couple of minutes, but she loses interest very quickly. Often we hear her running around the house at night, and in the morning her stuffed toys are in random spots, but we can't seem to get her to play like that during the day :p. It's like she's shy about playing in front of people or something!

Unfortunately we don't have the resources at the moment to build a kitty enclosure. Plus that would involve messing with the windows at our rented apartment... And we DEFINITELY do not have any sort of yard!

Thanks for the suggestions, let me know if you've got anything else!
 

white cat lover

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I know this isn't the most useful suggestion, but probably the best thing to do is to ignore her. Sometimes once cats get a taste of "freedom", they want out badly, even if it isn't safe for them. (I have one special needs kitty who snuck outside under a dog, and now wants out very very very very bad - she has seizures & is very slow when it comes to realizing danger, so she absolutely positively can never get outside. I have had to listen to her cry at the door for 3 days now, but she seems to have finally given up.)
 

strange_wings

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You could always try harness training and taking her on walks. But you must be very aware of all the dangers in your neighborhood if you're going to take her outside - who lets their dogs run, who lets their cats run, who has a fence directly next to your planned route.

What toys have you tried? Have you tried a Da Bird?
 

kitty2cat

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I do not recommend taking an apartment cat on walks. Without a relatively enclosed yard, it can be hard to manage a cat that wants to bolt every time someone opens the front door.

Maybe you can try shaking a can of pennies every time she gets close to the front door.

I wonder what she thinks is out there. I have taken several door-howlers on leash walks. Once, the cat was so unimpressed with the outdoors (strangely, he didn't seem to mind the leash) that he never wanted to go outside again. I think that was a fluke though.

Good luck.
 

addiebee

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Could there be another cat in another apt that is making her curious and demanding??? Giving in is the worst thing to do and I know it's so hard.. I have a whiner who wants FOOD each and every time I go into the kitchen. Argh!!! Most of the time I just ignore him.. or give him some lovies and he's fine.

You could use a ssss-cat system. Pet stores and Amazon sell them. Every time the cat goes some place undesirable a motion sensor senses it and releases a hissing puff of air. Problem is, it would go off when you or another person goes in and out. But you could set it to operate while you are inside..
http://www.multivet.net/en/products/
 

bunnelina

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I have a cat who howls at our door even though he only goes outside in a carrier to the vet. If we accidentally leave the door open and he gets into the hallway of our building, he freaks out in seconds and is desperate to come back in. But he's been howling at the door for years. On rare occasions I get frustrated and throw him out, and he runs right back in. And howls some more.

I think he sometimes does it because one of us is away, and he knows we come in via the door. Is your cat missing someone, too? Mine also seems to do it just because he's bored. If I talk to him, he often quiets down. He's very talkative and needs to have conversations with us.
 

pami

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She might smell another cat nearby.
I know you said she doesn't play with toys for long periods, but have you tried interactive toys, like on a string. Do you have any high places she can go?

Have you tried Bach's Rescue remedy that can be calming for cats, or Feliway that can also be calming for cats....

Does she like catnip? I say that because some cats it can relax them and some make them excited. Either way it might be something to use to distract her until you can help her get out of the habit.
 

leeat_hotz

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Hey,

I am desperately seeking advice on how to stop my cat from whining at my bedroom door at night. he's an indoor cat but he's escaped outside for a minute or two sometimes. My male cat sleeps with me at night and he often does not settle down when i want him to sadly. He will jump from counter to counter in my room to my bedroom window and much more. One of the behaviours he most displays is whining at my bedroom door and stratching it for a couple minutes takes a break then comes back to it. It's really frustrating me and im getting such improper sleep. I have a few theories why he might be doing it...
We have a cat that hangs out in the basement that my cat likes to play with, we also have a dog that he loves to play with as well and he also has a new habit of window watching out my dining room window...

Please give me advice!
 

HudiniB

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Literally everything in the initial post is the same as my cat, I live in a 1 bed apartment and don't have access to a garden or outdoors for my cat to go and play, my missy does the exact same thing, sitting by front door whining and itching to go out into the hallway, which tbf once I allowed her to go as my hallway is closed with only one exit, but that's besides the point lol... So my best advice would be for you guys to get like a string toy for you're cat and just let it chase the toy around youre apartment until ya cat tyres out and gets completely distracted from initially wanting to go out, I done it a few times and it seems to work, otherwise specifically with my missy in my apt, she gets real distracted soon as I go to do the dishes, and that even works for me haha.
 

HudiniB

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See the thing is being indoor cars in an apartment can get real boring for em bless em, Imagine our life was based in one room n the teasing of the windows and all that outside life, so maybe try it, if yiure hallway is closed then let it out for a bit just get a doorstop so you're cat will know it can come home, also when I did let my cat out the once she was well happy upon her return all the purrs and head butt's were adorable haha.
 

HudiniB

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I got one of them gym rubber stretch thingy majigs and tied a soft cat toy to the end of it, put some catnip inside the centre of the soft toy and literally swing it from one side of my apt to the other and oh boy does she chase that toy with her life, also guys try out soft beam laser pens, when the purring or whining starts boom click that beam and watch you're cat go, ain't no better distraction than a laser pen.
 

Elemteacherjoy

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I don't know if this would help or not, but maybe a "window seat" for her so she can see the outdoors? Something like this just uses suction cups so it would be perfect for an apartment (I just ordered one myself the other day, and I rent too).

 

catsknowme

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What cat trees and shelving does your cat have? My disabled daughter's cat are confined to her large bedroom and since the addition of a large tree, they are much more content to stay in their room. They do require a good amount of exercise and entertainment with laser toys and the fishing pole (a real fishing pole, not the short cat toys) - they need across-the-room dashes and high leaps into the air.
 
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