I have a front sunroom area that is completely enclosed, but not insulated or anything fancy like that. It gets cold in the winter, so I close the door leading to that room. My cats love going out there during the summer and lounging since three of the four walls are nothing but windows, and I have a couch and other napping areas out there for them. Every once in a while, I go out there over winter to either check out the happenings on the street (I live across the street from Wrigley Field, so there's lots of interesting foot traffic) or to get something I keep stored out there. When I open the door, my cats immediately go out there, as every closed door in the house is a personal insult to them. The door is open for less than one minute, then I corral them back inside and shut it. However, the cats will then start tearing through my apartment as fast as possible and just overall freaking out for about half an hour after I close the door. I have a really long hallway with hardwood floors running through my entire apartment, and the amount of acceleration they achieve followed by claws trying in vain to stop their momentum on the wood gets annoying. Random pathetic meows are common, and I mean PATHETIC. The worse offender out of the two is half Siamese, and those of you with Siamese know the sound I'm talking about.
I understand the fixation my cats have with the door leading to the room. I even have to put a comforter in front of the door, or my younger cat will paw at the weather strip, which is coming loose, and basically pulling it back and letting it slap against the door again and again for as long as he can.
So, is there any advice for how I can stymie this behavior, or even just an explanation of exactly why they freak out? I get frustrated when I don't understand the cause-and-effect relationship between things, and I think even knowing their specific response mechanism would help this situation immensely. I mean, it's not like I'm letting them run around outside in the backyard (which they do, frequently), or even letting them get used to having the door open. It's an in and out, easy peasy 30 seconds, and they turn around and freak out for 60 times as long as they were out in the sunroom for.
I understand the fixation my cats have with the door leading to the room. I even have to put a comforter in front of the door, or my younger cat will paw at the weather strip, which is coming loose, and basically pulling it back and letting it slap against the door again and again for as long as he can.
So, is there any advice for how I can stymie this behavior, or even just an explanation of exactly why they freak out? I get frustrated when I don't understand the cause-and-effect relationship between things, and I think even knowing their specific response mechanism would help this situation immensely. I mean, it's not like I'm letting them run around outside in the backyard (which they do, frequently), or even letting them get used to having the door open. It's an in and out, easy peasy 30 seconds, and they turn around and freak out for 60 times as long as they were out in the sunroom for.
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