I don't know what to do about Goober and his door busting... I'm seriously contemplating calling up a taxidermist so that I know for sure he wont run out the door every time it opens... ok... I'm not being serious about the taxidermist part but he is really honestly driving me crazy. There are 5 people that live in my house. People go in and out of the house all the time and unfortunately some people aren't as aware of the cat running out as I am since I'm paranoid about it.There are loose dogs to worry about, coyotes, foxes, etc... and the occasional car... soooo many dangers could pop up. Some of my friends responses are, "well he clearly wants out so just let him be an outdoor cat." No way JOSE! Too many dangers, he's my cat and he's strictly indoors because I say so... ack... that's not directed at anyone here of course... just me venting on the side...
But back to the issue at hand... door busting... he runs out the door any chance he gets. He used to just run out onto the porch and duck low and stay there till you went outside and grabbed him... but now he's getting smart and venturing further. Last night my friend Mike opened the door and tried to leave my house while blocking the door so the cat didn't get out... but Goober still managed. It was really dark out and I live on a farm so there isn't street lights or anything. Try finding my ginger cat in the dark... it was like searching through a black hole. We finally found him under one of my roommate's trucks.
I'm really concerned about this situation. I've tried training him to stay away from the door. I've tried in a soft voice, stern voice. I've used treats, clicker methods, etc. I've tried the squirt bottle with water... I've tried anything I can think of... it just gets worse. He sits at the door and waits until someone comes home and runs out the door before they have a chance to even block it. Problem is also that my roommates aren't as quick to run and get him. They'll still come inside, close the door and set down their stuff before trying to find him... in those few minutes, who knows how far he could get.
Someone help me before I wind up killing him out of frustration. I'm afraid that one of these days he's going to get out and we're not going to be able to find him or he's going to wind up hurt or worse, dead. I'm so paranoid about it now that I feel like I have to know where he is in the house at ALL times. If I don't see him in my sight for a while I run all over the house searching for him and freaking out thinking he may be outside somewhere. I'm going to absolutely LOSE my sanity over this situation.
But back to the issue at hand... door busting... he runs out the door any chance he gets. He used to just run out onto the porch and duck low and stay there till you went outside and grabbed him... but now he's getting smart and venturing further. Last night my friend Mike opened the door and tried to leave my house while blocking the door so the cat didn't get out... but Goober still managed. It was really dark out and I live on a farm so there isn't street lights or anything. Try finding my ginger cat in the dark... it was like searching through a black hole. We finally found him under one of my roommate's trucks.
I'm really concerned about this situation. I've tried training him to stay away from the door. I've tried in a soft voice, stern voice. I've used treats, clicker methods, etc. I've tried the squirt bottle with water... I've tried anything I can think of... it just gets worse. He sits at the door and waits until someone comes home and runs out the door before they have a chance to even block it. Problem is also that my roommates aren't as quick to run and get him. They'll still come inside, close the door and set down their stuff before trying to find him... in those few minutes, who knows how far he could get.
Someone help me before I wind up killing him out of frustration. I'm afraid that one of these days he's going to get out and we're not going to be able to find him or he's going to wind up hurt or worse, dead. I'm so paranoid about it now that I feel like I have to know where he is in the house at ALL times. If I don't see him in my sight for a while I run all over the house searching for him and freaking out thinking he may be outside somewhere. I'm going to absolutely LOSE my sanity over this situation.