Oberon and his new buddy TangTang are getting along. TangTang is a Manx from a shelter with unknown past. Not best friends yet but they can share space in a room or a window comfortably.

TangTang has bolted out the front door 3 times so far, and apparently thinks he has indoor/outdoor privileges. Wrong answer, my dear orange boy.

Oberon has watched him each and every time. So now I have be extra vigilant not only to keep TangTang inside, but to keep Oberon from getting any bad ideas. They both have microchips and I am ordering collar tags JIC.

I have been thinking about sensors, scent deterrents, foil, etc.

Any suggestions?

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On no ... the daring escape artist. I can't tell you the number of posts on Lost Pet Facebook pages that mention the pet slipping out the door. Once they are out, they love the big world before them. Raiden, who was an all outdoor bengal for the first six years of his life, REQUIRES some outdoor interaction. The cat enclosure helps as do the two walks a day, but he will still try to sneak between our legs as we go out. I do my best to make sure he's away from the door, but that boy is fast. He's also not the most intelligent bengal as he gets out there and just walks and will stop and sniff where I can grab him.

A collor with your information on it would help, as long as the pet is able to be caught by someone to read it. Same with a microchip. Someone finding TangTang or Oberon would have to know to take them to the vet to be checked. With all the stray cats I've found, it took me 20 years to realize that fact. Pet trackers are popular now but I don't know what cat likes wearing something like that all the time just in case they get out.

When we go grocery shopping and have to have a wide open door to bring the bags in, I put Raiden in our bedroom and he stays there until all the bags are in. When a package is delivered and I have to go out and get it, Raiden is always at the door when I return and all I can do is to try and scare him back so I can get in.

Isn't this fun? No! And is it terrifying when the cat gets out and you're not sure you can get catch the cat? Yes. I've had Raiden escape at 3 a.m. when I went looking for my DSH that is outside most of the time. I had to come back in and put on shoes and wake up the hubby and grab a flashlight and hope Raiden didn't get too far. Thankfully, he was sniffing the bushes next door. At least with his walks throughout our neighborhood, he knows how to find his way back home, but now we have a cat from down the street that likes to follow us -- and I don't need a fight on my hands. This morning I had two of my cats and that one howling and growling at each other.

To get back to your topic -- all you can do is stay vigilant. The fact that TangTang has gotten out three times so far means you're not completely focused on how badly this little guy wants to be out. Here is an interesting article with some suggestions:

https://www.adoptapet.com/blog/how-to-k ... -cat-safe/

I do recall seeing a picture of wire vestibule that someone built just inside their door that allowed a person go to into it and close the vestibule door and then be able to leave through the exterior door with the cat two doors away. I haven't been able to find that picture and it would be a huge project to do -- and probably expensive. They might benefit from an enclosure -- so much information and pictures are online and they can be inexpensive or elaborate. I know Raiden and Long Legs love theirs (when the weather isn't 90 degrees). It's a safe refuge that allows them to enjoy the outdoors and fresh air.

Thanks Sherry. The closed door/airlock vestibule sounds wonderful, but I rent. I have a front porch I may try to temporarily modify.

Meanwhile, I stepped out to look at the door and think about my options, when, WOOSH I see the orange blur of a cat. Yikes. Triple yikes.

So out of desperation I fashioned an ugly cardboard thing to slow him down when I open the door. I infused the cardboard with Eucalyptus to act as a further deterrent.

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Well, you have to think outside of the box. I don't know that the cardboard will slow a cat down. How will YOU get out the door? LOL. Maybe a motion-sensitive air canister might do the trick of scaring him. Of course, you would set it off, too. It's crazy that a cat will hear a door open and can run at supersonic speed to get out in a quick millisecond. Since you rent, your options are limited. Is that the only exterior door you have? Sometimes I use my other door when Raiden thinks I'm going out the front door. If nothing else, if you need to go out the door, make sure TangTang and Oberon are safely secured in a room. If you have to leave for any length of time, that might be a problem if they need food or a litter box. Sometimes maybe jangling a chain as you go out the door might scare them. You'll just have to keep trying things to see what might work. Obviously TangTang doesn't go far as you seem to be able to catch him, but that may not always be the case. And if you live in an apartment complex, there are cars driving around and a lot of other people roaming around. At least you can teach a dog the word "stay." I've tried that with Raiden. Doesn't always work. I'd like to think someone else might come on here and give you some other suggestions. The other thing that might work is you putting a screening or netting on the inside of your door where you can get out and the netting or screen would keep the cats in. Maybe a curtain would work. You could actually pull it back until you needed it to escape.

Believe it or not, the cardboard prototype worked so well, i made a nicer one out of corrugated plastic.

I had taped and securely tacked the cardboard one against the door jamb. The new one is simply pressfit in the doorway. Easy to remove and TangTang could certainly blast his way through... If he wanted to.

Apparently the benefit is mostly psychological. TangTang doesn't "see" the escape route that he was used to seeing. He just glances at me when I go out now.

When I go through, I place grocery bags etc over the doorway and then step over the narrow part. If I have big stuff, then I will lock up the cats and remove my handy dandy door guard.

Here is the new version.

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The new version looks great (and clean). You wouldn't want the apartment manager to come and complain. You just have to do what you have to do! I thought I sent a link to an article -- might be in a higher comment I made -- but the "throw a treat" thing is pretty comical. Raiden gets medication daily and he will hide under our bed. I cannot get under there to get him, but last night I brought in the treats and placed four on the carpet beside me. He came out to eat them so I could grab him to give him the meds. If yours are treat-motivated, that might work. Ha Ha.

Sherry- You are lucky Raiden is treat motivated. Oberon doesn't give a hoot about treats or catnip. Just wants to be fed wet cat food, raw beef heart and chicken necks. And for me to thump him until he rolls around in ecstasy.

But his obsession with the ground prey iguana does work for me to lure him out of hiding! I swish it around, call his name and I hear a thump-thump and the sound of an eager cat galloping down the stairs.

The front door guard may not work for very long. I see TangTang looking at it as if to figure that he could leap over it. Still it does slow him down and allows me not to enable bad habits from the beginning. When he did get out, he seemed awfully proud of himself and pranced around as if to say "Neener neener neener. Look what I did Ma!"

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