so my rambunctious kids are scooting out the door every time I open it. Lol. It's barely been 3 days since they got here and they're itching to run out the bedroom door.

Which presents a different problem. How do I keep them in the room for now and more importantly how do I keep them from running out the front door after they've been given the house?

Am wondering if this means I have to keep them in the back room whenever I go out? What's the best way to handle this?

Quasar is a strictly indoor cat, except for outings when he is on a leash and harness HOWEVER...
he loves to go out the back door and will attempt this randomly, if no one is looking. We have always been able to catch him outside because he gets out and then is too scared to go much further than out and under our deck or bushes.

We have gotten in the habit of locating him when we are going out the back door. I find that if I make eye contact and address him verbally, this deters him from darting. If he is right by the door, I shove him with my foot and say, "no" sharply. It seems as if, he knows we are watching him, he won't even try.

The big difference for you is having the two of them. I've only had to catch one kitty and he has never had a partner in crime.

Good luck!

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~ Kyenta

Thanks Kyenta. The main thing is I don't want them to be scared since I want to try and harness train them, but I don't want them escaping either. I think once I let them out of the safe room I will make it a point to round them up and put them in their room before leaving so I don't worry about them escaping when I come back in.

You can always try distraction tactics - when I leave the house I tend to give my two some treats and then nip out, or throw one of their toys in the opposite direction and they usually can't resist chasing it. If you come back in with treats or a toy, you will probably be able to distract them from trying to escape. I find just having carrier bags is enough - every bag needs to be thoroughly checked out by them! Plus they will be pleased to see you and want a fuss - Hendrix always rolls over for a belly rub and Jagger always wants feeding!

It's taken a while but our two now pretty much have the run of the whole house when we are out - apart from the front room with the TV as there are so many leads and way too much temptation! Oh and they have pulled down the shelves on the book case before now too. But now we have a porch so I can come in the porch and shut that door before I enter the house so things are easier these days!

Whilst I was always very careful coming in and not letting them escape before we had the porch, to be honest, they showed no interest in going out until we started to let them out, and then Hendrix in particular wouldn't move from the patio as the big outside world was a bit scary to him and Jagger would try to entice him out on the lawn.

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Does anybody have a suggestion for closing off sections of the home? I live in an apartment. Closing doors is very limiting.

Cats can become the best escape artists! Raiden still bolts for the door. He's escaped a few times, but he always stops once he gets outside and I just talk softly as I approach him and then grab him. He's 7-1/2 years old and was an outdoor cat for 6 years. How he survived, I don't know. He was in some pretty bad cat fights. When the neighbor finally gave him to me, I decided he'd not roam free. So we take daily walks and he loves his harness and leash. We also enclosed a large area on our deck and he can go out there any time through a cat door and enjoy the outdoor weather. He still wants to make a run for it. There are times that I put him in our bedroom if I have to make multiple trips back and forth. He just has to deal with it. I'm sure your little munchkins will get out -- they are fast and they don't need much room to slip through. You just need to be diligent. Sometimes I feed Raiden and he's occupied with food but other times, as soon as he hears the door ... he's right there. He does understand the words "get back" and I wait until he steps away from that area and I rush to get back through the door.

You should have cat trees, window perches, anything that can act as a distraction for the kitties. You have TWO of the tykes, so it will be twice as difficult for you to make sure they don't take off running.

As for sectioning off your apartment, that could be difficult. Cats are great at jumping (or they will be as they get bigger) so anything 3' high or less, they can go over. You might try some decorative free-standing screens and hope they don't just knock them over. That said, cats are curious and they want to investigate every part of their home. Raiden has the run of the house except for the bathrooms and one junk bedroom.

I spend a lot of time at home. So I've decided for now I'm going to be leaving the in their room when I have to work or am out so that they don't try to escape the entire house. Unless someone has better recommendations?

My "bengal house entry protocol":

Open garage door
Walk in garage
close garage door
open door to house

If the bengals blow past me, then at worst they can mess around in the garage for a few minutes before wanting to come back in with me. When I have guests, I ask that they enter and leave through the garage as well.

Leaving the house is a bit easier, because I do a "cat check" to see where they are before I open the door to leave. Usually only gaga is a problem, and I can deal with that by simply picking her up, opening the door, stepping through the door, then placing her back in (facing away from the door), and quickly shutting the door.

I think locking them in a room anytime you have to leave the house, especially if it's for the day or whatnot is a bit harsh.

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The little monsters 3

I also think locking them in a room whilst you are out is a bit harsh.

Once they are comfortable and used to the run of the entire house, they will not appreciate being locked away in one room. They have too much energy for that and if they get bored (which is likely in one room) they can become very destructive. Mine at the minimum used to have the conservatory, kitchen and hall and if I was out longer than they felt was appropriate, they would find some mischief to get into.

You will find a way of getting in and out of the house - if you know you are going to be out it could be worth putting back their feeding time and feed them just as you are leaving so they are more interested in their food than what you are doing. When you come home, have something in your pocket you can throw for them if they are hanging around by the front door - hopefully they will chase it. If they do get out, they will more than likely be too scared to go far and if you approach them as Sherry has suggested, you should easily be able to get them back indoors okay. Just don't panic and start lunging for them!

If you have a strict routine, yes they will cotton on and be looking out for you when you are due home, but otherwise, they may well be fast asleep in their beds and you can sneak in.

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Thanks for the replies. I will try everything you've suggested and hope for the best. The feeding on the way out seems like a smart idea to try. I'm more worried about coming back in, but maybe I'm just being too paranoid since I haven't even given them complete run of the house yet.

We trained our fur family at the door. We decided a blocking move with our foot out was going to be our signal and started training every day. We'd open the door a bit to our apartment letting the cats get a sniff of the world outside. In their curiosity they'd go forward. We'd put out our foot and make a "ack" sound. The cats would stop and we'd praise. With the daily practice we were able to drop the sound and keep the foot motion. We enter the home with the foot motion and the fur family gives us space to enter. On more curious days for them, we use the foot motion to encourage them to back away so we can enter more freely. We even used this technique going into the bathroom or going into a room to wrap presents without their insistent help with the paper.

Our bengal prefers to be put to bed in the cat room/ office (a habit that came from the breeder who put her cats to bed in their mother's room when they went to bed). We can go into the room with Noah carrying a container and bowl for wet food, Noah excitedly showing us into the room and all it takes at the fully open door is the foot motion to stop everyone else from entering even with them knowing we are carrying the good stuff.

There is a book Cat Fancy'sThe Naughty Cat No More by Marilyn Krieger. It talks about clicker training at the door in one of it's chapter if you want a how to. That or do what we did...developed something that is naturally something you do into a training session for your cats to learn. Good luck and have fun with it!

When I come home I have a laundry room between the garage and the enterance of the house with a door on each side. The laundry room is full of extra patio furniture, a bike, refrigerator, etc. every day they are on the other side of that door waiting for me with paws searching under the door. I open the door and just like clockwork, Blondie slips under the door and into the laundry room to explore. I shut the door and Grace leads me into the kitchen so I can prepare their dinner. Now Blondie is meowing to come back in so I open the laundry room door before putting their food down.

When I have to leave in the morning I always put some dry food out so I can exit without them running into the laundry room. I guess I control them with food. I let them have the run of the house while I am at work but I close my bedroom and office doors until I return and keep the door to the patio open until bed time. They learned the routine quickly and seem to love the consistency.

My two are strictly indoor cats as well. Cosmo (my Exotic) tries to escape out the door all the time. He's managed to get out the garage door a few times thanks to my youngest son, but will hide under the car.
Thankfully Luna hasn't tried to escape out the door yet. I do however look around to see where they both are, and if they are near the door I will hold them with my foot whilst going out the door.

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Sarah, owned by Cosmo (9yr old Exotic Shorthair) and Luna (Silver Spotted Bengal - born 23/6/14)
Mummy to 2 little men, Mr L (7yr old) and Mr O (3yr old)

That's awesome that you figured out that Pepper is leading. He might be your key to training both at the door. He'll definitely be the key to quicker learning during clicker training if Pepper remains the one to follow and takes to training fairly easy. How is the door training going?