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begin_within Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 01:42 PM
Original message
Does your cat do this?
When they want to go outside, you open the door, and they stop halfway through the doorway, and just stare around the outside, and won't go all the way out. You try to nudge them gently with your foot, but they won't budge, and sometimes just turn around and come back in. Then a few minutes later, they want to go out again, but the same thing happens.
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Richard Steele Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 01:43 PM
Response to Original message
1. Yup. All the time.
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NV Whino Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 01:51 PM
Response to Original message
2. Yes.
It's called standard behavior.
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KyndCulture Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 01:55 PM
Response to Original message
3. Constantly... or worse.
She will go all the way out until her feet get cold in the snow and ice then she will wail as loud as a 3 yr old child that just dropped their lolipop until I pick her up and carry her back in.. then she looks at me like *I* made her feet wet and cold.

Just another day with a cat!
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KT2000 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 02:37 PM
Response to Original message
4. What I heard about this
is that cats are territorial and they get anxious abotr who might be in their territory. They need to check it every so often to make sure everything is OK and no one is there.
Obviously their preference is staying in the warm house and finding a cozy sleeping spot but they still have the need to check things out. Blocking the doorway is probably a good way to preserve all options - and keep you as their servant!

Love the kitten pics!
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begin_within Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 03:29 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. Thanks
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Mr. McD Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 03:34 PM
Response to Original message
6. No, I don't cater to there wishes
They have a cat door. If they want out they use it or stay in.
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hatredisnotavalue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 05:40 PM
Response to Original message
7. Only our stray siamese does that
I think at her previous home she was an indoor cat and she makes this lunge to run outside sometime when I open the door for the dog and then backs away.
I thought she was telling me that she could run away at anytime. "Go ahead," I tell her, "go home." But she hasn't after five years. Sigh
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vademocrat Donating Member (962 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 05:56 PM
Response to Original message
8. They're just making sure that you are still at their beck & call -
All the cats I've ever been owned by have had some variation on this. Sometimes it's opening the pantry door or a bathroom vanity door...I always figure they're just making sure I "still work"...:rofl:
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Skittles Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 05:59 PM
Response to Original message
9. HELLO! IT'S CALLED PUSSY-FOOTING!!!
:D
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yellowdogintexas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 06:00 PM
Response to Original message
10. they are looking for the door into summer. This is also why
when the weather is bad, they will seek the outside through one door, then balk when they see the wet/cold/messy weather. Then later they will try a different door, do the same thing and later another door, if another option is available...and back to door # 1 again.
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vademocrat Donating Member (962 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 08:05 PM
Response to Reply #10
14. What a wonderful concept- that's exactly what they're doing!
I think I'll join my old lady cat next time - I want to be with her when she finds that "door into summer"!!!
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Mikimouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 08:57 PM
Response to Reply #10
15. Doesn't that only apply to cats named...
Petronius?:P
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yellowdogintexas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 12:00 AM
Response to Reply #15
17. if that is the cat in the short story...then yes. I have not actually
read this story , just been told about it by my husband..who always jokes that the cats arelooking for the door into summer when they hem and haw around in the cool weather, or bad weather.
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Mikimouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 12:27 AM
Response to Reply #17
18. Yes, that is the cat in Heinlein's short story...
you should read it, it is a great story.
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allalone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 01:43 AM
Response to Reply #10
22. aaawww
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WolverineDG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 07:53 PM
Response to Reply #10
25. My dad used to say that!
He read a science fiction short-story about that & would often mention it when our cats would do the "do I want in or do I want out" routine when it was raining or cold outside.

dg
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jus_the_facts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 09:01 PM
Response to Reply #10
29. I should have read the responses before I posted below....
....I posted about the very same thing but referenced the novel by Robert Heinlein where the analogy comes from!! :)
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deadparrot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 06:02 PM
Response to Original message
11. Oh, yes.
At all hours of the day and night. The sooner we all admit that we're slaves to our felines, the better we'll all feel.
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Arugula Latte Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 07:26 PM
Response to Reply #11
12. I surrendered long ago.
See my profile.

I believe all life on Earth has evolved for the ultimate goal of anticipating the every need of our feline superiors.
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Hissyspit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 07:30 PM
Response to Original message
13. They are checking to be sure it is safe to go out.
And, yes, they want to go out because they are territorial.

Feline behavior can be logically explained as can all animal behavior (and this includes humans - humans are animals).
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graywarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-19-06 09:03 PM
Response to Original message
16. What swear words run through your mind when you find yourself
in this predicament? Mine are very colorful.
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allalone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 01:34 AM
Response to Original message
19. ohyeah
in or out. I sound like I'm selling hamburgers.
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allalone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 01:35 AM
Response to Original message
20. how about this?
my cat who has since passed away used to stay outside but come in and out to use the litter box. too funny
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yellowdogintexas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 07:41 PM
Response to Reply #20
23. I had one of those too. Cats are so weird. nt
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barb162 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 01:36 AM
Response to Original message
21. Yes, they bang on the door to go out and then just stand there
when I open it
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Left Is Write Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 07:47 PM
Response to Original message
24. My cat cries and cries and whines and scratches the door.
He is not allowed outside (I'm afraid of losing him), but if someone opens the door, he runs the other direction anyway. He cries and cries to go outside, but when he gets the chance, he appears afraid.

He sits in front of the patio doors half the day, watching the birds intently.
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graywarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 07:55 PM
Response to Reply #24
26. Mine thinks he's a dog. Runs to windows when someone
slams a car door outside or talks too loud. Runs like a little pussy when the doorbell rings.
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SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 08:24 PM
Response to Original message
27. When cats go out, at our house, bad things happen
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jus_the_facts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-21-06 08:55 PM
Response to Original message
28. They're just looking for 'The Door Into Summer'.........
Edited on Tue Mar-21-06 08:56 PM by jus_the_facts
.....excellent book by Robert Heinlein that begins with his laments about his big tabby Pete going from door to door in the winter time expecting each door to be the 'door into summer'!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Door_into_Summer
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