Doorknob rattlers (serious plea for help)
Anna Terrill
find a solution to my problem. :-[
The Problem: Early in the morning (approx. 4am) the 3 gather
outside the bedroom door and wait for signs of life. If they
hear none in the allotted time period (usually 5 minutes),
they stand on their hind legs, reach up and rattle the
bedroom doorknob. They do this repeatedly.
Attempted solutions: First and foremost, we tried ignoring
it, hoping that if they got ignored, which they hate, they
would quit. Nope. Second, we started making very loud
noises, such as throwing a book or something similar against
the door when they would rattle it, since cats hate loud
noises. Didn't work. (Insert a couple of other failed
remedies which I can't remember, I've been fighting this
battle for so long.) Lately, we've tried this trick: Place
the vacuum cleaner outside the bedroom door, right in front
of the doorknob. Turn the power switch to the ON position.
Plug the vacuum into a power strip, leaving the strip in the
OFF position. Place strip next to bed. When the cat rattles
the doorknob, turn on the powerstrip, thus turning the
vacuum on and scaring them to death. (Our cats REALLY hate
vacuums!)
I guess you can all figure out what I'm going to say next.
This doesn't work anymore. It worked great at first, but
then they caught on to the fact that when they rattle, the
vacuum vacuums. Now, they rattle the knob quickly and run
away as fast as they can, and come back 2 seconds later
after we've vacuumed. So unless we sleep with our hand over
the power strip, ready to strike at the first sound of paws
on the knob, there's no way to stop them. But like I said,
even that doesn't work anymore. They just keep doing it over
and over.
I'm at my wits end. I don't want to lock them up in our 2nd
bedroom for the night, that seems too cruel. But I am sick
of being so tired from lack of sleep! (Have any of you ever
tried to sleep while your doorknob was rattling?! It's
hard!!! ;-) )
Most of the things I've tried I read on rec.pet.cats for
problems with cats digging or meowing outside the door. Is
there anything else that will work? Any suggestions would be
greatly appreciated. Email or post here.
Thanks!!!!!!
Anna
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Anna Terrill | Atlanta, GA | ban...@is.net
Owned by:
Sony: DS (W+B+R)v Y 3 X L W- I+++ T+ A E--- V+ Q++ P
Baxter: DS"BO" B Y 2.4 Y L W+ I+++ T++ A++ E++ V++ Q+++ P
Marlin: DM (O+B)t G 1.2 Y L+ W++ I+++ T- A E+ V Q P-
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Leela Keshavan
>
>I guess you can all figure out what I'm going to say next.
>This doesn't work anymore. It worked great at first, but
>then they caught on to the fact that when they rattle, the
>vacuum vacuums. Now, they rattle the knob quickly and run
>away as fast as they can, and come back 2 seconds later
>after we've vacuumed. So unless we sleep with our hand over
First, I have to stop laughing. I'm just picturing the little devils
doing this, and its a cute image. "Quick. Run Away! "
My 2 cats used to hurl themselves against my bedroom door. Romeo used
to yowl continuously. I finally started locking them in the second
bedroom. Cruel, maybe.. but heck, I have to go to work.. and I just
wasn't getting any sleep. Well, about 3 weeks of this pass, then
I decided to let them have the run of the house again .. and now they
don't do the door thing anymore, nor does Romeo scream outside my
bedroom door. Juliet took up the slack with the meowing. This I can
live with for about 5 minutes.. then I relent and let her in.
But now they actually *can* sleep with me,, because they finally
sleep most of the night! (they are a year and a couple of months old)
Leela
William December Starr
Anna Terrill <ban...@is.net> said:
> I am going to kill my 3 feline children very soon if I can't find a
> solution to my problem. :-[
>
> The Problem: Early in the morning (approx. 4am) the 3 gather outside
> the bedroom door and wait for signs of life. If they hear none in the
> allotted time period (usually 5 minutes), they stand on their hind
> legs, reach up and rattle the bedroom doorknob. They do this
> repeatedly.
>
> Attempted solutions:
[List deleted.]
Have you tried doing something hardware-related to the doorknob
mechanism itself to make it mostly rattle-proof?
-- William December Starr <wds...@crl.com>
Adam Felson
are fashioned out of little springs. My cat lays next to one and repetitively
bends it to one side and releases it for a good "BEDOING!"
Best time for play is around 4am.
Laurelin of Middle Earth
Rex used to play be-doing -- a lot. He managed to pull off the little
rubber stoppers from all of the metal sprints, and they became his
favourite batting-toy for a while. I would replace the things, and he'd
pull them off again. I finally gave up -- ok, let the door get a little
scratched at the bottom.
Just another set of things to find in the back corners when I moved...
(I also put in new door stoppers that sit above the hinge at the top --
Rex can't reach those!)
-- lauri
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------\
| Lauri Loebel Carpenter "All that is gold does not glitter, |
| la...@elwing.fnal.gov Not all those who wander are lost..." - JRRT |
| #include <std.disclaimer> /* I only speak for myself */ |
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Cary Kittrell
<find a solution to my problem. :-[
<
<The Problem: Early in the morning (approx. 4am) the 3 gather
<outside the bedroom door and wait for signs of life. If they
<hear none in the allotted time period (usually 5 minutes),
<they stand on their hind legs, reach up and rattle the
<bedroom doorknob. They do this repeatedly.
<
<
<Thanks!!!!!!
<Anna
<
<----------------------------------------------------------
<Anna Terrill | Atlanta, GA | ban...@is.net
<
<Owned by:
<Sony: DS (W+B+R)v Y 3 X L W- I+++ T+ A E--- V+ Q++ P
<Baxter: DS"BO" B Y 2.4 Y L W+ I+++ T++ A++ E++ V++ Q+++ P
<Marlin: DM (O+B)t G 1.2 Y L+ W++ I+++ T- A E+ V Q P-
<----------------------------------------------------------
Something that has worked perfectly for me was to construct a radio-controlled
squirt gun. Now it's:
"rattle rattle rattle...(press) SQUIRT SQUIRT SQUIRT SQUIRT SQUIRT...silence"
and they don't come back. Well, that morning, anyway.
I made mine from one of those motorized squirt guns and the radio-control
unit from a cheapie RC model car. However, if you don't feel like doing
the electronics, it would be just as good to run a simple wire from
the squirt gun to a bedside button.
Interesting psychological point: now that I'm not lying there seething
with impotent rage about my sleep being interrupted, I find that the noise
no longer bothers me, and I now sleep through it!
cary kittrell
ca...@afone.as.arizona.edu
Denise O'Connor
: I am going to kill my 3 feline children very soon if I can't
: find a solution to my problem. :-[
: The Problem: Early in the morning (approx. 4am) the 3 gather
: outside the bedroom door and wait for signs of life. If they
: hear none in the allotted time period (usually 5 minutes),
: they stand on their hind legs, reach up and rattle the
: bedroom doorknob. They do this repeatedly
Have you tried hanging many strips of tape from the handle, I'd
use double sided sticky tape. When they reach up to bat the handle
they end up with tape on their paws, which none of my cats have ever
liked. It also takes them awhile to get it off their paws. So they
quit batting at the door handle they will start reaching under the door
making just as much noise. Then you need to get one of those mats
used for cleaning debris off your shoes before entering a clean room,
you know they are sticky all over. When they get dirty, peel off the top
layer and a new sticky mat is out, they are about 1 foot by 2-3 feet in
size. They really don't like getting their feet on them. I've always
used the regular scocth tape stickiness, it pulls off without taking
skin or too much hair.
Ansoft Corp
: I am going to kill my 3 feline children very soon if I can't
: find a solution to my problem. :-[
: The Problem: Early in the morning (approx. 4am) the 3 gather
: outside the bedroom door and wait for signs of life. If they
: hear none in the allotted time period (usually 5 minutes),
: they stand on their hind legs, reach up and rattle the
: bedroom doorknob. They do this repeatedly.
At first locking up the cats seems cruel. So is justifiable homicide. I
positively detest having my sleep interrupted (and I can't sleep through
noises). My girlfriend's cat liked to meow outside of the bedroom door at
around 2, 3, and 4 in the morning. This was unacceptable.
So we locked the little bugger up in the second bathroom (where it's cat box
was). And it would meow in there. I could still hear the damn cat (I have
sensitive hearing). So I would get up, go into the bathroom, the cat would
try to run out, I would grab it forcefully as it attempted to pass me, walk
into the bathroom, force it to look at me, yell at it very loudly as I held it
in the air, set it down in the far corner of the bathroom, and shut the door.
I didn't hear a peep out of it the rest of the night. After about a week of
this, the behavior stopped altogether.
Then we let it out at night. It didn't meow any more, but it did scratch at
the door. So when it would do this (yes, scratching at the door woke me up),
I gave it the same treatment as before. Again, after about a week, the cat
was released and the behavior stopped.
And you're right...after a few weeks of sleep deprivation, kitty homicide looks
like a pretty good solution.
Try locking them up first.
If that doesn't work, put'em outside.
If that still doesn't work, use a Ginsu (just kidding...).
Warren
Jackie
and I couldn't lock her anywhere.
You can try one of two things:
Removing the door knob. Okay, not very practical.
Put a large pan of water in front of the door. They won't
be able to get to the door knob without stepping in the
water. Of course, if your cats like water, this won't
work either.
Let us know how it goes.
Jackie.
Please note that my views probably do not necessarily match those
of my employer.
Carol Reed,,,
oh! THAT'S the name of that game! yep, my babies played it too.
yep, at all hours of the night. fortunately, earthquakes couldn't
even wake ME up!
Jackie
Szygy did this when I would lock her out of the room. I used to invite
people over to come watch. It was hysterical to see this little paw
poke under the door and twang or "BEDOING" the doorstop. She would
wrap her fingers all the way around it and pull. However, when she
didn't outgrow this habit and I couldn't stop it, I had my dad come over
and remove the door stop. Of course, it was then she started to rattle
the door knob. Luckily, she has calmed down and no longer does either
in my new apartment. Chewing on the plastic ends of the door stop is
another story....
Christie
many kinds, such as those "lever" knobs. Or take it off entirely, but
you'd have to change some other stuff so that you can still get in. Maybe
a locking mechanism on the inside, but no other way to secure it shut
(that way you never get locked out if no one is in the room).
Or maybe you could booby trap the door, like the old bucket of water gag?
;-)
Christie Shackelford, Fermi, Dixie, Zima and Einstein
Adam Felson
Don't forget who's boss here! (the cat)
Andrew Whelan
Why not let the cats in? (as in keep the door open)
Just wondering.
andrew (who can't keep them out either)
--
/\,/\ andrew whelan /\,/\
/ o u \ aewh...@icaen.uiowa.edu / u o \
\<_Y_>/ THE university of iowa, idaho city, ohio \<_Y_>/
_oOO_/ " \_OOo_________________________________________oOO_/ " \_OOo_
(Cooper) (Marmite)
Grant and Elaine MacLeod
>Subject: Doorknob rattlers (serious plea for help)
>Date: 17 Aug 1994 04:07:03 GMT
I have to say that even though this is a serious plea for help, this really
made me laugh! Did you ever try leaving the door open? I found that our cats
just hate closed doors - once the door was left open ( after a few nights of
adjustment ) we had no problems.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Grant and Elaine MacLeod Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
mac...@fox.nstn.ns.ca
Andrea John
: Could you replace the knob with a different type of opener? I have seen
: many kinds, such as those "lever" knobs. Or take it off entirely, but
: you'd have to change some other stuff so that you can still get in. Maybe
: a locking mechanism on the inside, but no other way to secure it shut
: (that way you never get locked out if no one is in the room).
This reminds me that there are baby-safe door handle things on the
market. You have to SQUEEZE the thingy in order to get the door open.
Not even the smartest cat would figure thta one out!
Please post if some cat ever does!
Andrea
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