Cats and the Door Fascination

Why do cats paw at a closed door?

To get to the other side.

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Cats are incurably curious because they can imagine both good and bad outcomes from their explorations. And they can’t stand not knowing which one it might be.

This requires higher brain functions. So having curiosity means cats are pretty smart.

They may have been in and out of that room for years, since they were kittens. But it only takes a few times for a closed door to lead to changes within that room before they get the idea that a closed door could mean some sort of change. Add in the fact we are often in that room doing things they want to know about, or think they do, and we have fascination building up every time we close a door.

We can find this a source of frustration, as when a cat clamors to get into a room, looks in, and goes away. What was that about? we ask ourselves. But every closed door means what is in the room is now an unknown… until we open the door, and they discover it is, after all, the same old room.

They might be disappointed. They might be reassured. But now they know. That is the point.

Likewise, we might have rooms where we keep the door closed much of the time, such as the sewing room, the baby’s room, or storage rooms. So we probably have cats who can hear these doors being opened from anywhere in the house, and will immediately show up to satisfy their curiosity about the room.

I can’t open a closet door anywhere without two or three cats showing up to explore this new space; just like they did the last time.

So we should be obliging about opening doors, because this will shut off the interest. We should be willing to let them in, and then encourage them to leave at the proper time. We should check normally empty rooms and closets when a cat is missing, because they might have snuck in while we weren’t looking. We should be alert to cats sneaking in.

We can’t expect a cat to get over this interest, any more than we can expect a three year old to accept a wrapped gift, and not want to open it now.

Because cats love a mystery, and they love locked door mysteries best of all.

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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.