Why Do Cats Hate Closed Doors?
Why Does My Cat Hate Closed Doors? 2 Vets Explain What's Going On
If you have a cat, you may know firsthand just how curious of creatures they can be. Whether it is sitting on your keyboard while you are trying to work from home, or climbing over your lap to scope out what you are eating for lunch, it seems like cats like to always be in the know.
When my boyfriend and I moved apartments recently, our cats took their curiosity to the next level and found a new thing to get fixated on — doors. No matter what door it is, our cats want it open at all times. As it turns out, cats hating closed doors is a thing. To help learn more about this quirky behaviour, POPSUGAR spoke to two vet experts.
"If anyone knows anything about cats, it's that telling them what to do is not in their coding," Gabby Wild, DVM, MPH, CVA, told POPSUGAR. "So when we close a door on them, they naturally want access to what they may perceive as their own territory or to investigate the unknown." Dr. Wild added that cats may not be huge fans of closed doors because of a variety of reasons that go back to their investigative and territorial nature. "They may detect other cats, smell something engageing, or want objects, from food to toys to their back-scratching humans, on the other side of the door," Dr. Wild said.
Felines' innate survival skills also come into play when they insist a door must stay open, Bonnie Bragdon, DVM, MS, and cofounder and president of the Independent Veterinary Practitioners Association, told POPSUGAR. "Cats find closed doors irresistible because they are inherently curious animals driven by instincts which help them survive in the wild," Dr. Bragdon said. She went on to explain that, for cats who do not have human care, doors can be a source of food and shelter. "While our indoor cats no longer need to find their own food and shelter, these instincts for survival continue to drive cats' curious nature and the drive to find out what's behind the door," she said. Just another example of a cat trying to understand the world around them!
