# Kitten meowing at doors



## rketto (Aug 22, 2010)

My male kitten has been meowing at doors that open since I brought him home. For instance if he sees someone open it (I currently keep them in the bathroom) he will meow at it and try to "climb" it. Recently I left the cabinet doors under the sink open while I was cleaning their litter box (the scooper stays under the sink) and he had gone to investigate. I picked him up and moved him from the cabinet, and shut the door and he just meowed at it like crazy. I try to distract him with toys but they only work for a second and then he's back to meowing. This mostly happens to the bathroom door itself, after he sees me or someone else open it. 

His sister does not do this. I don't know what causes him to do it, but I think it could be that he's frustrated he can't go see what is out there, or possibly that he thinks his mother might be out there (both kittens are 6 weeks old). He doesn't do it all the time, it seems to just happen when he's "bored" or after he sees the door move. I would be happy to let them out of the bathroom to explore the house but I think they are too young right now, plus they have only been with us for four days.

Anyone have any ideas? It worries me a bit, I don't want him to get stressed out.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Cats hate closed doors. And when you open them, there's no guarantee they'll go in or out. They just don't like the doors closed. Kids!

Worse than seeing a closed door is being closed in behind one. I do understand why they're being kept together in a small area, and that's a really good idea to start out. They need a safe room, and being that tiny, they do need to be close to the litter box. 

I guess you'll have to put up with it until you think they can be let out. Is there another bigger room you can keep them in? I would say they're almost old enough to be able to explore on their own, but the only problem with that is your little guy is *really* going to hate being put back in the bathroom after having some freedom. Kind of a Catch 22 situation right now. They're sooooo cute, and I understand why you have them at such a young age from your other post. Very kind of you to take siblings. I can tell you from experience they'll bring you so much joy and it'll be so entertaining to watch them interact.


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## paperbacknovel (Jun 9, 2010)

I'll tell you that my little boy STILL hates closed doors. When I'm in another room and the door is closed (say, the bathroom or laundry room), I'll inevitably see little white paws under the door (is he trying to find me? open it?) and when I open the door, both kitties will be sitting right there and staring up at me like "WHERE'D YOU GO, WOMAN???"

Also, once he saw cabinets open or whenever the front door opened, at first he'd do the same and meow at the door to get us to open it. After a while, when he learned we wouldn't open it for him, he stopped.


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## StormChaser (Aug 3, 2010)

Zoe does this too - I never understood it. Usually it's when I'm in the kitchen washing dishes. She'll go over to the garage door or to the coat closet right next it it and start loudly meowing. She's always trying to get into the coat closet - I believe because it's always closed and typically off limits for her. Just recently she's been overly intrigued by the garage door. I'm not sure why... she's never outside and has no desire to be out there. But for the last 6mos or so she's been trying to dart into the garage every time we open it.


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## rketto (Aug 22, 2010)

Well I caved and let them out to explore the house for about ten minutes under supervision. The meowing after I put them back in... not going to do that again! I felt kind of bad but I wanted them to know there was more than just the bathroom, I guess.

Also I have tried to put them in my room with me while I'm working but they just try to climb out of the playpen, even with their favorite toys and everything in there. I'm going to keep them in the bathroom for a bit longer, just so I know I can let them out without them possibly hurting themselves or getting stuck somewhere.


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## StormChaser (Aug 3, 2010)

lol... Ah, kittens! They can be such little terrors. 

When I got Zoe she was 8wks, and a runt to boot. We had her in a spare bedroom for about a month, month & a half before I felt good enough about her size to let her roam about the apartment unsupervised. But even having her in that room scared me... I used to wake up in the middle of the night and go in there to check on her. She was always fine. It was actually my husband's studio so we had a couch in there and she was always sleeping on that. And yeah, the meowing when we shut the door and left her in there was horrible... I didn't want her to think we were abandoning her. I often wonder if that's a reason why she meows so much now.


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## rketto (Aug 22, 2010)

StormChaser said:


> lol... Ah, kittens! They can be such little terrors.
> 
> When I got Zoe she was 8wks, and a runt to boot. We had her in a spare bedroom for about a month, month & a half before I felt good enough about her size to let her roam about the apartment unsupervised. But even having her in that room scared me... I used to wake up in the middle of the night and go in there to check on her


That's probably what I'll do too. 

I've now kittenproofed my bedroom and set up a baby gate across the hallway leading into the rest of the house. I'm going to let them be out when I'm awake and put them back in the bathroom when I'm sleeping. They seem to be a lot happier already! I sprayed my computer's wires and everything else wirey with that bitter yuck stuff, and they show absolutely no interest in the wires. I'm so glad, that was one of my biggest concerns.


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