# Will my cat ever learn to open the door? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552 "2005-12-01T14:04:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/21 "2005-12-02T12:53:57Z")
> [@Clock](#): > > Is the entrance concealed by a big stove or wash basin? > > If so you can bet there are another 2 tunnels being dug, the buggers are planning mass escape, double the guards and string some barb wire and it may be a good idea to hide any motor cycles šŸ˜ƒ My cats donā€™t appear to be interested in escaping to the outside world. The tunneling is from the living room to the closet or to the bedroom. What really scares me is that they have meetings at the door. Sometimes three of them will put their heads together. Then two of them walk away and Quicksilver starts with the digging. Weā€™ve had this carpeting for 13 months, and it has been ripped up for half that time. So now we simply canā€™t close the doors. However, the motorcycle thingā€¦that concerns me. Iā€™ll have Mr. K remove the spark plugs. You canā€™t be too careful. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/22 "2005-12-02T13:04:48Z")
> [@](#): > > My darling fuzzy bastards know how to open a sliding door (unlatched) ā€“ just keep pawing at the bottom until it jiggles open, then stick their faces through and keep on squeezing through. This has led to many a 3AM wakening until I got wise and latched the door with a tiny turning latch that requires real finger dexterity to operate. Our cats do this with regular doors, as long as they havenā€™t been closed far enough for the latch to engage. Midnight knows tha you have to turn the handle to open the outside door, but never got any further than batting the top of the knob. Now that thereā€™s no longer a table near the door, and her back legs have gotten arthritic, itā€™s not likely sheā€™ll try to go any further than that. ---
**Author:** ![Clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@Clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clock)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/23 "2005-12-02T15:14:46Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > My cats donā€™t appear to be interested in escaping to the outside world. The tunneling is from the living room to the closet or to the bedroom. What really scares me is that they have meetings at the door. Sometimes three of them will put their heads together. Then two of them walk away and Quicksilver starts with the digging. Weā€™ve had this carpeting for 13 months, and it has been ripped up for half that time. So now we simply canā€™t close the doors. > > However, the motorcycle thingā€¦that concerns me. Iā€™ll have Mr. K remove the spark plugs. You canā€™t be too careful. šŸ™‚ Exactly!!! they donā€™t ā€œappearā€ to be interested in escaping to the outside world. Well neither did Steve McQueen, Big X, James Coburn, etc, etc and we all know what happened there donā€™t we? As for them putting heads together, this is easy explained. The 2 that walk off are A) Scroungers B) Forgers whilst Q) the digger is obviously a decoy. Keep your wits about you my friend and treble the guards. At this stage manned machine gun towers should be kept in mind. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/24 "2005-12-02T15:17:46Z")
> [@Clock](#): > > Exactly!!! they donā€™t ā€œappearā€ to be interested in escaping to the outside world. > > Well neither did Steve McQueen, Big X, James Coburn, etc, etc and we all know what happened there donā€™t we? > As for them putting heads together, this is easy explained. > The 2 that walk off are A) Scroungers B) Forgers whilst Q) the digger is obviously a decoy. > Keep your wits about you my friend and treble the guards. > At this stage manned machine gun towers should be kept in mind. šŸ˜ƒ I ordered those ā€œleave the parameter and your head explodesā€ necklaces. Thatā€™ll teach the Little Fuckers ā„¢. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/25 "2005-12-02T16:09:17Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > I am positive that one of my cats, (now unfortunately dear departed) knew \*exactly \* how doorknobs worked and would have used them if heā€™d only had thumbs. Another had not the slightest clue as to how to push open a partly-opened door. One of my current ones is too much of a Princess to push open a door; one of her staff must do so for her lest she disturb a whisker. My Princess has learned how to be dignified about itā€“sheā€™ll stand on her hind legs, put one paw on the doorframe to balance, and either push the door open with her paw if it swings outward, or curl her claws into the edge of the door and pull it open. Of course Aleksandra is convinced sheā€™s four-legged people, too. ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/26 "2005-12-02T17:55:19Z")
My cat got really efficient at opening doors, I would come home to her sitting atop the aquarium gazing down at the tasty fishhies. I used small shock cords to hold the doors shut, so you could listen to the bump of her jumping up and hanging off the doorknob, then the click and clatter of the knob turning, then the frantic scratching with the hind claws against the doorframe. Then whne the force of the bungee overcame the cats ability to hold the doorknob, the simultaneous splat of falling cat and the slam of the door reclosingā€¦priceless humor. Then I moved, and I donā€™t think she has realized that the new doors work the same as the old doors. The new ones are painted white, not natural wood, like the old ones ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/27 "2005-12-02T18:01:27Z")
Wow, you guys are depressing me with your stories of cats with two brain cells to rub together. My dumb kitty canā€™t even remember how to get through an \*\*open \*\*door. Seriously. We have two doors to our bedroom, and she ALWAYS stands outside the closed east door, meowing pitifully, rather than walk ten feet around the corner to the north door, which is always open. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/28 "2005-12-02T18:04:15Z")
I have 5 cats. Three of the five have double paws. One, Iā€™m convinced, has quadruple paws; theyā€™re the size of catchers mitts and make her walk funny. I live in fear of the day they learn to use those ā€œthumbsā€ they have. That said, they have yet to learn that while I donā€™t _shut_ my door all the way, sometimes it is indeed closed most of the way. Thereā€™s a curtain hanging in the doorway, but running into it full speed is probably not the best way to ascertain whether or not the door is fully open. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/29 "2005-12-02T18:27:43Z")
Two cats in our house. One (the female) of them can open any door (except those latched by a handle), cupboard doors, and the outside screen door on our three season porch, are no issue, either in or out of the porch. The other one, who is quite a bit more adventurous, will just stand there and look at the door. Heā€™s watched her open it from both sides more times than I could count, but refuses to try to open it himself. Heā€™ll stay outside the porch, in the pouring rain, and wail, but wonā€™t nudge the door open to get some shelter. I used to think he was the smart one, but Iā€™ve been proven wrong all too many times. Heā€™s just brave, which I think is often a sign of stupidity! šŸ˜ƒ -butler ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/30 "2005-12-02T18:47:37Z")
We also had a smart kitty named Tybalt who could use a doorknob. For awhile we lived in a house with interior doorknobs that didnā€™t offer much resistance. We hadnā€™t lived there more than a month before the cat figured it out. Heā€™d walk up to it, stand up on his hind legs, brack one front paw on the door frame and hook the other over the top of the knob. Presto! He didnā€™t have any claws, either. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/31 "2005-12-02T19:16:20Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Wow, you guys are depressing me with your stories of cats with two brain cells to rub together. My dumb kitty canā€™t even remember how to get through an \*\*open \*\*door. Seriously. We have two doors to our bedroom, and she ALWAYS stands outside the closed east door, meowing pitifully, rather than walk ten feet around the corner to the north door, which is always open. > :smack: Thatā€™s fucking hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/32 "2005-12-02T20:41:31Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Thatā€™s fucking hilarious! Not at 2 AM, itā€™s not! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/33 "2005-12-02T21:02:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Not at 2 AM, itā€™s not! šŸ˜ƒ Iā€™ve got one who walks through the houseā€¦EVERY DAYā€¦usually two or three timesā€¦mourning the ā€œdead kittenā€ which really a silly little mouse-shaped toy. And eeeeeeevery day I tell her: ā€œYou were fixed. You never had kittens. Itā€™s not really dead.ā€ But she persists. Crying, pacing, carrying on. Itā€™s sad, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/34 "2005-12-02T23:00:13Z")
Opening stuff must be the cat IQ test. We have no Mensa candidates in our house - our smarter cat can pull open as well as push open partially open doors. Our not-as-smart cat isnā€™t going anywhere if she canā€™t headbutt it open. It a good thing theyā€™re so cute, the little muttonheads. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552/35 "2005-12-02T23:27:40Z")
One of the houses my family lived in when I was growing up had the [ā€œleverā€-type](http://www.vandykes.com/product/02015614/) latches, where you just have to push a lever above a grip to open the door. We had three cats when we lived in this particular house, but only ONE of the three cats (the youngest, who was actually born in the house) figured out that he could open doors by jumping on the thumb lever at the top. Mr. Kiminy and I acquired a cat soon after moving in together, but the first apartment we lived in with said cat didnā€™t really have any internal doors. When we moved to a new apartment, she learned very quickly how to open doors that werenā€™t completely latched (by using her claws to pull open the door from the bottom of the door). She lived with us for almost 18 years, in several different apartments and a house, but she never did learn how to turn door knobs. (Iā€™m sure she understood the conceptā€“she was an exceptionally intelligent catā€“but she never figured out how she might be able to overcome the lack of an opposable thumb.) We have two cats now, but neither of them have even learned how to pull open a door that isnā€™t latched shut if they are on the ā€œinā€ side of the door. One of them can push an unlatched door _in_ to the room he wants to enter, but the other is completely clueless if the door appears to be closed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-cat-ever-learn-to-open-the-door/333552.md?page=1)