Has anyone ever taught a cat to close a door behind themselves?

[LynetteScavo]

If so how?

I know you can teach a cat to use a loo, but I just want mine to close the door behind themselves so I don't have to get up to do it myself! It's not a big ask.

One of my cats isn't the brightest, the other just doesn't care. I think there must by a solution to this.

They know how. They just don't want to.

I can't even teach my children to do that.

Ha ha ha, why would you even try

This is always something I would wish for. My DM made some contraption to pull the living room door shut without getting up when her cat used to open it. It was nearly 40 years ago and I can't remember how she did it.

I'm not sure - I've never tried.
But, I did train one of my cars to meow when they wanted to be let outside.......

@mineofuselessinformation was it a Purrgeot?

My cat comes when I shake a pack of Dreamies. 😂

Cats don’t do manual work.

It took one of my cats 7 years to learn how to open the door. Either her sister would push it open for her or she would sit and miaow from the other side until I'd get up to open it. One day she decided to do it for herself! Cats are arseholes sometimes!

Haha @MooseBeTimeForSummer

My Old Boy cat who is now longer with us learned to say "For fucks sake" while sitting next to his bowl if we dared it to feed him on demand. So closing the door it definitely a possibly. I just have to make it to be in the cats best interest.

My neighbours cat used to knock the door to be let in. It was a letter box with a door knocker on and the cat used to stand on its hind legs and knock the door with a front paw.

www.screwfix.com/p/smith-locke-concealed-door-closer-square-polished-chrome-95-144-5mm/5711g

Not close it but my cat figured out how to open the door by jumping from the stairs and hitting the lever handle on the way down.

Probably the best way is to convince the cat you never want the door shut then it'll do it just to be contrary.

Why would you give them ammo? You know if you try and teach one to close doors they'll go about opening them all just to be contrary.

Moose, no clue, just a tortie I got from a rescue while she was still quite young!
(I couldn't do a thing with the older boy I got - from a rescue too - as he was clueless, bless his heart.)

If the cat is left pawed it will only be able to open half the doors anyway
(you think I'm joking - watch your cats)

I know somebody who trained their cat to wee and poo into the toilet and put a weighted string on the door so their left pawed cat could get out of the closed door

but it was a very unusual cat (and I loved him lots)

I've not tried with any cat. I'm still waiting for DP to be able to close our front gate. He tells DD to but never does himself!

mykittykorner.com/ This appeared on Facebook ads for me this morning. Solves some of the issue in that the door can be both opened and closed at the same time.

I suspect no one has ever trained a cat to do anything. They might think they have, but more likely it just happens to coincide with something the cat was thinking they might like to be doing anyway.

OTOH cats have trained their owners to do all sorts of things

I trained Asbo to knock the lamp I hated over. It took three attempts because it was sturdier than I thought but it broke eventually.

I hated that lamp.

My 18 year old cat has been stone deaf for years.
She understands simple sign language very well including do not crap in the bathroom!
She ignores that one but legs it if I catch her doing it so shall knows it's wrong.
She can't be bothered to trek downstairs to the litter tray.
She also enjoys miaow ingredients really loudly to make me turn round and pay her attention. She can't hear herself but she gets the rage if I don't turn around immediately.
When she goes out she looks at me constantly and if I signal comes running in. She trusts me to keep her safe.

We haven’t managed it yet but DH is trying. His method of instruction is to yell ‘shut the fucking door’ every time the cat comes through the lounge door. Progress is slow

This? www.amazon.co.uk/Kitty-Pass-Interior-Hidden-Litter/dp/B017KXN7DG

I used to live in an apartment block; my neighbour lived on the third floor and trained her cat to use the lift Saved her a fortune on cat litter.