I "Tried" To Lock My Cats In Their Room For The Night. But the queens that they are wouldn't take it.

My three cats: Oreo, Cookie and BrowniePhoto By Author

I took in three kittens last year when they were abandoned by their mother. They were just one week old at that time. I decided to allocate a separate room to the cats where they could retire for the night. This way even if we got up in the middle of the night, they won’t be disturbed.

So, every night after feeding them I used to close the door of the room. They kind of got used to this routine and never threw any tantrums. They even looked forward to getting locked in their private space where they could do whatever they wanted.

New changes and challenges

After a year, we shifted to a new house. Here unfortunately there wasn’t any bedroom on the ground floor. Just a living room, kitchen, a washroom and a small storeroom. All the bedrooms were on the first floor.

I thought to arrange the storeroom for the cats. I arranged everything for them in the room, even installed a wall fan so they don’t feel hot. After shifting on the first night, I gave them food and water as usual and then closed the door.

Since our bedroom was on the first floor and it was summer so I closed my bedroom door as AC was on. In the morning when I came down, I found the cats in the living room. I clearly remembered closing their door in the night.

It was the morning shift for my husband that day and he left very early so I assumed that he might've opened the door for the cats. But in the evening when he came and I enquired, he denied opening the door. He told me that the cats were already outside when he came down.

This had never happened in the past year. I didn't lock the door in my previous house, just closed it. But they never came out in that house. Every morning I used to open the door for them.

Another night same story

I thought maybe I didn't latch the door properly. That night I closed the door and said aloud to my husband and kids that I’m closing the door. Then we slept. In the morning, when we came down, again the same story. Cats were sitting on the sofas in the living room smugly.

Now it was clear that somehow cats were managing to turn the door handle to unlatch the door. Though unbelievable, there wasn't any other explanation. I had never seen them do this before, though had seen numerous such videos on the internet.

I couldn't understand why they were doing this because previously whenever I locked them for the night, they never tried to come out or showed any displeasure. That night we decided to lock the door from outside.

The next morning I found them in my backyard! I couldn't believe my eyes. There’s a small window in the storeroom that opens in our backyard. I had opened the window slightly for fresh air. But it’s at least five feet from the ground and there was nothing upon which the cats could climb to open the window.

All three were in the backyard and the window was shut completely. Somehow these little devils climbed up the window, managed to open it enough for them to slide out and then shut it after them!

This was the epitome of teamwork and sibling love. Together they were able to overcome all the difficulties in their way. They made it very clear that they were not happy to be confined in that small room.

I surrender to almighty!

I accepted my defeat graciously and allowed them to roam freely in our newly decorated living room for the night. I had to remove all the fragile and breakable decor to prevent any accidents when no one was watching at night. But who can deny the queens? Not us mortal beings.

It’s almost two months now and everything is peaceful at my home. No more shenanigans and antics. They had to learn the new boundaries in the new house but they learnt quickly. Though I still have to do something to stop them from scratching the new sofas. How do they know when something is new and delicate?

Lessons learnt

1. Don’t mess with the god sent angels named Cats. It’s more like ‘human proposes, cat disposes’. We are under the illusion that we own the cats but it’s the other way round. They are our real owners and we have to give in to each demand and whims.
2. Cats are creatures of habit and they don’t like changes. As humans, we don’t understand this. We are usually motivated and rejuvenated by a change in our surroundings and environment. But not the cats. So, it's important to make sure that there aren’t many changes in the routine of cats.
3. And if it’s necessary to change their surroundings like in my case while shifting the house, it’s important to understand their emotions and don’t force them for anything. I realized this when we shifted them to the new house and they got so scared that all three remained hidden beneath the sofa the entire day.
4. Still, I wasn’t prepared for their unacceptance of the new room. But they made it very clear in no uncertain terms what they wanted.
5. They are really intelligent beings with a full understanding of teamwork. They can use these qualities to their advantage whenever they want. My cats have lived together since birth and are too much attached to each other. We witnessed their level of attachment and love for each other when I tried to give them away for adoption. It’s another full-on emotional story of how they persuaded me to reunite them.