My cat wants to go outdoors really badly and runs toward the apartment door when someone comes in.

She's super fast, so we've learned to open the door just a crack and wait for the person inside (if someone's home) to let us know that they're holding on to her. But if no one is home, it's not so easy. Sometimes I'll put my foot out to move her back (I don't actually touch her with my foot, it's just there so she doesn't try to leave) but that doesn't always work and she'll race down the hall. She's been getting further down the hallway each time, which is dangerously close to the outside door. It's only a matter of time before someone happens to come in while she's out and she'll run outside. I don't want her to run away or get run over. Does anyone know how I can keep her from running to the door?

I looked at motion detectors but they're extremely expensive and she's the kind of cat that will eventually realize that the noise isn't hurting her and she'll start running out again.

Asked by Spock on Mar 7th 2010 Tagged escape, frontdoor, apartment, outdoors in Behavior & Training