How do I get my cat to leave my room alone?

Question

I have an adult cat named Rizzo. Not entirely sure of age/breed. He's very affectionate, an absolute sweetheart, very loud, and despite being an indoor cat he's very interested in the outdoors.

He's also very interested in my room. A little over a year ago I would allow him in there freely, but I stopped due to keeping indoor plants in my room. There isn't much in said room except for a couple of plants and a leopard gecko in a terrarium in an inaccessible spot. Every time he comes in, all he does is jump on the back of my bed and stare out the window.

He tends to scratch to come in a lot, but over the past week, he's been absolutely obsessed with it. He meows, he scratches, he keeps me up at night. My door is a bit faulty, too, so with enough pressure, it opens and lets him in.

I'm having trouble sleeping due to his behaviour and I'm constantly worried about my plants. How can I get him to stop, or at least prevent him from getting in?

Answer 1

Keep your door closed, then do whatever you can to prevent the cat from noisily scratching at your door. Some suggestions:

Put two sided tape on the door. They even make some specifically to keep cats from scratching at objects. Cats usually don't like the stickiness, and so stop touching the area.

Hang a scratcher from the doorknob, or cover the one side of the door with some sort of scratching material.

Another option is to cover the door with those vinyl carpet protectors with the little spikes on one side. Attach it with the spikes away from the door. The surface will now be annoying if not impossible to really scratch at.

If your door opens into your room, then another option is to simply place vertical scratchers blocking your door.

I would also fix the door so it is no longer faulty, because that will also encourage the cat, since it will figure out the door will open if it's persistent enough.