Cat’s hide-in-fridge antics leaves owner begging for help

A viral Reddit publish has introduced social media buyers with each other to explore 1 of life’s mysteries — why do cats like fridges? 

Law scholar Grayson Martin introduced that problem front and center to the r/cats subreddit following she caught her 8-thirty day period-outdated cat Trevor hopping into her fridge.

“Any assistance on how to prevent my cat from hopping in the fridge every time I open it??” Martin wrote in her Reddit inquiry, on Sunday, April 3. “He does this each and every time.” 

The write-up racked up much more than 35,000 upvotes and around a thousand responses from cat homeowners who can relate to Martin’s situation.

“He’s continue to making the most of the fridge,” Martin, 23, informed Fox Information Electronic on Wednesday by way of Reddit’s chat feature.

Commenters who chimed in under Martin’s article instructed she decide on Trevor up in advance of she opens the fridge, hold out for Trevor to get bored with the area or introduce Trevor to a new hiding place.

 “I determined to choose the suggestions to enable him discover the fridge so he results in being uninterested,” Martin reported. “But so much, he nevertheless very a great deal enjoys to fridge.”

Trevor is a person of two cats Martin owns. Her other cat “isn’t intrigued in the fridge at all,” while there appears to be a slight exception every time Trevor climbs into the fridge. In a person photograph Martin shared with Fox News Electronic, you can see Trevor’s hiding has caught the attention of his feline companion.

Martin is presently waiting to see if Trevor’s behavior will change over time although she completes her reports at the Washburn College Faculty of Law in Topeka, Kansas.

Dr. Emily Wilson, a medical doctor of veterinary Drugs at Fuzzy – The Pet Guardian Corporation, explained to Fox Information Electronic that she thinks it is “quite uncommon” for cats to pick fridges as hiding spots because they “tend to gravitate toward warmer environments, this kind of as a dryer.”

Wilson theorized that some cats might come to feel drawn to fridges if they are “food motivated” or stay in a warm weather and want a spot to “cool off.”

“Minimizing open up containers of meals and trying to keep food, specifically meats or fish, in airtight containers might assistance,” Wilson said. “If you have a cat that is food motivated, redirecting them with a handle or meals toy in an additional locale in the kitchen other locations in the home anytime you open the fridge may well support reduce the draw of the fridge.”

Dr. Ole Alcumbrac, a wildlife veterinarian at White Mountain Animal Medical center and host of Nat Geo Wild’s “The Wild Lifetime of Dr. Ole,” instructed Fox News Digital that cats are climbers.

“Cats really like secrecy and vertical environments, so it’s not surprising they have a proclivity for hiding and jumping in and on fridges,” he reported. “Obviously, this can be risky.”

The two methods Alcumbrac endorses for discouraging cats from climbing into or on to fridges include things like using “squirt bottles as a deterrent” or applying “commercially designed electric mats built for trying to keep cats off countertops.”

According to Alcumbrac, these battery-operated mats supply “a gentle unfavorable stimulus” anytime cats appear into get in touch with with it. Normally, cats will understand to avoid the mat and the basic location in which the mat is positioned.

There’s yet another method that cat entrepreneurs can test if they like to use contact-absolutely free behavior-changing approaches to get their cats away from fridges.

“Offer your cat possibilities to the fridge – it might be a protected location to rest, a substantial spot, and so forth.,” Dr. Tom Edling, main veterinary officer for American Humane, told Fox News Electronic.

“Try different alternatives until you come across a haven the cat will go to instead of the fridge,” Edling ongoing.

“You can use large, cat-helpful cabinets crafted for the cat hooked up to partitions, tubes massive plenty of for the cat to crawl through, or cardboard containers. Use your creativeness and expertise of the cat to adjust his or her actions without resorting to adverse approaches.”