Why does my cat scratch at the door to join me in the bathroom? There are three reasons.
Friends
The first is an obvious one. Your cat wants to be with you because she likes your company. Not all domestic cats at all time will have this desire but a lot will quite frequently.
Curiosity
When you shut the door behind you, her curiosity will be aroused. She’s got to know what is happening behind that door. This is the domestic cat’s natural curiosity coming through. The faint noises (or not so faint noises) you make will stoke her curiosity.
Scent
The third reason is a bit more delicate. If you are in the bathroom to go to the toilet she’ll be attracted to the smells! It’s almost like a calling card. You become a radiantly enhanced version of yourself. Yes, I know it’s a bit of a sensitive subject but cats are very into smells as we know. And your smells are about you. She is familiar with your scent and smells. For her they are as important if not more so than your appearance. The scent produced when in the toilet is normally an attractant to a domestic cat. She wants to be immersed in that scent.
As you can see there are cogent and pressing reasons why your cat wants to be with you in the bathroom. When you close the door she’ll ask to be let in and sometimes scratch as the base of the door to burrow in.
The solution is to leave the door ajar and let her join you. I just hope she does not put you off 🙂 If you’re having a bath the same reasons apply except the scent attractant is less of a factor.
I have no idea what shutting the bathroom door is like. I did that once and I believe they were moments from knocking the pins out of the hinges. My husband was laughing his backside off. Interestingly they do not follow him to the bathroom…
Pleased you agree and I like you thought about conveying safety. Nice thought.
Yes! Yes!
I believe the scent aspect conveys ‘safety’ to the cat too. Generally our cats (and us) are psychologically & physically vulnerable when we are eliminating, so perhaps they smell/see what we are up to, recognise that if we are safe, then they will be safe there too. I think cats take many very small cues from us regarding how we feel when we are doing such activities.
My fear aggressive, food obsessive puss, Jet, will also run into the bathroom & put his paws up on the seat to peer over the edge to watch the flush.