[dhodges]

When my cat asks to go outside, I open the door, and he stands in the open door for a few moments as if he's frozen, then he runs outside. It's as if he is assessing the outdoor environment for threats.

But when he is outside asking to come in, as soon as I open the door, he runs right inside. Perhaps it is because the inside environment is very stable for him with no threats ever so he trusts it.

He does this freezing behavior when guests enter the house. My housemate's cousin brought a huge dog for an afternoon visit. My cat froze entering the living room, detecting an unknown threat, and turned around again and went back to my room.

Gwern published a nice article about cats recently: https://www.gwern.net/Book-reviews#cat-sense-bradshaw-2013-a...