Why may an open window make a cat patrol more?

Answer: New smells and sounds arrive

New smells and sounds arrive ✓ — Correct! An open window turns the room into an information port. Outdoor smells, birds, other cats, traffic sounds, and moving shadows can all arrive at once. A cat may patrol not because it is nervous, but because its territory suddenly contains more data to inspect.

The window assigns guard duty — Wrong. The window is not assigning guard duty, though cats often behave like tiny unpaid security staff. The useful idea is that new sensory cues can trigger monitoring and territory-checking behavior.

Fresh air teaches map reading — Wrong. Fresh air does not teach map reading. But it can carry scent trails and sound cues that tell the cat something has changed outside its usual indoor bubble.