Cat Flap Phobia

Bligh

Hi All,

I have recently fitted a cat flat to let my cats come and go as they please, Ginger cat is happy as larry and took to the cat flap no problem.

But the other guy just will not use the flap unless its held open for him. I put out their food inside to try an temp him in but he will just stand at the flap looking at it.

Anyone got any ideas on how I would encourage the cat to push open the door with his head.

Thanks

muddypaws

Has he been through it at all? When you hold it open for him, do you hold it up all the time, or let it lie gently on him, as he goes through? Thats what I did, opened it, but let them feel the weight on their back a few times

Pumpkinseeds

We've been having exactly this problem with Toby. Ours is a microchip flap and he'll go out of it but won't come back in We left it taped up so there was just the hole where the flap is and he comes and goes no problem. But we've been trying again with the flap down but he will not come in, just goes out

Bligh

hi muddypaws and pumpkinseeds, thanks for the replies, he will go through the flap when held open and yes as he begins to enter the flap I let it go so he feels it on his back, and like pumpkinseeds cat he will come out again when he has eaten, am just really puzzled why he wont use the flap to come inside. He sits on the window looking in wondering why the magic big door no longer opens on his command.

its strange that the other cat has no issues at all and an suprised that he wont just follow the lead of the other cat

Pumpkinseeds

My theory is that he's worried our other 2 cats will attack him when he's coming in. He's only been with us a few months so some things are still new and honestly doors are a big issue here. Toby tends to lay across the inside of the main doors and that freaks out our biggest and head cat, so there's a few situations where Felix is howly jowly with him and he's growling at Felix at the door:rolleyes:

Was fine in summer but too cold to leave it taped open now and we'll be letting our little female cat out of her safe room soon so it'll have to be set to in only when we aren't around. Was going to close it earlier but there's a wasp hanging around my back door and I'm not going out there:o

The Sweeper

I recently installed two catflaps in my house - I'm in Oz, so have screen doors and sliding doors. The house was getting full of flies in the summer from leaving the doors open wide enough to allow cats come and go, so instead now there are catflaps in the bottom of two screens at either end of the house.

First thing I did on installation was sit with the cats and poke the cat flaps, so they could see the doors swinging back and forth. (Two ran away. The other four stared on in curiosity). Then there was much sniffing and investigation of the cat flaps. After that, I lifted each cat and pushed them gently into the flap so it would open with the pressure of their head, then sort of held them while they stepped through it with the flap sliding along their body. We did that a couple of times on day one.

Precisely one of my six cats managed to go out through one of the two cat flaps on her own in the first 48 hours - Cleo, the siamese cross.

Day three, two of the others had managed to go through in the outward direction (but needed help coming back in), and Cleo was coming in and out of one of the two flaps of her own accord - swanning through them smugly because now she had free access to the yard whenever she pleased. She was so awkward though, like she'd try to spiral through them. For some of the others I was holding the flaps open and trying to share encouragement whenever I could.

In the first week she was the only one who got the hang of freely going in and out of both the cat flaps (on one flap, the ground was level on both sides, but on the other there was a step down outside the door, and that seemed to phase them).

After the first week I gave up intervening and left the cats to it themselves. I had repeatedly gently pushed the slower ones through the flap, and when I wanted them all inside in the evening I'd call them and hold the flap open to get them in quicker. It was tedious and I gave up. I never pinned the flaps up or open - I'm glad we didn't because now I'm suspicious that it's a step backwards because then the cat appears to treat the cat flap like a human door - 'if it's pinned open I go through, if it's not, I don't.'

Now, weeks later, they all freely come and go as they please through both cat flaps, out into the yard all day. Leaving them in the house all day with the cat flap accessible so they could come and go as they pleased was the only solution. Outdoor access is its own reward, and my guys figured it out themselves in their own time when left to their own devices. Seeing the others outside was a powerful motivator, and cats can be funny in their behaviour when being watched by people. I went out for a few days in a row, leaving the garage door open so they could access that cat flap, with the flap set to swing freely both directions, and by the end of the second week they were all using both cat flaps freely without my help.

I've only recently started using the 'in only' setting on the flaps in the evenings when the light's failing because I keep them in overnight, but even that change has stymied one of the dumber ones (bless him). He now sits and belts the perspex flap with his paw repeatedly before trying to go through.

The most successful flap users are the ones who push it with their face. The less successful guys start off with a paw to check if the door is open and then squeeze their face into the gap and push forward. It seems to be directly linked to the prissiness of the individual cat. If they're too precious to press their face against something, they'll struggle with the flap for longer.

I would just keep lifting yours gently through the closed flap, face first - just lift them far enough to open the flap, and the second they get one paw through let them go - they'll keep moving through the flap. If the flap isn't clear you might need to push them a bit further in case they reverse when you let them go (mine are clear and they can see where they're trying to get to).

Pumpkinseeds

We're putting it onto the unlocked option tomorrow so there isn't any resistance when/if he pushes it from the outside. I don't want Poppy escaping out yet either. She's virtually climbing the walls in her safe room after the vets today. We're going to let her come down and explore the rest of the house. They've all met and aren't too bad with each other, but she and Felix seem to hate each other.

Bligh

Well I think we are making progress here, went to feed fletch this evening and I just had to push open the flap a little and he pushed in the flap with his face. Am just concerned that as the nights get darker and colder don't want him stuck outside in the cold. But I hope he is begining to get the hang of it.

Good to know this is no a problem confined to my cat

Thanks for all the replies