Our kittens are really troubled by the new cat flap that's replaced the hole in the door that replaced the broken and unused catflap. Not sure if there's anything we can do but wait for them to work it out, they're not very receptive to human instruction, possibly because I am too big to actually go through it myself.
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trabuquera
Modesty Bag
^ his ears never fail to amaze. Power in the treble frequencies must be immense
Numbers
an ting!
story
Changing the facts
Red Cat
Apologies if this is what you’ve done and it didn’t work.
Posting them through the cat flap
One person on one side and another person on the other side, both offering encouragement and praise and treats, and whenever possible holding them and physically posting them through to be received and praised. Only do one or two trips in either direction, and only if the cat isn‘t horribly stressed. Obvs. (I’ve also done posting them through with only one person and then coaxing them back through once they’re out. This sometimes results in a pissed off cat turning their back and humphing off for the rest of the day.)
Coaxing them through
Put them outside, prop open the cat flap with a stick or wooden spoon etc and coax them through with encouragement treats and praise. If they still won’t come through, leave them to it and see if they try.
Leaving them to it
Put them outside, prop open the cat flap and leave a trail of treats from just outside the flap, on the flap ridge somehow, and inside the cat flap. Give them enough time to lose patience. You might even have to leave the area for a while so they feel as if they’re out of options.
Show and tell
Sit down with them and demonstrate the opening and the closing, with soothing, to show that the noises are cat flap associated and normal in that context.
A combination of these has always worked for me…
(,..until now, because Not-stray point blank refuses to use the cat flap. She seems to have agreed not to shit or piss in the house in return for being let in and out on request. I have to try her againm and will report back. I suspect she had an unhappy start and it looks like the cat flap may have been one of the villains in her origin story.)
With two cats you’ll have to either work with one at a time, or hope one of them learns from the other, or something.
The last thing is that after you’ve done all the coddling and coaxing and teaching, leave them outside while you’re there and let them deal with it. They’ll either train you to always have to use the door, or you’ll train them to use their door key so they can come and go at will.
They’ve used the cat flap, they’ve used the hole in the wall, so they know the location and the process.
Is it something to do with the flap? Was it see-through before and not now? Is it much heavier?
Apologies if this is what you’ve done and it didn’t work.
Posting them through the cat flap
One person on one side and another person on the other side, both offering encouragement and praise and treats, and whenever possible holding them and physically posting them through to be received and praised. Only do one or two trips in either direction, and only if the cat isn‘t horribly stressed. Obvs. (I’ve also done posting them through with only one person and then coaxing them back through once they’re out. This sometimes results in a pissed off cat turning their back and humphing off for the rest of the day.)
Coaxing them through
Put them outside, prop open the cat flap with a stick or wooden spoon etc and coax them through with encouragement treats and praise. If they still won’t come through, leave them to it and see if they try.
Leaving them to it
Put them outside, prop open the cat flap and leave a trail of treats from just outside the flap, on the flap ridge somehow, and inside the cat flap. Give them enough time to lose patience. You might even have to leave the area for a while so they feel as if they’re out of options.
Show and tell
Sit down with them and demonstrate the opening and the closing, with soothing, to show that the noises are cat flap associated and normal in that context.
A combination of these has always worked for me…
(,..until now, because Not-stray point blank refuses to use the cat flap. She seems to have agreed not to shit or piss in the house in return for being let in and out on request. I have to try her againm and will report back. I suspect she had an unhappy start and it looks like the cat flap may have been one of the villains in her origin story.)
With two cats you’ll have to either work with one at a time, or hope one of them learns from the other, or something.
The last thing is that after you’ve done all the coddling and coaxing and teaching, leave them outside while you’re there and let them deal with it. They’ll either train you to always have to use the door, or you’ll train them to use their door key so they can come and go at will.
They’ve used the cat flap, they’ve used the hole in the wall, so they know the location and the process.
Is it something to do with the flap? Was it see-through before and not now? Is it much heavier?
Last edited:
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
another option is to get some string and pull string through the cat flap once kitty has started chasing it - think i used this in introducing mogs to the cat flap
or has one of them had a bad experience when cat flap was locked - either intentionally, or if it's the sort that's activated by something on their collar, because that wasn't working or they lost their collar?
or has one of them had a bad experience when cat flap was locked - either intentionally, or if it's the sort that's activated by something on their collar, because that wasn't working or they lost their collar?
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
Our resident sex pest Vic relaxes on the coffee table
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Local hero Mario walking us home from his gaff 
(sorry for blurry photo).
(sorry for blurry photo).When they were little they didn't go out and we had a taped up broken cat flap. Then we took the flap out during the summer and they've jumped through that, then an even bigger hole when more recently we removed the whole thing to replace it and were left with a lovely round hole that Pan totally loved to jump in and out. So it's a bit confusing and I think they're scared that it doesn't open.
Done the posting and the coaxing.
I've propped it open with a wooden spoon.
story
Changing the facts
Oh yeah. A hole in the wall is a very different proposition to a small square with a plastic flap that clacks.
Hope they get the hang of it soon.
My chap has disgarded so many collars with the magnet that I’ve given up on replacing them. He now just pops the door open with a quick sharp shove of his nose. It’s a bit like that bloke who opens beer bottles with his teeth. Kinda fascinating, I don’t want him to do it, but he won’t use the appropriate tool so I have to leave him to it.
Hope they get the hang of it soon.
My chap has disgarded so many collars with the magnet that I’ve given up on replacing them. He now just pops the door open with a quick sharp shove of his nose. It’s a bit like that bloke who opens beer bottles with his teeth. Kinda fascinating, I don’t want him to do it, but he won’t use the appropriate tool so I have to leave him to it.
LeytonCatLady
Well-Known Member
My beautiful baby.
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
Our resident sexual deviant
LeytonCatLady
Well-Known Member
Lilith slaps me if I'm too slow with her meals for her liking. 
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
Vic hooks a claw into my clothes as I’m going past to get my attention - like I’m a waiter or something - then before he will touch his food, he requires a set amount of stroking until he purrs. Any attempt to stroke him once he begins to eat risks a swipe. A cat of particular habits.Lilith slaps me if I'm too slow with her meals for her liking.
story
Changing the facts
My sister's cat insists on being observed while eating. He'll announce his intentions and when he has her attention, he'll eat.
She won't have a cat flap so she's constantly opening and closing doors and windows for the cat. He'll wake her up and demand that she comes downstairs to let him out, but then he just eats while she watches him and waits to let him out. Then he'll go back upstairs without going out.
She's kinda controlling, I think that's behind her refusal to get a cat flap. So the cat is turning the tables on her, controlling her.
I think the whole set up is peculiar.
She won't have a cat flap so she's constantly opening and closing doors and windows for the cat. He'll wake her up and demand that she comes downstairs to let him out, but then he just eats while she watches him and waits to let him out. Then he'll go back upstairs without going out.
She's kinda controlling, I think that's behind her refusal to get a cat flap. So the cat is turning the tables on her, controlling her.
I think the whole set up is peculiar.
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
Or she's read stuff by some cat behaviourists who advise against cat flaps on the basis that the cat believes that as it can come and go as it pleases, other cats could come into their territory via the same method (which can cause issues of nervousness, inappropriate toileting or other forms of marking) - door/window access by request to a human is more controlled and can make a nervous cat feel safer in its core territory.
xsunnysuex
Life is a horizontal fall.
That is bloody brilliant, although also worrying that the feline uprising might be imminent.
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
I get the impression that we are all being cynically manipulated here
Nikkormat
Well-Known Member
oryx
Sitting on the bok of the day
Before you know it he'll be clicking his claws, miaowing 'Garcon! Garcon!' at you and leaving his wine bottle upturned in its cooler.
A friend in Canada is fostering this dude at the moment. He has a great face.
www.adoptapet.com
Toronto, ON - Domestic Longhair. Meet Meeko *Declawed* a Pet for Adoption - AdoptaPet.com
Pictures of Meeko *Declawed* a Domestic Longhair for adoption in Toronto, ON who needs a loving home.
www.adoptapet.com
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
We’re already long past that stage
