not using the cat flap

[fluffybunny]

Milly was very reluctant to use the catflap, preferring to wait at the patio doors.  Every time she wanted to go in or out I would march her to the cat flap and post her through it.  On occasion, she managed to bolt in past me, but I still took her back out and round via the catflap.

The other thing to consider is can she actually see it?  Once Milly started using it,  I noticed that she was going out on her own, but not coming in.  My door is brown and I think with their range of colour vision she struggles to see the contrast between the doorframe and the actual flap, and she was headbutting the panel instead of the flap.  I have now put a bright green and yellow striped border around the edge of the flap (a roll of sticky 'earth' wiring insulation tape) and she now uses it fine, it must be the contrast that gives her guidance of where to press.

[claws n purrs]

Kocka used to sit outside the flap and flap it with her paw so I would go and open the door.

Worked every time cos the flapping used to drive me crazy as it got more fervant, flap...........flap flap................flap flap flap...........flap flap flap flap flap flap flap etc.........sigh

My current cats have just started to wait for me to walk up the garden so they can go through the door and not the flap!

  Typical feline behaviour - if I can get my human to open the main door, why waste energy going through the cat door! 

When Mathers was still with us, he and Ronnie used to have paw fights through the cat door. Ronnie on one side, Mathers on the other. Ronnie would slap the door on his side resulting in a retaliatory whack from Mathers, and so the battle would commence. 

After a few rounds of door bashing, there'd be an uneasy truce which would enable one or the other to slip through the door to wherever they wanted to go. 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Kocka used to sit outside the flap and flap it with her paw so I would go and open the door.

Worked every time cos the flapping used to drive me crazy as it got more fervant, flap...........flap flap................flap flap flap...........flap flap flap flap flap flap flap etc.........sigh

My current cats have just started to wait for me to walk up the garden so they can go through the door and not the flap!

[blackcat]

with the front windows open with the heat, Esther has taken to sitting at the front door once the windows are shut, presumably on the basis that if she went out the front, she should be allowed back in the front. As I do not want to encourage her to use the front door, and thus spend time on the street side of the door, it have been known to ignore her for hours (despite the pathetic mews that resonate up the stair well. I have cracked a few times, but that seems to only encourage her. So I grit my teeth and ignore her, and, since she knows where the cat flap is, she eventually comes round the back and in through the flap. It does take nerves of steel, I have to say.

But in the long run, encouraging her to assume the door will open if she sits there long enough will simply place her at risk, so I have girded up my loins to resist the temptation - it is called tough love.

If all else fails, I shut all intervening doors (to avoid sound from contradictory directions) and stand at the back door and call her. She will come running if she genuinely wants 'in'. I think this is one of those times when you need to bite your lips and resist her efforts to train you and just stick to a rigid routine...

[claws n purrs]

Just a thought but sometimes cats other than the resident felines use the cat door and their scent might be off-putting to regular users of the cat door, making them less inclined to use it. I have to clean my cat doors regularly as we have three of them and they are in constant use by our cats and a couple of the neighbourhood cats who like to 'visit' and sample whatever food is on offer! 

Of course, Bubz may simply be reasserting her role as mistress of the household and you merely her slave! 

[Topsy Turvey]

LOL - our three sit at ajar doors that they can open perfectly well and wait for us to open them.  Why should they do it themselves when they have dedicated servants to do it for them (me and hubby!!) 

[Mark]

I have never understood this but a lot of cats will refuse to go through a flap if there is a human around to do it for them. Kylie will sit by the door for ages until I get up to open the door even though she is quite capable  - also if we are in the garden, she will tap the flap until we open it for her 

[Helena]

I’m not sure what to do with Bubz. She’s developed the habit of sitting outside the front door in the evening waiting for the front door to be opened for her! It started in the really hot weather when she would spend the entire day (7am – 9pm) in my neighbour’s garden keeping cool. But it seems to be carrying on as last night I asked my PA to watch for her as I wasn’t sure whether she would come in the catflap and she was sitting waiting for the door to open.

I have learned that if I go out the front door in the evening she *will* watch for the front door to open again for her and I haven't been leaving the front door open during the day as my sittingroom is at the back of the house and there isn't a cat flap in the front door for security reasons.

I don’t want to risk leaving her to eventually coming in the flap as I don’t cope well with that uncertainty and I drive myself (& my PA) mad with my paranoid panicking. I’m convinced (when I am panicking) that she wont come in at all and that she’ll lose herself again.

Help!

Helen