Background: Our cats used to have 24/7 access to outside through an open window. We then had problems with neighbourhood cats coming in, fighting with ours and eating their expensive food. We tried various things, including shutting them in at night. This worked well in winter but when the weather warmed up Grey Girl started waking up DH at 3:00 every morning, asking to be let out. To add insult to injury she would then often half an hour later decide she wanted to come back in, jump on the windowsill and set off the burglar alarm!
So then we bought a Sureflap. Ginger Girl wanted nothing to do with it and decided that she would now be an indoor cat, except when we're home and the doors are standing open. Grey Girl mastered coming in through the flap fairly early on but it took her around 8 months to master going out. That was it, we thought, problem solved. Until she decided that it's fun to sit in front of the flap and poke it with her paw, then draw her paw back and the flap goes ke-DUNK. She does this over and over in the early hours of the morning until we all wake up. We don't think it's a case of that she's struggling to go out because if she wants to go out, she goes. If we lock the flap or put something in front of it then it's back to her coming to wake us up at 3:00. We can't shut our bedroom door as Ginger Girl sleeps with us and needs access to food and litter tray.
So wise MN cat lovers, any advice? And sorry about the thesis!