We adopted a 3 yr old cat 3 weeks ago, and she's settling in nicely - seems perfectly happy and 'at home'. At the moment she has her food in the kitchen and her litter tray in the utility room, which is through a sliding door from the kitchen. This door has a flap in it.
When she first came, we had the door left ajar so she could come and go into the utility as she wanted, then after a few days we taped the flap open so she could go through that and get used to it. She has no problem going to and fro using the open flap. We have tried lowering the flap and propping it just slightly open, at which point she refuses to use it! I've read previous threads on here, and elsewhere online which suggest:
Waiting until she's hungry, which will tempt her through - tried that, and she stubbornly refused to leave the utility
Tempting her through with treats - tried that, and the sound of treats being shaken normally rouses her from the deepest sleep and makes her charge through the house - she won't go through the flap for them!
She needs to learn to use the flap before she can go outside - there's another flap from the utility to outside, and (in time) she'll be free to come and go at will. She's desperate to go out, and in her first home she was a keen outdoor cat. We will wait another couple of weeks anyway before letting her out, but she needs to be happy to use the flap before that. What can I do to help encourage her to use it? We thought we'd take the tough love approach and just leave her - the crafty so and so worked out how to open the sliding door instead of using the flap!
The only thing I'm wondering is whether feliway might work? I've never needed to use it, and in every other respect she seems perfectly fine. Perhaps it's too soon and I just need to give it more time?
Any advice/hints more than welcome!