How do I persuade them to use the cat door?

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I have two lovely cats ( about a year old) came to live with us in May .

We started letting them out , supervised , a couple of weeks ago. At the moment we leave the door open for them .They've loved the garden but they don't see the incentive to use their catdoor.

They'll go up , the door 'clicks' with their microchip reader . They sniff round the door but only the male has got his face through , then changed his mind.

Any tips? I cannot physically pick them up and shove them through like putting a Christmas Tree in the netting machine . ........

If I try to get them to come in through the door they'll see it as an invitation to be Dirty Stop Outs .

They need to master this skill , my DC won't be home forever to be doormen.

TIA

Yes you can pick them up and shove them through!

You can tape it open to begin with, and encourage them through with treats so they get the idea.

I agree tape it open and encourage them through with treats or a favourite toy. Once they are happily going back and forth then you can reintroduce the door.

You need an assistant! You on one side shaking a bag of Dreamies, lovely assistant shoving them through from the other side.
Honestly works. Our dcats were 3 and had never used a flap before. Few shoves and it was mastered!

Stope being a doorman, they know what that doors for.

Same - tape it up, entice them through with treats. Try both ways - if you can't get them to go out, pop them outside with treats on the inside and they'll make it back in in short order.

One of my old cats was so dumb she never worked out that the flap flaps both ways. She'd push out, but to get back in she'd hook the flap with a claw and lift it up.

One of the current cats has hip displasia and doesn't really like going through the flap as once or twice it's put her out of joint for a few seconds. We got a larger size flap, that helped.

Cheddar enjoyed the flap in the cattery.

Are they food-oriented cats? It took our cats a couple of weeks of training using cat treats. Initially we shook the cat treats whilst holding open the cat flap door, then progressed to encouraging them to push the door themselves. One cat was initially "too posh to push" but eventually got the hang of it. They still prefer the "doorman" though if s/he is available.

I'm sitting on my sofa reading...look up and see my cat sitting outside patio door...I can see his mouth moving... meowing...demanding I get up and let him in!

Little toad that he is, cat flap is about 15 foot to his left...but I SHOULD get up.

So, I get up...and head out of room at which point he immediately legs it to cat flap so he can meet me in kitchen.

He has a bit to eat/gets a stroke & head rub then heads out the flap again and within minutes is sitting sad face at the patio door...asking to be let in!

This is repeated each day...year after year

Weird how my variety of Mumsnet android app emoticons have ALL been turned into sad faces (cats behaviour is really not that bad)

I had to train my lady to do this recently and the only way that she learned was posting here through a few times. To entice her to come in i held the flap open and used chicken pieces for her to follow.
After that i gave her no option but to use it...she learned quickly enough when it started raining!

They have a cat flap (just a standard one) to their cupboard-under-the-stairs toilet but the one to the garden is the Micro Chip reader one .

I'm gently easing them in , they;ve had a challenging few months in their little lives .
We cannot pick the boy up without him doing a face , she's easier .

The bribery and a hefty pat on the rump might be the way

Sit them down at a table. Tell them that under no circumstances are they to use the cat flap.

Put a 'no cats' sign up on the cat flap.
If they go near the cat flap tell them off.
This kind of treatment generally works with my cats.

I discussed it with them, Dexter said "Yes , I get it , but I'd rather just stick with the set up we have , thanks"

This weekend I'll hover outside with Dreamies

Our female finally sussed it and got out ..............but couldn't fathom how to get in. She sat on the step and kept looking over her shoulder down the garden, as if she was looking out for other cats. I didn't want to panic her so we opened the door and let her in.

Next step is getting her going out/in herself and persuading our male to follow suit

My lovely cats are now happily diving in and out the cat door , once they got used to the noise of the release , the fact they have to push once they hear it and not to just scrabble wildly on the clear door , actually push a body part through......

DH let the male out of the french door this morning, but the female used the cat door . She was inside activating the chip release . He was outside stopping her from leaving home .

You can tell the Brains of the Outfit , can't you

Well, the little treasures are hurling themselves in/out the cat door with abandon.

The routine is : breakfast , go out , spend a good part of the day going to/fro, come inside and sleep on my bed , go back out to terrorise a few random garden animals (including NDN cat)

Unfortunately , they still like to sit either side of it , the cat door is clicking away like its going to combust ! because they keep activating it .

I used to put treats on the other side, they took to it very quickly! They still scratch at the patio door on occasion even though it's used about 10 days a year when it's really hot. On those days they go out the cat flap (in kitchen door) and back in through the patio door (in living room) or vice versa and basically go round and round in circles

Oops should have RTFT, I see they're using it now :)