Kitten won't use catflap

[Aspiringmatriarch]

We have two nine month old kittens, and while the boy is very happy using the cat flap, our girl cat refuses. We've tried gently 'posting' her but she won't have it, and she won't try even if we're holding treats there to encourage her through. Even if she's desperate to go out or come in, she'll always wait for us to open the door! Which is ok but it means she's stuck inside if we're not there, and it can be a bit dicey at bedtimes if she's decided to go off and explore.

I've had a look at automatic flaps but there only seem to be the microchip ones which still require a push.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Is she likely to always be a catflap refuser? Thanks!

I think she’s decided flaps are beneath her.

😂 keep she is training up her servants nicely

Oh bless. Ours have very different ways of approaching the cat flap - he barges his way through head first once it's registered his chip and clicked open. She however waits for the click and then whacks it repeatedly to double check it is indeed unlocked before she puts her head anywhere near it.

With our old cat, she must have been 10 or so before she encountered her first cat flap. I remember having to take out the plastic door so there was just a hole because she couldn't cope with the flap, and even though warmth and food was inside she refused to come in or out through the hole for weeks. Then took ages to sort out the flap.

My girl cat who is ten won't use it either !!🙄🙄

I taped ours open to try to get one of mine to use it. He got there eventually but it took a few weeks

Have you tried tying it open with a bit string. Obviously it’s a bit cold to leave it open all the time just now, but maybe an our or so each day. That’s what we did with our cat flap refuser and she eventually just “got it” one day and went out without it being open.

Prop it open to begin with. I waited until Dcat was really hungry and then held out chunks of cheese (I know, I know) to tempt her. She got it after quite a few treats.

Thank you for the replies! She's definitely the more highly strung of the two and is very particular about things! It's probably an indication of how well she's training us that I've seriously been researching tiny little automatic doors for her . I think I'll try tying the flap open for a while, it's a bit chilly but better than leaving the door ajar for her half the time as we have been. 🥶

I taped it with sellotape and used dreamies to tempt them through.

One of mine taps it with his paw several times before going through and the other uses his head to push it open