Is my kitten defective? How long did your cat take to learn to use a cat flap?

[Isitafaultykitten]

So we have now had said kitten for 4 full months, and he is now 7 months old. He has been watching our adult cat go in and out of the cat flap regularly for the last 4 months, and he still has not worked out how to use it himself.

He is now neutered, fully vaccinated chipped, and absolutely desperate to go outside. We do take him out with us for short spells, and to be honest I am not desperately keen for him to be able to go out on his own, as he is probably still too stupid to be trusted in the outside world unsupervised. I am just curious as to how long other cats have taken to learn how a cat flap works. He sits at it and cries, he has put a paw through it when the other cat is playing with him from outside, but it is still beyond him to actually push it open and go through. Surely he should have worked it out by now?

Ours learnt quickly but if you are in the kitchen he will wait for you to open the door when outside he was worked out how to put his head in to make it click then wait. Another cat used to use it as a door knocker if you were around. All were perfectly capable of using it if we weren’t around.

We've got five cats and one is a total cat flap refusenik. She is perfectly OK outside, no worries about her resilience. She will go through the flap if it's held open for her. But she won't use it herself. We regularly point out the advantages of learning to use it to her, as the others sit on nice warm sofas while she shivers outside if we've been out, but she remains obstinate for some reason.

I love the effort everyone has made to teach their cats the art of cat flap use. He definitely likes to have it done for him. DH had him out in the garden just now. Three times he came running up to the door crying, then ran off as I opened it. Hilarious game!

My 3yo has never worked it out and never gone outside. Shows no interest in it. However if older cat is coming back inside then 3yo will sit by the cat flap and keep knocking it closed so the other one can't get back in. She's worked that out!

We had one that never got the hang of the litter tray catflap. She would sit outside and howl until someone pushed it open - then would sit inside and howl to get out. In the end we just took the flap off the litter tray ....

Cats don't use cat flaps because they are either stupid or obstinate. My simpleton cat soon changed his tune when there was some cooked chicken being wafted at him from the closed side

We had one Tortie who flat out refused to use it where we lived once. Just total refusal and a complete look of disgust on her face.

Once the other two realised we were opening it for her they became refuseniks as well.

Mine's 10. She's still working on it. Thick as custard.

Our two never worked it out 🤦‍♀️ nor did our jack Russell's the only one that did was to big to fit through 😆 so she used it to guilt trip us if we went out

We taught our kitten how to use a cat flap. Indoor cat, but put a cat flap into a cupboard door for his litter tray. We used toys either side to lure him through, gave him a little nudge to help him now and then, as well as cat nip at the other side. It only took us an evening, and lots of treats!

Mine took about 18 months! He is deaf though, it took about 6 months to get him to use a litter tray! Our other cat was litter trained when we got her at 10 weeks and figured out the cat flap in days!

Is it a microchip one with a magnet? They have to push a bit harder and learn to ignore the click. Try turning it off at first to make it less challenging. We got ours to use it by putting them outside first thing in the morning when they were hungry, and then luring them back in with food (kcat flap taped open at first)....

Cracked it after looking at me kneeling in front of it both inside and out, they were about six months old. Though funnily enough, I showed them using my hand - push open, go through - and when they did it they also used their paw to push then poked their heads out. Could just push with their face but they don’t. Presumably if I’d shoved it open with my nose they might have followed suit? Don’t know how other cats go through cat flaps, perhaps they all use their paws?

Our cat is 15 and despite intensive training still can’t do it 😹. Suits us tbh as we let him in and out when we’re home and know he’s safe when we go out.

Mine has never mastered it, age 7.

I stopped taking him to the cattery in winter, because he's a bit dim and the way they're set up they had to leave the door to his warm section open to let him access food, water and litter tray.

In the warmer months I leave a window open.

We had a pair of rescue kittens, plus 4 older cats.

One kitten worked it out herself. The other one would sit at the window and cry for the others who were outside. I'd poke her through the flap immediately behind her sister, she turn around, came back in, resumed her crying at the window 🙄😆

She worked it out in the end....

My middle cat is 12 this year.
She happily used the cat flap for 11 years of her life, until we blocked it off for a few months when we got a kitten.
She appears to be unable to use it ever since, even though the kitten and our 16 year old have been happily using it daily for months.

Your cat has no need of a cat flap.
He/she has staff on hand ready to open the door for him/her.

My 8 year old cat still can't quite manage it. Weirdly he can come in but spends a good 10 minutes trying to get out. He sits pawing and scratching at it and all of a sudden he pops through. It drives us all mad watching him but we have tried everything!

If he knows we're in the kitchen, mine uses it as a giant door knocker. Also, shouts to be let out the door if we're nearby. He can definitely use it properly if we're not around. :)