Chip reader cat flaps - cat scared of the click

[EggbertHeartsTina]

I have two cats. They have a cat flap. It’s one of those that can read chips but you can switch this feature off.

When we first got the cats earlier this year, we turned the chip reader on. The girl struggled to activate it and I thought her chip had migrated so we switched it off and made it a standard cat flap. Had the odd cheeky cat visitors but nothing too stressful for us or our cats.

However in last two weeks another neighbourhood cat has started coming in, at night and sometimes in the day. My cats don’t ever seem to be around when he enters, we only know he is coming as we have a cat-cam at the cat flap. He eats a bit of food then leaves. However in last couple of days, he’s got bolder and stayed in the house longer, and the final straw was last night when I woke up to the unmistakable scent of cat spray in various places. My cats still aren’t acting bothered but obviously I am!

So I switched the chip reader on and the girl cat can now activate it, yey! But the boy, who has always been a more wary cat, gets nervous when he activates the “click” and then runs away. Today he was outside 12 hours in the pouring rain until he finally ventured back and I let him in the door :( frustratingly he did use it successfully when we first got him, when his sister couldn’t activate it.

Has anyone successfully helped their cat to get over the “click” and use the chip reader functionality?

Important cat picture included.

I recently got the onlycat cat flap, as was fed up with my stupid boy bringing in live rats and letting them go in the house....
This also works on microchip. He is fine using it, but my big girl won't, even after 2 months.
I can't turn the microchip off, as I also have a kitten who is not yet chipped and can't go outside.
So following to see how I can help big girl cat!

Oh no! Does it click?

Aside from that I need to look into onlycat as my girl keeps bringing in mice (varies as to whether they are alive or dead 😫)

It does indeed click!
It was expensive, but seeing now what it has stopped him bringing in, it was well worth the money. In just 2 months it has stopped him bringing in rats on around 17 occasions!!
And the videos of him popping in and out are super cute 😍

Bumping for help

For a few weeks I sprinkled dreamies around the inside and on the outside rim where the click was activated. She got used to it!

Patience, I think. Spend some time encouraging them through - treats etc. I had to push my lad through before he ‘got it’. Now he makes it click and just sits there with his head in the door, but doesn’t come in. Just unlocks it for the kittens. Argh!

They dash to the flap the second they hear the click at 100mph and have escaped a few times.

frankly, it’s the bane of my life and I wish I hadn’t got it. It’s stopped the strays, but it’s forever unlinking from the internet and so on.

Thank you! What did you do whilst she tried to get used to it, did she just stay outside until she got the hang of it?

Thank you @PlatinumBrunette . I am starting to think I might have to accept cleaning up after the imposter cat and leave the flap on open mode. Last night he just stayed out in the rain all night rather than brave the click. I feel terrible. We did get him through with it held open a few times, so he could hear the click, using mackerel for encouragement.

Sprinkling dreamies doesn’t work as his greedy sister or imposter cat gets there first!

My cat is also scared of the click and won't use it. Very frustrating!

@EggbertHeartsTinadid he get used to it in the end? Having the same problem with my boy, he’s 4 but has never used a cat flap before (he’s a rescue). He’s not really motivated by food so I don’t think putting treats around it will help either! He will go out of the cat flap but won’t come in and is spooked every time it clicks.

A better bribe required.

Could you try desensitising her to clicks by getting a handheld clicker and doing lots of click and treat, then trying it near the flap and then through the propped open flap, then through the closed flap. Take it really slowly.

Thanks for the tips! Lots of progress this afternoon in that he now isn’t running away when it clicks and he went inside with me holding the flap. Now just need him to understand that he can push the flap open on his own.

No unfortunately we weren’t able to get him used to it but the imposter cat has stopped coming so we’ve turned the chip reader off.

I did buy a collar and one of the collar tags with a chip built in as I thought it might activate earlier before he gets his head right in, but I’ve not tried it yet!

Thats what I thought too. Get a pet clicker and click and treat getting gradually closer to the cat flap. She will think the click means a treat.

My cat was the same I used a peg to hold the flap open and I sat with some food calling her through. So she didn't have to push the flap open, just deal with the click. It took a couple of days, and lots of encouragement but she did get it eventually.