One cat reluctant to use the catflap for going outside

[Passedproblems]

I have to adorable just over 1 year old brothers. We've had them since they were 16 weeks old and have a chip catflap. Usually we have them in overnight but since the very first heatwave we have given them free reign. I have just noticed that one of them is really reluctant to use the catflap to go outside, especially if there is someone around to open the door. Coming in doesn't seem to be a problem. Any one else ever experienced this? Cat tax included 😍

Why bother to open the flap yourself if there's someone around to do it?
Gorgeous cats.

Cat flaps snap back onto their tails which are sensitive and can therefore be a bit painful to use. Therefore many cats will use them if they have to but prefer their servants to open a door for them if possible.

He's just being a cat. If I am in the room mine expects me to open the door to let him out. And if he's outside he will even sit waiting at the door in the hope I will turn up and open it. He's perfectly capable of using the flap when I'm not there!

One of mine wasn’t a fan of the cat flap - she could get out but apparently couldn’t get back in.
I googled to see if this was normal cause she can be a bit special and it is. A suggestion was to take the magnet closure off of the cat flap where it ‘locks’ it at the bottom and it worked.
She still acts like it’s made of steel or cement but will use it multiple times a day

Our cat has this suss’d. They make out they can’t use the flaps and stand there crying pitifully to go out, and come and tell you their sorry story until you open the door. They do the same to come back in. If everyone holds firm and ignores them, they have the sudden ability to use them both in and out but usually someone cracks and opens the door. I think it’s just a form of human training cats are hard wired with. Ours is inside but we have done catproofing for upper level balconies and have made cat outdoor cat enclosure on ground floor and all the doors to those areas have flaps. It basically just makes whoever is home a full time slave to the cats movements 🤣.

One of mine has never been outside. Won’t use the catflap and flees back inside terrified if we physically put her in the garden 🤷‍♀️. Nothings ever happened to her, she’s just very nervous.

Agree that it could just be a 'won't' rather than a 'can't' situation. We had one who took nearly five years to use the cat flap independently, despite seeing all the other cats come and go, she preferred to just stay in or out if there wasn't someone to open the door for her.

We would post her through in an attempt to show her the way, and she was fine with that, she'd just go through a routine of waiting, looking hopeful, meowing politely then staring pointedly if butler service wasn't up to scratch.

I was thinking of putting her forward as the next Downing Street cat as we know that the most important duty of the police officers who guard the door is to let Larry in, so she would have loved that. However, a few months ago, she just randomly started going in and out by herself so there's time for your boy to start too.

Thanks everyone, just wondered if I was missing something, I think he prefers a human doorman too now. He's very adventurous and is barely home in comparison to his brother so I know he's not afraid of the outdoors. He's probably been used to having all the doors open whilst we're having this glorious summer too 😄