How long did your cat take to understand a cat flap, and any tips?

[largeprintagathachristie]

So. I have installed a catflap for my recently adopted cat.
At first I taped it open and he soon got good at coming in and out.

Next stage is for him to realise that he can go though the plastic flap. I can tell he thinks it is “closed.”

Have tried with me on the other side with dreamies, but no dice.

DP is working away this week so I can’t have one person each side.

did try “posting” the dreamies from the inside to the outside and lifting the flap up for him a bit - he did hop through but I don’t think he “got” it.

It’s a chip cat flap but I haven’t put the batteries in yet or recorded his chip as I thought we should do basic training first.

the cat needs to be using it confidently within 10 days as well be away for a week and a friend is coming round to feed and cuddle (but not let in and out).

He was a stray (not the friend) and has a strong drive to access outside. But at the moment thinks the flap of the catflap is a barrier.

I have one cat who definitely knows how to use it, but likes to sit there whacking it repeatedly with her paw making a god awful racket. She is a princess and does not think she should need to use a cat flap when there are staff around who can open the door for her. I’ve tried renaming the cat flap to the princess portal with no joy.

you do need to post them through it several times but they will get the idea. One thing I’ve noticed is they do not like cat flaps on flat walls where they are exposed from both sides when they go outside. So, of that’s the case I would suggest a pot plant wall or similar in both sides of the flap.

Laughing aloud at talk of 'posting' cats 😂

Neither of my cats would use ours, despite repeated posting. They know what it’s for, they just don’t like it!

We’ve always posted our cats through initially,
they seem to get the idea within a day or so.
One of current girls, like PPs cat, sits
and repeatedly whacks it back and forth, for the fun of it. She will also regularly just sit at it and stare like she’s never seen it before in her life.🤷‍♀️

I sprayed it with catnip spray and she went nuts, charging in and out of it. After that she was fine using it.

I'll try this one!

Well it's been interesting reading this thread

More cats than I thought don't use cat flaps

I just thought when I got a cat flap the cat would use it with no problems!

How wrong I was....

Those who have mentioned pegs...I can't quite envision what you mean... Do you have pictures of how you've done it with pegs so I can see?

My dearly departed cat was an idiot. He never learned how the flap worked so I had to tie it open for him permanently. Was basically just a framed hole in the door.

I would worry about security of the house if I'm tying it open!

High reward treats like chicken, not your regular dreamies treat. Worked a treat with my girl 💪🏼

My cat understood it. She just preferred to use it as a window and have the door opened for her like a civilised individual. She was also extremely exasperated when one of her kittens used it and came to tell me she could not work under these conditions and I should open the door at once.

She did once attempt to use it as a door. She stood with her back legs in and her front legs out for some time, gazing into the distance.

I 've trained cats in the past by just physically posting them in and out through the catflap several times until they got the idea. This does rely on your cat being willing to be picked up and stuffed through the cat flap which I appreciate not all cats are 😁

This is so funny 🤣

i taped mine open and then gradually lowered it over the course of a couple of days so eventually her head would brush against the top of the flap. Eventually it lowered so she had to push through it and she got the message.

she kept getting spooked by the clicking noise of it recognising her chip so I’d give her a dreamie so she’d associate it with good things.

she picked it up quickly but years later still waits for me to open it for her (even though she knows what to do) as she’s a drama queen.

About 2 weeks. We also started posting her through, which seemed to eventually work.
she still makes a meal of it after nearly 12months , doesn’t realise she doesn’t have to ineffectively scrabble at it with her paws before using head, but the main thing is she gets there eventually.

My cats are indoors. We don’t have a cat flap. But I am now laughing so hard at this thread that DCat2 has jumped off me because I was belly laughing so I’m going to assume he’s not a catflap fan either.

This is one of the funniest threads I’ve ever read on mumsnet.

About 24 hours, we also posted her through a few times, still doesn’t like using it if it’s dark though 🤷🏼‍♀️

I think I kinda pushed them through and then they figured it out. Put your cat outside before meal time and then call him and put the food in the bowl. I bet he figures out he needs to push the flap open to get in.

Same..it's infuriating 😅

I should say although posting him through did work we changed the door the cat flap is in nearly three years ago and the cat still goes to where the old one was, if the forbidden door to the basement is open. And still clearly hates the new one with its auto-click.

Also like many others if he sees you whilst outside it's miaul incredibly loudly until you open the door.

Still the best cat though.

My cat was useless. It took weeks. I had to post her through it over and over again. In the end what worked was placing her front paws against it so she could see it pushed open when she did that. Although she then spent years using this very inefficient method to get through it.

She seems to get through it fast enough if another cat comes into our garden though.

We have DCat Brother and Sister. DCat Sister ploughs her own furrow in life! It took us two years to train DCat Brother not to go on the table at meal times. DCat Sister has never learnt!

I decided to teach DCat Brother how to use the cat flap with Dreamies. I posted him through the flap. He was absolutely terrified! Next day, DCat Sister was using it fine, having watched me trying to teach her brother! After while, he copied her.

Moral of the story - he is quite a bright cat (he learnt to open our internal doors at 4 months old); but she is brighter!

This thread is funny. We are often asked why we don't have a cat flap (we have a utility room between the kitchen and back door so would either need two flaps or to have one put in the external wall) and I will direct future askers to it. I'm sure our cat enjoys having door staff, and I enjoy when he sits at the kitchen window and taps it with his paw like a Victorian urchin looking in on a feast.

This. My brave cat did it straight away, the timid one had to be posted!