# Cat Flap Problems



## benreilly (Aug 21, 2013)

I took in a feral cat 7 years ago and I have never been able to train her to use the cat flap, my other two cats took to it no problem. So since I've had her I've had the flap stringed up so that it's permanently open - even over the winter when I freeze!!

The problem now is that one of my other cats, a 17 year old, shouldn't really be going out anymore as she forgets where to come back to and sits in the middle of a road the other side of my house.

I now need to stop the older cat from getting out but letting my other two, including the feral one, have full access.

Are there such things as automatic / mechanical / pneumatic cat flaps where the flap will automatically open - if I can get the feral to wear a collar!! Or does anyone have any ideas on training a feral cat to use a cat flap?

Thanks,
Ben.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi Ben, welcome to Pet Forum 
I have never heard of a catflap that opens automatically. The nearest thing would be a microchip catflap, that opens only for each cat whose microchip has been scanned in to the memory. The cat still has to push the flap open, but it will only open for the right microchips. 

This would sound like the perfect thing for your 17 yr old who is no longer safe to go out. You just would not scan in her microchip so she would not be able to push the door open. 

This of course means the feral cat would have to learn to use a catflap. I have had a couple of cats who have not been straightforward to train, but most of them have learnt very quickly. 

Personally I think it is mistake to tie open the flap for more than a day, whilst you are training him, as the reluctant cat soon realises he doesn't need to bother making the effort to open the flap, it will be open permanently for him!  

When I trained my cats, I basically just gently pushed them through the catflap, first out, then in. If they would not push the flap to go out, I would hold it open for them, and then it was up to them to make their own way back in when they were ready. Doing the training before a meal time and then calling them from the inside also helped. 

I remember one cat was particularly stubborn, so I left her outside and went out to the shops. When I got home she was in the kitchen! Proving she was perfectly capable of using the catflap if she chose to! 

I certainly would never tie the catflap open all winter and freeze! If the feral cat absolutely refuses to use the catflap then he has to accept he will need to wait until you open the door for him. I find it hard to imagine he would keep up his dislike of the catflap for long, if he ended up stuck outside when it is cold or rainy because you are not there to open the door for him straight away!


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