# Difficult to have a Cat Flap any other ideas??



## Carole1982 (Aug 27, 2008)

Hi Everyone,

I am very new to this forum. We have 2 Cats that are about to turn a year old - Smoke and Pancake!! 

We have been letting them out for awhile and I took their litter tray away completely a month or 2 ago. In our house we have double glazed patio doors in the lounge so cannot fit a cat flap easily. Currently they stay outside all day and come in finally at night for dinner and then I let them out in the morning again. They always managed well with their toilet habits with the odd accident which I put down to them just remembering there was no longer a litter tray.

However recently the accidents are occurring more frequently. Can anyone suggest an idea of how we can allow the cats to come and go when they need to? I have enquired about a cat flap in the patio doors but it is very costly. I am also concerned about the room becoming draughty if there is one fitted in the lounge.

Other people I know say their cats manage fine throughout the night - is there a way of trainging them? Because we have 2 cats and it happens when I am asleep I am never sure which one it is.

I hope someone can help!!


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## helz (May 24, 2008)

I have some advice, but also a few comments

To be honest with you, you shouldnt really be expecting your cats to hold their toilet all night, you could just have a litter tray for night time use. My cats litter tray is down all the time, but only really gets used at night.

Now I realise you are trying to overcome this however, is for them to go out at night to go to the toilet, would mean they can go out at night whenever they want, this is a very dangerous time as far as rtas are concerned. It is worth re-considering whether to let them out at night.

Also, I do not think it is fair to lock the cats out all day either. When cats are locked out and the owners are not around, this is the most likely time when a cat wonders, and gets lost and or hurt. Or at least should have some sort of shelter if they do not have an inlet into the house, maybe a hole in the side of a shed or something.

Now onto the actual question of cat flaps, I am in a similar situation to you, with no actual back door apart from patio ones, and if you wanted a flap put in them, it would have to be done at the time of manufacture.
I have actually got my cat flap in the wall of my porch, the porch was added onto the house after it was built, so it is only the thickness of brick and plaster (ie no breeze blocks). Do you have a wall you could do this on? (ie check the wall that your tumble dryer vent is on, or maybe where you have an extractor fan). It does make the cat-flap a bit tunnel like, but the cats soon get used to it.

Another option, is if you have another window in the house somewhere that could be used, and you could just have a small part of a window replaced. It would need to be somewhere the cat could get to from both inside and out (maybe on a window seal they often sit on). Again you would need this window altered, as the flap would have to be put in at manufacture, or you would not have a seal on the double glazing.


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## Troo (Aug 26, 2008)

I would imagine the most likely cause of your cats soiling is because they are out all day. Either they are stressed that they cannot get into their home, or they are starting to find that it doesn't smell as much of them as it should, so are marking in the most potent way available.

Do they leave their toilet in wide, open places (the centre of a floor, in doorways, etc) or is it sneaked away in a corner?

You mention the lounge doors, but what about the back door? Is that glass too? Or are the cats not allowed into the rest of the house at all?

We have a cat flap in the back door, but we also have bedroom windows that our cat likes to use as doors. She climbs the patio furniture, the neighbour's shed, and the roof of our outhouse to reach them because it's much more fun than the catflap


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## Janee (May 4, 2008)

Hi and welcome

Is there any other place you could fit a catflap? There are models that go in doors, in windows and in walls. However only the door 'maybe' DIY, especially if you have double-glazing.

Why did you get rid of the litter? I would have thought a litter for the night would have been fine. 

I agree with Helz - is there anywhere you can provide shelter for your cats outside if for some reason it's not feasible to provide a catflap? Even a dog kennel would be better than nothing.


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## Carole1982 (Aug 27, 2008)

Hi Sorry forgot to say they have a cat chalet in the garden with a bed, food and water, they love being outside so I seriously doubt its stress or any of the above. 

We do not have a back door only patio doors. The front door has moulded panels so we cannot fit one here and its a 3 storey town house - the only window on the ground floor is in the kitchen which is on the front by a busy road. 

We dont have a thin wall they are all very wide as they are standard externall walls.


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## Carole1982 (Aug 27, 2008)

Hi I think I have answered most of it in the other reply however I find that it is normally in a corner but its in full view.

Also another thing to mention is when I have put a litter tray down it still happens on the odd occassion and yes it is always 100% clean.


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## Troo (Aug 26, 2008)

Hmm. The only other thing I can think of is that when you're cleaning up the mess you're still leaving enough trace scent for your cats to acknowledge their previous pooping / peeing location as a valid place to do so.

Cats are very fond of using the same locations for their toilet. An accident one night that isn't cleaned up as well as it could be may lead to repeat use of that location, which compounds the problem.

Febreeze won't do it. It needs a good old bleaching to really get the odour out.

Are they offending in roughly the same place? Or is it all over the room?


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## Carole1982 (Aug 27, 2008)

Yeah it is almost always in the same place - I had thought of that and I have bleached it several times. I might try a stronger bleach maybe. Thanks for you help and comments


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## Troo (Aug 26, 2008)

No worries.

It's wholly possible that the first time was an accident, which has now become acceptable in the cat's mind. As you're out of the room all night, try putting the litter tray in that spot for three or four weeks, then night by night moving it an inch toward its usual location - even if that takes a month because you have a huge room


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## Janee (May 4, 2008)

I know it sounds absurd but there are walkways made for cats which can attach to a first floor window in which you could fit a catflap but it would probably be as costly as fitting one to the patio doors 

Might be worth exploring though.


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## Saynamore (Feb 28, 2008)

Have I not heard on here that bleaching an area can attract cats to do their toilet there  Surely a repellent in the area would be much better. Also I cannot understand the logic of not having a litter box or two in the house, as it must be preferable to having accidents on the flooring/carpet As long as the litter box is cleaned and deodourisers used then why would a cat flap be needed? (confused from Darwen, somewhere north of Birmingham lol)


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## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

I have had cats that had their freedom to roam but I always had a litter tray just in case.

I intend for my two kittens to be indoor cats although I have an outdoor play pen. I open my kitchen window for them to gain access to it. They don't toilet there, they pop back in.

I am looking at companies that fit cat flaps in sealed double glazed units, I don't fancy leaving the kitchen window open in the winter months.

Sue


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