Cat Flap

[joolzy14]

I have had a male neutered rescue cat for approx 2 years. I have fitted a cat flap (in the door he usually goes in and out of on a daily basis) at the weekend. The cat flap is magnetic in and out and all it needs is for him to push flap slighty with his nose to open. He has jumped in and out of it if I hold the flap open for him but he wont use it on his own. Any suggestions on how to train him to use it instead of standing at the door waiting to get in/out? Many thanks.

[RATTER15]

Put a step next to it so the cat flap is at effectively at ground level, this will allow your cat to investigate the new device before hurtling himself through it.

[Nummy]

put little treats on the other side of the flap...and hold the flap open for him...do it often enough that he knows there are treats on the other side, then start to leave the flap down...i'm sure he'l soon start to use it on his own if he know there are treat for him.

[Mrs_Pegasus]

I have trained all my cats the same way.

prop the flap partly open for a couple of days and then close it and without causing stress to the cat i simply used to put them through the cat flap! never failed!

one cat refused to use it until the day he was chased to the door by another cat and he quickly learnt how to use it!

[dummkopf]

I put 4 bricks on the backdoor step so my cats were level with the flap. I then sat outside on a garden chair (cats were inside) and waited and waited, tempting them with goodies.......eventually they both pushed their way out ! I repeated this a few times on both sides of the door - much to the amusement of my neighbours !! Mine were 12 month old rescue cats too, It didn't take that long for them to get the hang of the flap. The female was first out, clever girl, the boy is a bit dumb but followed her lead. Good luck!

[sue11]

The way I trained one of mine was to simply push her head first, through it, gently of course. My partner was on the other side and he then pushed her back through again to me. She looked most surprised at why we kept pushing her back one way and the other(!), but the fact that the cat flap opened on contact with her head, seemed to make her realise that she only had to push to get it open and she used it from then on by herself! I suppose this way may depend on how patient your cat is by being manhandled by you though!