Cat Flap Training - Here's How

By Mary Telford

This is a quick guide to a very quick but effective method to cat flap training.

Cat flaps provide independence to cats. They can come and go into the house as they please and you no longer have to be there to constantly open and shut the doors for them anymore. Of course, the best thing about cat flaps is that your cat is free to go outside the house to go about its business while you are away. No more smelly mess for you to deal with when you get home!

So, let's get down to it. You are going to need two people, one cat flap and one cat.

Your cat must be confident about going outside of the house. If he or she is not confident about being outside then forget cat flap training. Your cat is not ready. Your cat should also be old enough so that he or she has been weaned from its mother for quite some time or your cat will be too young.

Your two people will need to be prepared to be patient and, more importantly, gently.

The golden rule is GENTLE.

If either person does not have the temperament to be patient and gentle with a young cat for a 20 minute stretch, then please do not try this. It will end in failure for both you and the cat. Find yourself a couple cat lovers and bribe them to do this for you ;-)

Now that you have found your two cat lovers, have each one kneel on either side of the cat flap. The first person should gently pass the cat through the cat flap to the other person. The second person then needs to turn the cat around and gently push the cat through the cat flap back to the first person. This process needs to continue back and forth for 20 minutes.

After that, your cat will have graduated from cat flap training. Congratulations.

Please remember, the keyword is GENTLE. If you are rough in any way, the cat will be scared and your work will be undone.

Mary Telford works part time at a pet motel in NSW, Australia. For more tips and tricks on cat flap training and cat training in general, read this info here.