Cat flap trouble

It's bitterly cold in England now so I decided to buy my cats a cat
flap for the shed so that they would have some shelter, and laid out a
warm bed for them. They both refuse to use it and stand out in the
cold. I don't thik they like the idea of their heads pushing against
the door. I've tried luring them in with treats,fish and toys, but no
luck. Any suggestions??

Nicola

"Nic" wrote in message
oups.com...
It's bitterly cold in England now so I decided to buy my cats a cat
flap for the shed so that they would have some shelter, and laid out a
warm bed for them. They both refuse to use it and stand out in the
cold. I don't thik they like the idea of their heads pushing against
the door. I've tried luring them in with treats,fish and toys, but no
luck. Any suggestions??

Nicola

Tie the flap open until they get used to going in and out through the
opening (or remove the flapping door).

Hugs,

CatNipped

Yes, tried this, and gently lowered it, but as soon as it goes down on
them they get frightened and run off. Even over a length of time they
didn't get used to it. Any other ideas?

"Nic" wrote in message
oups.com...
Yes, tried this, and gently lowered it, but as soon as it goes down on
them they get frightened and run off. Even over a length of time they
didn't get used to it. Any other ideas?

I just pushed mine through it a few times until they learned.

Hugs,

CatNipped

Nic wrote:
It's bitterly cold in England now so I decided to buy my cats a cat
flap for the shed so that they would have some shelter, and laid out a
warm bed for them. They both refuse to use it and stand out in the
cold. I don't thik they like the idea of their heads pushing against
the door. I've tried luring them in with treats,fish and toys, but no
luck. Any suggestions??

Nicola

Misty hated using her head too and Sonny will ask us to hold it open
for him if he sees us nearby because it pinches the end of his tail
when he goes through, so he runs through it as fast as he can.

If there is a magnet, try taping it or removing it for now to make the
flap less resistant. To train Sonny, I was on one side with his most
favourite food ever, tuna, and my husband was on the other. He would
gently push Sonny's head and body until he was in far enough to see the
tuna, and when he got his nose close to the tuna, I pulled it away
until he went through the flap, then gave him his reward. We did this
for about 3 days, then he did it without being pushed through, just
with the smelly tuna on the other side which he couldn't resist.
Eventually, we were able to take the tuna away.

Their brains see the flap as a wall. Some cats need a lot of practice
until they realize they can go through this "wall".

Sonny's mom.

Have you tied the flap up for awhile? Then gradually lower it while still
keeping it up. It took my cats two weeks to learn.
Gail
wrote in message
oups.com...
Nic wrote:
It's bitterly cold in England now so I decided to buy my cats a cat
flap for the shed so that they would have some shelter, and laid out a
warm bed for them. They both refuse to use it and stand out in the
cold. I don't thik they like the idea of their heads pushing against
the door. I've tried luring them in with treats,fish and toys, but no
luck. Any suggestions??

Nicola

Misty hated using her head too and Sonny will ask us to hold it open
for him if he sees us nearby because it pinches the end of his tail
when he goes through, so he runs through it as fast as he can.

If there is a magnet, try taping it or removing it for now to make the
flap less resistant. To train Sonny, I was on one side with his most
favourite food ever, tuna, and my husband was on the other. He would
gently push Sonny's head and body until he was in far enough to see the
tuna, and when he got his nose close to the tuna, I pulled it away
until he went through the flap, then gave him his reward. We did this
for about 3 days, then he did it without being pushed through, just
with the smelly tuna on the other side which he couldn't resist.
Eventually, we were able to take the tuna away.

Their brains see the flap as a wall. Some cats need a lot of practice
until they realize they can go through this "wall".

Sonny's mom.