Kitty Doors...

Hi, havent been on the cat side in a while...still remember Dandy and Guinness? ;) ANyway, we have moved to a new house, that has a basement, so we have the litter box in the basement now and added a cat door to our basement door, for easy access. I thought they would NEVER figure out how to use it. I used food to lure them, but Guinness isn't a big eater, so that didnt work for him...we had it propped open for while to let them in and out, without having to push open the flap...and finally, finally, they are useing it regularly now. It took probably about a week for them to figure it. Guinness even hissed at it once, when the flap closed in his face, after Dandy had just used it...anyway, just curious, if anyone else had kitties that were a little slow to learn how to use the kitty flap/door? Or are mine the only silly ones! :)

Well, we were trying a Boodah Litter box but between the flap mystery and the lid not being a tight fit, I'm totally hating it. I can't tell how many times I held the flap open for Cas or Liv... and how bewildered by the whole thing they still are. Sheesh! :rolleyes:

The kitty door we used to have, had a magnet to ensure the door closed tightly. Kuhio was kind of slow to learn it (and seemed to forget how to use it from time-to-time). Pepper figured it out in 2 seconds. Halo used it but didn't like it. Cammie never figured it out in 18 months. So, we took out the magnet and now that there isn't any resistance to it, Cammie flies through it.

Miley and Juni use the door but Chloe just doesn't get it. Right now it is not being used, but in the winter I keep the litter on the porch and the door keeps the cold air from coming in. Since Chloe doesn't know how to use the door, I must keep one box in my house! Then, when it snows, I bring in another box because they all use the snow as litter. And what a mess that can be! CATS!

It took Miley and Graemer only a couple of days to get the hang of it. Gabe never had to use it.....I had a box inside as well as on the porch.

Chloe has no problem opening drawers and closet doors....just cat doors...go figure!:rolleyes:

I seem to remember it took my girls a while to figure out the door too. A week is not a long time to get some cats happily using a flap. In fact, our Jessica is a bit incompetent when it comes to the flap. Ours is magnitised and when they put their face up to the flap it releases the catch. Jessica just doesn't get it. She uses her paws to batter at the flap until it opens. During the night, the noise of Jessica battering the flap can be enough to wake us up (and not much wakes me up during the night).

It's quite funny to watch her at the flap, because as she is battering away with her front paws the flap is swinging open because the magnet on her collar is so close, but she continues to batter away! :D Perhaps she just likes the noise. I'm sure she must be exhausted by the time she gets in the house.

Cats are very clever,the thing to do,is to act,as those that is the last place,that they shpould go! And of course we remember Dandy,and Guiness,who could when they are such Handsome Cats!

I don't have a kitty door, but my friend was just telilng me this story. She always had a doggy door for her dog, Cinder. Her cat, Mojo, just detested using a doggy door, so my friend always left the sliding glass door propped open. Well, once Cinder passed away, they decided to heck with Mojo, he was going to learn how to use that doggy door. Well...Mojo refused. They tried everything, and he would not use it. Well, finally, they caught him using it. So, they started paying closer attention...Mojo had been using it all along, but only in private. She said it was like he was thinking "I'll be damned if I get seen coming through a doggy door." She said to this day, if they are near the doggy door (renamed kitty door for Mojo's sake), Mojo will not use it. :D