Hi there all you knowledgeable cat-lovers!
This one has really stumped us, and you guys have come thru' for us and our cats before so I'm hoping.
First off, some background:
We have three cats: Tigger, a male who was neutered at 6 months (before he became fully functional as a male,) and his sister, Blizzard, and mother, Molli, who were both spayed just a couple of months back at 4 years and 6 years respectively.
Because of where we are (in the foothills of the Himalayas) where cats are seen as bad luck, there are no vets around with cat experience. Mostly we have managed to blunder thru' on our own, and one of the local dog vets has helped out as much as poss - finally managing to arrange a vet visiting at the local university to do our females' operations.
We have had an on-going problem with feral cats - in fact the mother cat, Molli, was feral herself, and we rescued her as a starving kitten - only a few months old. Her two 'kittens' have grown up to be bigger than her, but not as tough!
Anyway, one of the local male ferals has been coming in the catflaps both upstairs and downstairs and finishing any dry food that is around - which usually means a full bowl. He has learned to time it when no-one is around (no human I mean.) Lately he has used his very strong-smelling spray just outside the catflap and on the stairs leading to Tigger (and Lake's) room, to really frighten our little boy cat who has just recently started spraying - I guess in response - mostly outdoors but sometimes inside.
After trying a few other things, we bit the bullet and got some pretty expensive Cat Mate brand electro-magnetic cat-flaps sent out to us thru' the Internet (go the Net!).
They look fabulous installed, and make a great seal which is nice in the winter, but.... and it's a BIG but... they have a "feature" which is a "flaw" for us.
To avoid having any other animal follow your magnet-wearing cat thru' the flap, it clicks up to unlock and then clicks down again pretty quickly after. If your cat hasn't come in during that period, it has to move its head back again to reactivate the magnetic lock.
If your cat just barrels straight in it would be no problem, but if your cat (like Tigger, our male) stops to check out the clicking noise, or tries to open the flap with his paw... you are stuffed.
I think the clicking noise makes him think of prey - it is just the sort of tiny noise that interactive cat toys make in imitation of mice/birds.... and it is hard for him to ignore.
Because our old manual cat-flaps used to have a swivel lock on them - mostly for keeping cats inside for vet visits or outside if they had a rat in their mouth, Tigger has been trained to assume that if the door doesn't open it's because it's locked. He used to go away and try again later, or call at a door.... both of which would work for him.
If you were really smart, like Molli (his mum) you could turn the swivel screw with your paw. So that is worth a try too, he figures.
But the electro-magnetic cat-flap doesn't work that way!
He is starting to get pissed off with it too - we have tried leaving it open for a couple of days (and only locking at nite when Mr Wild Cat is around) so he can get used to it, and hopefully become confident enough to hurry in.
My daughter and I have hung out on both sides of the flap with pieces of boneless chicken... Tigger's favourite, coaxing him back and forth... nothing doing.
My daughter - Lake - has adjusted the height of the approach so his body is at optimal position... rather than simply "in the range".
To get to the question .... does anyone know if the cat-flap can be adjusted to re-lock a little slower? (We have a very handyman who could do it if it could be done....)
Or, any other suggestions on how to get Tigger to ignore the very quiet clicking sound the door makes and simply come on down?
Hoping for some helpful suggestions, and thanx for taking the time to read this post.... you guys are great. I really enjoy an occasional contact with the cat-loving world, and tho' I only log on with problems, I often come for a look at the beautiful cats (and, I must admit, to laugh at some of the silly-cat photos and captions too!)
Best wishes to all, from Felicity.
This one has really stumped us, and you guys have come thru' for us and our cats before so I'm hoping.
First off, some background:
We have three cats: Tigger, a male who was neutered at 6 months (before he became fully functional as a male,) and his sister, Blizzard, and mother, Molli, who were both spayed just a couple of months back at 4 years and 6 years respectively.
Because of where we are (in the foothills of the Himalayas) where cats are seen as bad luck, there are no vets around with cat experience. Mostly we have managed to blunder thru' on our own, and one of the local dog vets has helped out as much as poss - finally managing to arrange a vet visiting at the local university to do our females' operations.
We have had an on-going problem with feral cats - in fact the mother cat, Molli, was feral herself, and we rescued her as a starving kitten - only a few months old. Her two 'kittens' have grown up to be bigger than her, but not as tough!
Anyway, one of the local male ferals has been coming in the catflaps both upstairs and downstairs and finishing any dry food that is around - which usually means a full bowl. He has learned to time it when no-one is around (no human I mean.) Lately he has used his very strong-smelling spray just outside the catflap and on the stairs leading to Tigger (and Lake's) room, to really frighten our little boy cat who has just recently started spraying - I guess in response - mostly outdoors but sometimes inside.
After trying a few other things, we bit the bullet and got some pretty expensive Cat Mate brand electro-magnetic cat-flaps sent out to us thru' the Internet (go the Net!).
They look fabulous installed, and make a great seal which is nice in the winter, but.... and it's a BIG but... they have a "feature" which is a "flaw" for us.
To avoid having any other animal follow your magnet-wearing cat thru' the flap, it clicks up to unlock and then clicks down again pretty quickly after. If your cat hasn't come in during that period, it has to move its head back again to reactivate the magnetic lock.
If your cat just barrels straight in it would be no problem, but if your cat (like Tigger, our male) stops to check out the clicking noise, or tries to open the flap with his paw... you are stuffed.
I think the clicking noise makes him think of prey - it is just the sort of tiny noise that interactive cat toys make in imitation of mice/birds.... and it is hard for him to ignore.
Because our old manual cat-flaps used to have a swivel lock on them - mostly for keeping cats inside for vet visits or outside if they had a rat in their mouth, Tigger has been trained to assume that if the door doesn't open it's because it's locked. He used to go away and try again later, or call at a door.... both of which would work for him.
If you were really smart, like Molli (his mum) you could turn the swivel screw with your paw. So that is worth a try too, he figures.
But the electro-magnetic cat-flap doesn't work that way!
He is starting to get pissed off with it too - we have tried leaving it open for a couple of days (and only locking at nite when Mr Wild Cat is around) so he can get used to it, and hopefully become confident enough to hurry in.
My daughter and I have hung out on both sides of the flap with pieces of boneless chicken... Tigger's favourite, coaxing him back and forth... nothing doing.
My daughter - Lake - has adjusted the height of the approach so his body is at optimal position... rather than simply "in the range".
To get to the question .... does anyone know if the cat-flap can be adjusted to re-lock a little slower? (We have a very handyman who could do it if it could be done....)
Or, any other suggestions on how to get Tigger to ignore the very quiet clicking sound the door makes and simply come on down?
Hoping for some helpful suggestions, and thanx for taking the time to read this post.... you guys are great. I really enjoy an occasional contact with the cat-loving world, and tho' I only log on with problems, I often come for a look at the beautiful cats (and, I must admit, to laugh at some of the silly-cat photos and captions too!)
Best wishes to all, from Felicity.
