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Looking for a tough cat flap

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  • pinkteapot
    pinkteapot Posts: 8,044 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Like others, I assumed you were talking about times when the cat was locked in (eg overnight)!

    You want to lock your cat out, so they can't get in? :eek:

    Scratching carpet and wallpaper - I can understand your frustration. But what's your objection to her using the litter tray?!

    EDIT: Crossed paths with your last post. What you've got there is a stressed and/or anxious cat. Locking her out of the house will not help with that in the slightest. :(
  • fejjie
    fejjie Posts: 14 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
    We know, we've done everything to try to calm her, plug ins, talked to the vet, given her her own little place to go to away from the children, who to be fair leave her alone anyway. We live in a lovely quiet courtyard, I think it's just that she is actually a bit bonkers.

    We just need a bit of respite from the house wrecking. We couldn't/wouldn't re-home her, she is our cat warts and all.
  • Alikay
    Alikay Posts: 5,147 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    The whole point of cat flaps is to give the cat the freedom to come and go as they wish, but it seems like your cat's destructive behaviour means that isn't suitable. Why don't you just remove/seal up the cat flap, and let her in and out as it suits you?

    Maybe you could then have a nice weatherproof outdoor cat house so she has somewhere warm and dry to go if you aren't around to let her in.
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/External-Heating-Kennel-Privacy-Window/dp/B01DYH4M4K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473085669&sr=8-1&keywords=cat+outside+house
  • fejjie wrote: »
    I've owned over 35 cats and never known one like this one.

    Wow! You seem to get through a lot of cats!

    I agree your cat is very stressed and anxious, and shutting her out will only make things worse. Was there a lot of decorating and house turning upside down before you got the new carpets? Cats generally like things to stay the same and any disruption could have upset her a lot.

    Can you shut her in the bathroom or loo with her litter tray when things get too much? Or even a largish cupboard. Our cat is quite highly strung and stressed and was really bad when we had the decorators in and for a while afterwards, weeing in corners. She eventually settled down. Shutting her under the stairs for a while in the dark has always helped with her when she has been OTT.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 47,314 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    fejjie wrote: »
    talked to the vet,
    Daft question I know, but has the vet actually seen her? I'm another 'no expert on cats', but surely any radical change in behaviour from any animal needs proper investigation.
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • Iain_L
    Iain_L Posts: 151 Forumite
    Have you considered that there may be a reason why she doesn't want to stay outside?

    Perhaps by locking her out you run the risk of her finding somewhere else to live anyway.
  • rach_k
    rach_k Posts: 2,254 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Have you watched her when she goes outside? Our cat started spraying in the house and not going out as much. It turned out that a big cat was chasing her in our garden and even coming in through the cat flap after her. I stayed up a few nights to scare it off and if I see it in the garden I spray it with a water pistol. Our cat is much happier now.
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