I don't want a cat flap as we were burgled via the cat flap before. Also we like our cat in at night and when we are at work. So mine gets to go out when we are at home and at times I get up extra early, as in 4am to let her out (unfed) to be sure she is back in time before we go to work.

How do other people manage with no cat flap?

Depending on my shifts there are about 2 days every 10 that she does not get to go out - otherwise she has a good outing every day for up to 8 hours at a time (her choice not mine)

I have noticed in recent weeks however she's become really whiney to the extent I took her to the vet. She is eating normally and everything's ok at the other end.

She is also sctracthing a lot but has no fleas or anything like that and is fully up to date with all the flea/worm treaments.

I took her back to the vet tonight as the scratching is still going on but not as bad - and he has suggested either a food allergy or stress.

He's now prescribed the equivilent of Prozac for her to see if that settles her.

We have had this cat as a resue cat for 8 months and this has only be a problem in recent weeks. She is a 3 year tortie, quite outgoing and 'chatty'.

How can a cat that is loved and spoiled in fact, be stressed? She has a variety of toys which she mainly ignores, preferring instead to find things to play with - but in recent weeks has even stopped playing. She is also excessively grooming.

The constant whining has now stopped since I started getting up so early to let her out for even longer - but I'm wondering why she is like this - or if it's just the hot weather.

Sorry for the long post but last week this was causing probs between me and my OH as the whining was driving me mad and I just wanted to let her out, even at night - which he does not want.

I've had my cat for three years and have never used a cat flap or a litter tray.

My cat cries at the door if she wants to go out.

I admit though that there's usually someone in to let her out.

One of my sons has a cat and no cat flap, He is out all night and in nearly all day sleeping.
They have a wendy house in the garden with a cat bed and water it has a stable door and the top half is always open for him , so if it rains during the night he always has shelter.

We've never had a cat flap or litter tray, except for the first 6 months of kittenhood, our cat is now 17.

He gets let out at about 6.30 am, sits on the doorstep 'til 7.30 ish then has his brekkie, then goes back to bed 'til about 9am, then finally goes orf for his morning constitutional!

Then depending on the weather he will either come home and go back to bed or stay out until 6pm when it's tea time, eats his tea back to bed until about 9pm, then he actually gets 'put out' to do his stuff before bed...back in about 11pm (tempted via a biscuit barrel being shaken at the backdoor) and off to bed until the morning. He has two dogs to keep him company at night.

Perhaps your cat needs a friend, some cats don't like being solitary animals.

Could the time of year ie kitten time be affecting her at all, it's just that we have had Tom cats fighting around here a lot lately and that usually means they are fighting over females to mate with.

Thanks for the replies.

I like the idea of the wendy house. If it comes to having to let her out whilst we are at work this could be a great solution.

I did discuss with my OH the possibility of getting a second cat for companionship but he is not keen. Says it bad enough rounding up one cat.

Personally I think she would take to another cat once she sorted out the pecking order.

All I know of her history is that she was quite neglected by previous owners and allowed to constantly breed so maybe she still wants to?

If that was the case then perhaps she is getting stressed by the time of year...maybe she's afraid of getting pregnant again or perhaps frantic to get pregnant again. .... either of which could be making her very stressed.

I'm no cat expert so am only guessing, but it seems to fit as to why you only have these problems lately.

It might not be that she wants a friend but that the neighbouring cats are stressing her over territorial rights so she might either be anxious about being out with no open escape route back into the refuge of the house, or conversely she may be frustrated/stressed about not being able to go out as she chooses and "sort out/see off" the other cats to protect/maintain her territorial rights.
A cat flap could either stress her more or resolve the problem, depending which of the above is the case but a cat "friend", inescapably within her safe area, could certainly add to her stress, unless she is a cat-social cat. Do you regarly see her mixing with other cats outside in a friendly and companionable manner, (not to be confused with a feline Mexican standoff) ?

I assume the cat is now neutered? In which case, she will have no interest in getting up the duff. (If she is not neutered, that would explain her agitation.)

Re your reluctance to get a cat flap because you were burgled through it, I have always had cat flaps and never found that a concern. If you lock the door and remove the key, a cat flap is not a security risk.

I couldn't personally do without a cat flap as it would drive me mental letting cats in and out. Mine is four-way lockable and is actually an aid in getting them in - I put it on 'in only' in the evening and when they turn up they are rounded up indoors where I want them.

I've left a window open 24/7 for 9 years now for my cats. Never been burgled. Not that there's anything worth pinching so perhaps a few would be burglars have looked through the window and gone away again lol.

You just need to position the cat flap so no one can reach round it to get to the door handle or lock. Mine is set in the wall, not the door.
Mind you I also have two dogs so that could give pause for thought before any burglar goes sticking their hand through my cat flap

We've always had cats and never had a cat flap. When Penny wants to go out she just walks sedately up to the back door in the sure knowledge that one of us will open it for her.

She's usually in at night, but if she's still in the garden (we've got a very large choisya bush she likes to sit under, and an arch by the back gate that she likes to sit on top of) when I go to bed then she's got my bedroom window to come in by, it's always open.

we don't have a flap as we have glass doors. Cat lets us know if he wants to go out by dashing about madly til we get the idea, waits on porch if we're not around to let him in.

Never thought it would work but it does. If he wants to come in now, he "knocks" the door ie claws at in such a way it really does sound as if he's knocking. He taught himself that one.

also he has 2 bells o his collar which I swear he jingles deliberately to get attention.

if he's shut in he usually just sleeps until someone comes home. We try to keep him in at night, shut in one room with the light out (with food + water + his bed)he soon gets the message and settles down.

Re the wendy house - you can buy little cat "kennels" I think so they have shelter, did some research am thinking about getting one of these as our porch isn't waterproof
http://www.gadgetspeak.com/gadget/ar...t_shelter.html

I agree with Tass's post about the potential causes of stress but I'm very surprised that your vet has prescribed Prozac ~ this would surely be the last resort treatment & should never be given without first trying behavioural therapy & then only in conjunction with behavioural therapy. These drugs are not without their side effects & most research shows that even if they temporarily relieve any stress-related problems, as soon as the drugs are stopped, the problems return (unless behavioural therapy is used at the same time).

I would suggest that you observe your cat closely when she goes out to see if she interacts with other neighbourhood cats & whether this is in a friendly or aggressive manner. Also take a few days to watch when/if other cats come into your garden & try to let your cat out when other cats are not around. They can learn to time share territory.

It sounds like your cat has had a very poor start in life if she was neglected & used for breeding. This can have quite profound effects on a cat's welfare & behaviour for the rest of its life. You could try asking your vet for a referral to a qualified feline behaviourist for some help & advice.

As long as it is not a simple yale lock, it doesn't matter if they can reach the handle/lock - as long as the door is locked and the key removed. A flap set in the bottom of the door would render most handles unreachable anyway, I'm just looking at mine and you'd have to be houdini to turn the handle - which wouldn't get you anywhere because the door is locked.

Agree a behaviourist would be useful in this case.

I've got a catflap, but it's now blocked most of the time because we got too many other cats in the house. I leave it open around 8-9pm, because that's when my cat comes in. Then he wakes us up when he want's to leave in the morning.

I wish I hadn't bothered with the catflap in the first place.

I had two cats from 1975-2005 and they didnt have a cat flap.

My Impossible Princess has one and that is because she is royalty and it would be beneath her to ask permission to go out like a commoner.

our boy is coming up for 3, hes never had a cat flap. he goes to the door and taps on it kinda thing to ask to go out, if we dont hear that he will come into the living room and do the same thing to the cupboard door which bangs when he does it, made us jump out of our skins the first time he did it but not anymore. he goes out all night, but he has a food and water bowl in the garden along with a cat kennel which he loves, its wind and rain proof and we have put a fleece cat bed inside it and he loves to snuggle in there.

Are cat flaps easy to install on pvc doors? I'd have to do it myself and don't want to end up with a big jagged hole in the door.

Same here - kitchen window is always open, the cats are in and out as they please, day and night.

Before we had our conservatory/extension on the back, we used to leave the window open for our cats! They've got a catflap now (and have had it for a number of years now) and we've never had any bother with it... apart from one time when my friend was drunk and stuck her head through it and broke it

Our dog sleeps in the kitchen at night so she guards the back of the house and if someone suddenly appears in the conservatory in the middle of the night, she'd let us know

My female cat (19), doesn't really go out anymore, only to go to the toilet or sunbathe and her son (18) goes out during the day sometimes. If they get let out the front, they'd just go over the fences and through next door's garden to come through the catflap they'd ask to go out at the front (we always know when Sylvester wants to go out cos he scratches on the carpet on the stairs ), they'd normally just appear in the conservatory later on!

We've got a magnetic flap for that reason. We haven't needed to have the magnet switched on for a long while now (nothing would volunteer to pass our Burmese boy), but it's good to know it's there if needed.


It's discussed in this thread - sounds easy (wouldn't fancy doing it myself!)
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=642463

Thanks again for all the replies and suggestions. To answer a couple of queries - yes she is neutered. She was done by the rescue centre prior to us adopting her. I understand she was allowed to continuously have kittens by the previous owners who neglected her and left her to her own devices.

This may explain her behaviour in not only wanting to be out so much - but for many hours at a time. She is not content with just being in the garden and tends to go off but I don't know where.

As for neighbourhood cats - there are 2 in the same road who appear to only come out at night or early evening and tend to just sit in their front gardens. I have never heard any fights and these cats appear quite mature and placid. One is a male - I'm not sure about the other.

Re the Prozac - we have decided to hold off giving it to her to see if the extended outings settle her down - which does appear is the case.

Since the vet visit last night - after she returned she did have a bit of a play and then settled down mostly cuddling up or snoozing - which is unusual for her as she is such a fidget most of the time.

One other thought occurred to me (although OH disagrees) is that I am wondering if she may be part ferral?

The reason for this is that she has always had a bit of a spiteful streak in her (which I am not used in cats) and just because she wants to be out so much. I have had various cats in my life and my home for over 20 years and have never ever had a spiteful cat - so I have had a real problem 'bonding' with this cat - not that I would ever harm her etc... - but I am reluctant to pick her up or have her near my face as she can lash out and hiss quite suddenly. At other times she loves all that sort of thing (well when OH picks her up and cuddles her) so maybe she has picked up some bad vibes from me.

I fuss her lots and play with her, have her on my lap - which she like to jump up onto - I just won't have her near my face.

If letting her roam around more makes her happy, it sounds like a much better solution than prozac. My friend had a cat who hated being confined indoors and spent 90% of her time outside, only coming in due to extreme weather conditions.

If your cat was 'left to her own devices' by her previous owner then she probably IS semi-feral.

I have a semi feral cat who is very timid and hates being picked up, it terrifies her. What you describe as 'spiteful' sounds like plain fear. My cat is okay with me but my OH is a bit loud and even after 13 years still scares the cat! I don't know whether you are male or female (sorry, I probably should!) but to make the following sentence easier I will assume you are male. Judging by your cat's reaction, she was unkindly handled by a man, but had good experiences with women. That will make her a bit wary of being held or restrained by you, but by being gentle and kind with her you will probably gain her full confidence eventually.... You have already established that she has boundaries which you need to 'respect', so you can work with what she is happy with and go from there.

I love reading all your posts on cats, We have never owned one (just dogs), both of my sons have cats, one has Rag Dolls they never go out apart from a covered area in his garden, the other has the good old moggie who does as he pleases. What comes across very plain cats have a mind of their own and they dictate what they want and you just pander to their needs, very clever animals..

I am female and OH is male - yet she tolerates him picking her up a lot more. However, she will let me pick her up, brush her, play with her - do all sorts of things that I would not expect - eg. when she was scratching herself a bit recently she had 3 sore spots - which she patiently let me (and later the vet) examine. She also loves me to put Johnsons Tea Tree Skin Cream for itchy dogs/cats ... (all natural ingredients) on her, to calm the itching down. Not sure if this stuff has helped ornot but she likes it and it smells divine - you could probably put it on yourself.

She puzzles me so much - if she was part ferral surely she would not tolerate all this?

Last night at the vets - she behaved impeccably. she let him have a good look, including down her ears with the lighted thingy (sorry dont know what it's called) and she allowed him to give her a worming tablet with no fuss.

I've seen more domesticated cats on TV's Animal Hospital have a real hissy fit at far less prodding and poking about.

At present she has been out for 3 hours and now OH is getting anxious.

Perhaps he needs the Prozac...