Catflap finally fitted!
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 10:38 am
Well.. Clive is 7 years old and Harvey is 5 and neither cat has ever had access to the outside via a catflap! I've always lived in rented so I've never been able to fit one so their access has always been restricted.
I bought a house last July and intended to fit a flap then but I got a kitten, Bailey, not long after I moved so I decided not to fit a flap as I wanted to wait until he was older.
My relationship with the cats has always been less like the traditional cat/slave relationship I remember from living at home with my parents and our cats as a child. Their cats always had a flap so they were much more independent. They'd come and go and apart from being shut in at night, there wasn't much in the way of restricting their movements. They had a litter tray but they never used it and although they'd come up for a lap cuddle when it was raining, they were generally off doing their own thing.
The result of mine being largely indoors is that they are super clingy and much more reliant. They follow me around constantly and when I come home from work I'm always greeted by all of them when I first come in. They're more like dogs than cats in a way as they're always there and rely on me for a lot of their stimulation. They were getting out for a couple of hours when I got home from work and during the day on weekends when I was home but otherwise were largely inside.
What a difference within the last 24 hours already!!
I left the flap open yesterday after it was fitted and went out for the afternoon. I came home in the evening and was greeted by just ONE cat, the other two were sat in the garden bird watching. An hour later one more sauntered in, gave me a quick glance, had a bit of food then pottered back off out again. I didn't see any of them again after that until bed time! I switched the flap to allow them in but not out before I went to bed and by midnight all three were back inside, safe and sound but instead of hearing them digging in their trays and belting around the house all night I was greeted by silence as they were all tired out and conked on the landing. This morning I noticed there was hardly anything in the trays and the moment I unlocked the flap they all shot out and did their business in my garden and started plodding around eating grass.
It feels like the flap is going to quite drastically change our relationship as they gain more independence. I feel like a parent watching my kids go to University haha, I'm happy and sad all at the same time. I'm really pleased for them though, knowing they can now go out and enjoy the sunshine while I'm at work and come in for a snooze when it suits them and generally come and go as they please instead of being shut in all day. I work very long hours quite frequently so I felt like they really didn't have much of a life.
What I can't believe is how quickly they all adapted to the flap. None of them had ever used a cat flap before but within 30 minutes all three were using it without a problem! Ahhh it's a good feeling![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
I bought a house last July and intended to fit a flap then but I got a kitten, Bailey, not long after I moved so I decided not to fit a flap as I wanted to wait until he was older.
My relationship with the cats has always been less like the traditional cat/slave relationship I remember from living at home with my parents and our cats as a child. Their cats always had a flap so they were much more independent. They'd come and go and apart from being shut in at night, there wasn't much in the way of restricting their movements. They had a litter tray but they never used it and although they'd come up for a lap cuddle when it was raining, they were generally off doing their own thing.
The result of mine being largely indoors is that they are super clingy and much more reliant. They follow me around constantly and when I come home from work I'm always greeted by all of them when I first come in. They're more like dogs than cats in a way as they're always there and rely on me for a lot of their stimulation. They were getting out for a couple of hours when I got home from work and during the day on weekends when I was home but otherwise were largely inside.
What a difference within the last 24 hours already!!
I left the flap open yesterday after it was fitted and went out for the afternoon. I came home in the evening and was greeted by just ONE cat, the other two were sat in the garden bird watching. An hour later one more sauntered in, gave me a quick glance, had a bit of food then pottered back off out again. I didn't see any of them again after that until bed time! I switched the flap to allow them in but not out before I went to bed and by midnight all three were back inside, safe and sound but instead of hearing them digging in their trays and belting around the house all night I was greeted by silence as they were all tired out and conked on the landing. This morning I noticed there was hardly anything in the trays and the moment I unlocked the flap they all shot out and did their business in my garden and started plodding around eating grass.
It feels like the flap is going to quite drastically change our relationship as they gain more independence. I feel like a parent watching my kids go to University haha, I'm happy and sad all at the same time. I'm really pleased for them though, knowing they can now go out and enjoy the sunshine while I'm at work and come in for a snooze when it suits them and generally come and go as they please instead of being shut in all day. I work very long hours quite frequently so I felt like they really didn't have much of a life.
What I can't believe is how quickly they all adapted to the flap. None of them had ever used a cat flap before but within 30 minutes all three were using it without a problem! Ahhh it's a good feeling
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)