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I installed a cat flap on our door for our cat Pablo, so he can leave the house to socialize with the other outdoor cats in the neighbourhood. We didn't have any problem until one of the other cats (Karel) figured out how to use our cat door. Karel started visiting us quite frequently, mostly for stealing Pablo's food, or sleeping in our bed while we're away from home, but it also happened that he peed on our couch. Pablo is quite frustrated every time Karel enters his territory, but doesn't care enough to scare him away. I tried to scare Karel away by making loud noises, by chasing him, squirting water on him, but nothing worked so far, he still keeps coming back.

I was looking for methods to scare a cat away, but all of the solutions I could find like the infra sound emitting motion detectors and the pheromone sprays or powders would also scare our own cat away.

We talked to Karel's owner, but she is not willing to lock her cat up.

Elmy
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Andor Polgar
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  • Is Pablo chipped? – Stephie Sep 22 '21 at 16:48
  • Yes, both Pablo and Karel are chipped. – Andor Polgar Sep 22 '21 at 16:48
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    You say your neighbor isn't willing to lock her cat up, but if you look at the problem from her side, it's not her problem to solve. Have you considered taking the same tactic toward your own cat and keeping him inside, thereby locking out the current and any future problem cats? – Allison C Sep 22 '21 at 17:29
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    'Socialising' to cats mostly means either fighting or breeding; they don't really want to 'see their cat friends', they want to defend their territory. – j4nd3r53n Sep 23 '21 at 08:24
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    @j4nd3r53n In our case it's not true, they're all neutered, they're mostly just playing and nose kissing. – Andor Polgar Sep 23 '21 at 09:32
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    Cats have a right to roam. They legally cannot trespass, whether it is your garden or your house. Your neighbour is under no legal obligation to control their cat and there is no practical way to do it without locking the cat in. Sorry, microchip operated flap is the only way to go. – ck1987pd Sep 23 '21 at 13:55
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    @C.Koca that's definitely not true everywhere – Kat Sep 23 '21 at 15:49
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    You should just keep your cat inside. Cats have no “need” to be outside, do not ”socialize” (they are not people!), and cause a great deal of destruction (killing wildlife, pooping in others’ gardens) and hassle (e.g., wandering into others’ houses ). If the problem is lack of stimulation inside, fix that. – Reid Sep 23 '21 at 16:01
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    You could adopt a dog. – Suncat2000 Sep 23 '21 at 19:48
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    @C.Koca That's just silly. Cats have no more right to wander into other people's houses than humans do. Animal owners are responsible for damage their animals cause, and AFAIK most jurisdictions have laws requiring pet owners to keep their pets on leashes and clean up their feces. – Acccumulation Sep 24 '21 at 02:33
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    @Acccumulation Just google "cats right to roam". Or check for "Animals Act of 1971". I know for a fact that this holds in UK, but I cannot say it is true everywhere. Cats enjoy a special status btw. You are responsible for your dog or horse but not for your cat. – ck1987pd Sep 24 '21 at 12:44
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    Sounds like you're learning why your neighbours shouldn't be letting their cat outside. And you shouldn't either. Cats are an ecological menace. Get them things to do inside and keep them there. – J... Sep 24 '21 at 16:32
  • Read about how people address this problem for trespassing racoons. – Michael McFarlane Sep 24 '21 at 16:51
  • @C.Koca "Cats are protected by law and are free to roam meaning they might go into other people's gardens or allotments." Doesn't say anything about houses. – Acccumulation Sep 24 '21 at 20:43
  • @C.Koca "Cats right to roam" does not grant immunity to cat's owners if they cause damage. There's no such thing as unlimited freedom for anyone or anything. – barbecue Sep 24 '21 at 22:11
  • @Acccumulation I am not a lawyer or anything but usually unlocked spaces are treated more similar to gardens than houses. The crime changes from breaking and entering to trespassing and "cats cannot trespass". Still, unless either of have a court decision proving the other wrong, we can only conjecture. – ck1987pd Sep 26 '21 at 06:10
  • @barbecue The idea is that cats cannot be trained to do specific tasks, unlike dogs or monkeys. If a cat knocks your computer or digs your garden, it is accident. I don't think it creates a liability to the owner. – ck1987pd Sep 26 '21 at 06:16
  • @C.Koca Accidents result in liability all the time. An owner who fails to prevent damage caused by their property can be held liable. The fact that the property is a cat doesn't change this. – barbecue Sep 26 '21 at 19:45

6 Answers6

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As your cat Pablo has a chip, he always carries a unique method of identification. I would suggest you swap your current cat flap for one that reads microchips and opens up just for your cat. Yes, they are not exactly cheap, especially if you have a perfectly fine regular flap, but it should pay for itself over time in cat food, cleaning bills and a happier Pablo.

Stephie
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    As an second option where you need to take time instead of money: make it a puzzle to solve to open the cat flap and teach your cat to do so. I am not sure if another cat can learn by simple looking your cat doing it? My grandparents had a cat who was allowed to go into the food storage to catch mice. It need to pull a rope to open the human door a glimpse and come in. No other cat did so too... – Allerleirauh Sep 23 '21 at 05:29
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    Another option qould be a one way flap, only out but not in. So your cat will learn fast the schedule, when you come home, to come with you in – Allerleirauh Sep 23 '21 at 05:31
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    @Allerleirauh depending on the OP‘s current model, that may be already possible and just a setting. – Stephie Sep 23 '21 at 05:38
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    Our neighbors tried that and it didn't work. The neighbor cats came to the flap, their own cats tried to defend their territory, came to the other side of the flap, and thus unlocked it. – Philipp Sep 23 '21 at 08:19
  • @Philipp Good point. But in this case the OP reports that his cat doesn’t “defend” his territory, so it may still work. And the other cat seems wander in and out as he pleases, so at least that part would be stopped. – Stephie Sep 23 '21 at 08:56
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    Another similar but somewhat cheaper option is to use the type of flap that responds to a magnet on the cat's collar. Assuming the neighbor's cat does not have a magnet. This type doesn't need electricity either. – Berend Sep 23 '21 at 12:21
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    @Berend For unchipped cats, there are also rfid pendants. Unfortunately, outdoor cats and collars can end up fatal (yes, even with safety snaps etc.). – Stephie Sep 23 '21 at 12:24
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    There are also (@Berend and Stephie) IR transmitter collars. The problem I always had was that my cat could easily get a safe collar off and the transmitters are expensive. At the time, microchip catflaps were crazy money and not compatible with the hole I'd just made in the back door. A chip is worth having, then a suitable catflap also is – Chris H Sep 23 '21 at 13:34
  • @Allerleirauh: I can attest that one of our cats learned how to get on top of our bookshelves by watching the other cat do it, so they can learn from each other. Whether that would extend to learning a more complicated "trick" I don't know. – Michael Seifert Sep 23 '21 at 17:03
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The high-tech version is to use a camera, machine learning, and a solenoid to lock/unlock the catflap. Ben Hamm had a video about a system like that, although his problem was not detecting a particular cat, but to determine if Metric had an unwanted "gift" or not.

Probably this is more expensive than a chip reader, but you learn more by building it.

Nyos
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Our friends have a cat flap that is magnetic. Their cats have small magnets on their collars that open the cat flap and also trigger their food dishes (which are covered with a motorized cover).

Of course they always leave the door open anyway and the dogs scare away anything that comes in, but still, the magnets seem to work pretty well.

coblr
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You could always close up or get rid of the cat flap. Cats can be pretty smart and patient about knowing when they can expect to be able to go in and out, sometimes even meoiwing at a window after hours if needed. They're good at sleeping in the bushes by the door, waking up when someone comes who can let them in. Worst case the poor dear is stuck out all night, but that won't hurt them (not even emotionally).

At first your cat may be terrified, clawing pitifully at the non-working flap, but it won't last long. After a few tries, maybe with you standing outside and the door closed, it will figure out that if it waits, a human will let it in eventually.

Not being able to flee through the cat door to safety might seem dangerous, but if your cat is already going more than 50 feet from your door, it's in the maximum amount of danger (from dogs or coyotes or just cars), flap or not.

Owen Reynolds
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    "Worst case the poor dear is stuck out all night, but that won't hurt them" Well there's plenty of places it would get cold enough outside to hurt them. – Azor Ahai -him- Sep 24 '21 at 14:27
  • @AzorAhai-him- If it's not too cold during the day for your cat to frolic outside, it will be fine overnight nestling up in a snowbank in some undergrowth, safe from the wind. My cat would pop right up from below-freezing temps sleeping in the bushes. – Owen Reynolds Sep 24 '21 at 16:09
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If you have a hallway or porch, you could close the next door and make it difficult for cats to open.

That way you can at least limit how far the neighbour's cat can come, and your own cat can still get some shelter until you come around and let it in.

jpa
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I've trained cats... using water is effective when they have zero training. Eventually you can just use verbal commands tho. Anyhow:

  1. Keep the cat door locked when you're not home until this issue is resolved.
  2. Get a water gun. Every single time you see that neighbor's cat entering or in your home, blast it in the face with water. It'll run back home. Eventually it will learn not to come into your home at all. At that point...
  3. You can leave the door unlocked when you're not home.

That said, I'd expect that cat to try the door again after maybe 1 month. Repeat step #2 then. Then it will probably vanish for say 6-8 months. Repeat step #2 again. At that point it won't happen again.

HenryM
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    "it will learn not to come into your home while you're home" FTFY – vsz Sep 24 '21 at 22:02
  • @vsz Yes. But it will also assume that you're home when you're not. I doubt it's going to be eager to explore your house to see if you're in there or not. It's more tricky if you were training your own cat because the difference between "don't do this when I'm here" and "never do this at all" is way harder to convey. – HenryM Sep 24 '21 at 23:37