If you have a cat outdoors, you can expect to learn how to train cats to use a cat door or how to ring the bell so that you know they are ready to enter.
I realize that there are times when I let my cats out and I can be busy and forget to keep an eye on them, so I found a way for them to let me know that they are at the door ready to go. I live in an area that is too cold for a cat door (I have one that goes to the basement where the cat litter boxes are located) so I chose to find a way for them to direct me to open the door, something we wanted because from the extreme cold that we sometimes go through here.
Here’s a very simple way to train your cats to let you know when they want to be let in.
Just take a small bell, one that’s loud enough for you to hear, and string it right outside the door. Make sure to show it to your cat several times and if necessary you can even add a little catnip to the hood to attract your cats.
You can get a bell at any craft store for next to nothing. Using several small bells might be better for you or your cat. Tie the bell or bells to a cord that hangs low enough for your cat to easily reach and then also attach a catnip toy or use catnip spray to attract your cat.
Whenever the cat rings the doorbell to get in, you want to give her a treat so she knows she has done something worth rewarding. If your cat doesn’t accept the doorbell right away, you may need to keep showing it to her to get her interested, and sooner or later she’ll find out that you’re going to come to the door to let her in when she rings the bell.
At first, you may need to keep showing them the doorbell each time they leave or enter so that they begin to connect the doorbell with the door that is opened for them. You may even want to start with a doorbell inside the house for when they want to go out and this will help them learn more quickly that ringing the doorbell means the door will open.
While I realize that there will be times when you may not open the door just because you are not there or for various reasons, your cat will still begin to connect the doorbell with the door that is opening.
If you live somewhere where you can put a cat door, this is one more option you can use to let your cat come and go as they please. This will also depend on what other animals you may have in the home. One more reason why I choose not to have a cat door that opens to the outside, is that I have a cat that can go out but is nervous and I have to be there to take care of her when she leaves so that she does not panic and take off.
Although you can buy a cat door at any pet store, you can also make one yourself if you are good at creating things. We put our basement cat door on ourselves, simply cutting a small hole in the bottom of the door and putting a piece of plastic through it that they could easily pass through.
If you want to put in a cat door that goes outside, make sure you know what size it should be so that your cat can comfortably fit through the opening. While a cat that is used to going out all the time is likely to quickly figure out how to use the cat door, they may also need to know how to train cats to use this new door.
This should be a fairly straightforward process. One of the ways you can train your cat to use this door is to hold it open and use a toy to tempt him to move around. You only need to do this a couple of times before your cat realizes that he can come and go as he wants.
After they’ve been in and out a couple of times, you’ll want to show them how to use the door on their own when it’s closed and you can use the same process to do this. You may choose to use food to entice your cat through the door and help him through the first few times, but many cats will accept this process fairly quickly if they really want to be able to get out.
With perseverance and affection, you can learn to train cats to do almost everything.
