If you have an outdoor cat, you might hope to learn how to train cats to use the cat door or how to ring a bell so you know they are ready to enter.
I realize there are times I leave my cats outside that I can get so busy I forget to check on them, so I found a way to let them know they’re at the door ready to go in. I live in an area that’s too cold for a cat door (I have one that goes into the basement where the cat litter boxes are) so I chose to find a way for them to signal me to open the door, something we wanted because it’s too cold we get in here sometimes.
Here is a very simple way to train your cats to let you know when they want to be let in.
Just take a small bell, loud enough for you to hear, and swing it from a string just outside the door. Make sure you show this to your cat a few times and if you need to, you can add some catnip to the bell to attract cats.
You can get a bell at any craft store for practically nothing. It may be better for you or your cat to use several small bells. Attach the bell or bells to a rope that hangs low enough for your cat to reach them easily and then also attach a catnip toy or use catnip spray to attract your cat.
Whenever the cat rings the bell, you’ll want to give them a cat treat to let them know they’ve done something that deserves a reward. If your cat doesn’t take to the bell right away, you may have to keep showing it to them to get them interested and sooner or later they will learn that you will come to the door to let them in when they ring the bell.
In the beginning, you may need to keep showing them the bell each time they go out or come in until they start connecting the bell to the open door for them. You may even want to start with a bell inside the house when they want to go out. This will help them learn more quickly that ringing means the door will open.
While I understand that there will be times when you may not open the door simply because you are not there or for any number of reasons, your cat will still start to ring the bell for the open door.
If you live somewhere where you can put a cat door in, this is another option you can use to let your cat in and out whenever they want to. This will also depend on what other animals you may have in the house. One of the other reasons I choose not to have a cat door that leads outside, is because I have a cat that can go out but she is very excitable and I have to be there to sit the baby when she goes out so she doesn’t get scared and take about.
Although you can buy a cat door at any pet store, you can also make one yourself if you’re good at creating things. We put the cat downstairs door in ourselves, simply by cutting a small hole in the bottom of the door and placing a piece of plastic across it so they can walk in easily.
If you want to put in a cat door that goes outside, make sure you know what size your cat needs so they can fit comfortably through the opening. While a cat who is used to being outside all the time will quickly figure out how to make use of the cat door, you may also need to know how to train your cat to use this new door as well.
This should be a fairly straightforward process. One way you can train your cat to use this door is to keep it open and use a toy to entice your cat to pass from one side to the other. It should only take a few times to do this before your cat realizes that they can go in and out as they please.
Once they’ve been in and out a few times, you’ll want to show them how to use the door themselves when it’s closed and you can use the same process to do so. You may choose to use food to lure your cat into walking through the door and help her push through the first few times, but a lot of cats will take to the process pretty quickly if they really want to be able to get out.
With persistence and affection, you can learn how to train cats to do just about anything.