I’m about to break a lot of hearts with this post. I see a lot of very, very well intentioned cat parents who get so excited about the tiny cat door with a hard plastic flap that leads to where their cat’s litter box is kept. Sometimes it’s into a small closet, but more often it’s down into a basement or in a back utility room of the basement.
I know you’re trying to give your cat easy access to their litter box, but unless you have one of a few very specific situations, please stop making your cat crawl through a tiny hole to get to their litter box. It’s similar to you being forced to crawl through a window every time you need to pee.
It Causes Your Cat To Pee On Your Floor
On many occasions, the reason I am hired for folks with cat flaps guarding the entrance to the litter box is because their cat isn’t using the litter box. While it may not be entirely due to the cat flap (I have a whole blog on why you shouldn’t put your only litter box in the basement), it certainly isn’t going to help anything.
If you want your cat to use the litter box instead of your rug (even if you have a waterproof machine washable rug so cleaning your cat’s urine isn’t that hard), make it easy for your cat to choose to use the litter box. I have one of my litter boxes right next to my bed in my bedroom because it’s an easy location for my cats to get to.
They repay me with consistent litter box usage.
Well, that and purrs. The purrs are pretty great.
Extra Work
One of the biggest issues with the cat door flaps are that that your cat has to do more work to reach their litter box by pushing the flap. That may not seem like a lot of extra work to us, but cats are smaller than we are so it’s proportionately more of an effort. Your cat chooses to pee or poop based on their instinctual and learned preferences, not based on morality (no, your cat isn’t peeing on the floor to spite you) or social pressure. They’ll find somewhere else if it becomes too much work to get there.
The extra work of pushing the flap is also why you should skip covered litter boxes with flaps. Most cats prefer uncovered litter boxes anyway, but they especially prefer not having to push past the flap.
Removing The Flap Might (Emphasis On Might) Help
You may be thinking, “So why don’t I just remove the flap? Problem solved!” Once again, this depends on where the cat door leads to. If it’s to a convenient location, awesome. This may be a good solution, but make sure the opening is big enough and it’s easy for your cat to step through. If they still have to go to the basement, you need to set up a consultation with me so we can figure out a solution that meets both you and your cat’s needs.
I still don’t recommend this method. Usually.
When Might A Cat Flap Be A Good Idea?
Of course, there are exceptions. In some cases, a cat flap may be a better option than the alternatives. A few examples include:
- If you have a home where there is a dog that eats your cat’s poop, the cat flap may keep the dog separated from the litter box.
- Giving one cat a completely separate room that other cats don’t have access to using a microchip cat door.
- Alternatively, adding a microchip flap directly into a storage tub litter box or DIY litter box enclosure to prevent other cats from using that box.
If these situations don’t apply to you? Skip the cat flap. Put your litter box in an easy to find location and consider an air purifier to reduce the smell. You’ll save yourself the stress and frustration of having a cat ruining all your floors and carpets.
