How do I get my spoiled cat to use the doggie door?

[Kire]

She really knows how to tug at my heart strings. She is such a spoiled brat. I should know, I spoiled her. But now I have a roommate who wants the litter box in the garage and there's a perfectly good doggie door into it, but my cat is fucking terrified of it.

I sort of locked her in the garage last night (with a perfectly good doggie door for her to get out) but she just sat in there. Finally, she figured it out, but when I put her in there today she squirms and hisses and scratches and bites. Plus, it got complicated when I slipped on the stairs and dropped the poor thing.

She's so cute and I just want to give her what she wants, but at the same time, now that the litter box is in the garage, I don't want her to ruin any of our furniture.

So, what else can I do besides stuffing her in the garage over and over until she gets it? Anything?

[RagingInMiami]

1. Send a mouse through it

[Vincardog]

2. You have to make her want to go thru it. Leave her in the house and open

her favorite can of food in the garage. Watch how fast she figures it out.

[personman]

3. Maybe wedge the door open temporarily so she

gets used to the idea that its a way through?
maybe in combination with some of the other ideas with putting food on the other side.

[Silverhair]

4. Prediction: The cat will win the fight.

I have had cats most of my life, and especially as a boy on a ranch. Cats train people, not the other way around.

I have one that often wants in my lap when I am on the computer. She is in my lap now. She says, "Hi."

[personman]

5. Prediction: The cat will learn to fly through it

after she dumps on the carpet.
Just kidding =P

[efhmc]

6. Put a treat/or her food dish right on the other side so it is there when

she goes through.

[yellowdogintexas]

7. the cat we had before we put in the pet door still hates it, but he

will use it when necessary, but it did take some time.

However the young cats who were born in this house, decided right away at about 7 weeks of age that the pet flap was one jim dandy toy!

They loved to gather themselves up in ferocious pounce mode and DIVE through it, preferable at each other since the flap is transparent.

Big mistake we made was cutting the hole in the door and then not installing the flap right away, which made Thomas decide we were just out to make his life more difficult instead of easier.

Eventually, he learned to use it, and appreciates the fact that there is another one just like it on the outside door that allows him to access the great outdoors which he prefers to the litter box anyway. The fact that he learned to use the door has never stopped him from asking us to open an outside door for him when he would like to go outdoors.

Which of course doesn't stop us from marching him over to the pet flap.

[tanyev]

8. We had that problem too.

We tried forcing him through a few times and it was not very successful. Then we tried taping the door up for a couple weeks--it has a flexible flap. He got that right away. I guess the problem wasn't going through the hole, but realizing that he was able to push the flap open. Once he got used to going through, we put the flap down and he head butted it enough until it moved and he realized he could still go through.

[Kire]

11. that's a good idea, but...

...the garage is pretty cold this time of year.

[ET Awful]

9. Simple . . . put the roommate in the garage, give the cat

the roommates room (seniority don't you know, the cat's been there longer). :) :) :)

[livinginphotographs]

10. It's a cat.

There's nothing you can do about it.

[Kire]

12. I put the litter box back where it was.

In fact, my roommate was just cleaning and left it in the garage by accident. I assumed that's where she wanted it. Nobody uses the room where it is, except to get out the front door, anyway.