How the right cat door can help reduce your cat’s stress

19th December 2022

By being our pets and sharing a home with us, cats are forced into a living environment that can challenge their social capabilities when it comes to coping with other cats from the neighbourhood. The range of social situations they may find themselves in due to the proximity of neighbouring properties and other cats can easily stress them.

Conflict between cats can have a range of consequences, including chasing, spitting, hissing and even fighting. These conflicts can lead to stress and a change in behaviour. Your cat may start reducing or changing their outdoor routine or even avoid the outdoors completely until you go outside with them. Some may start scent marking or scratching furniture near places where they can encounter other cats – visually or physically.

Having access to the outdoors provides cats with exercise, important mental stimulation as well as the opportunity to follow their natural needs and instincts whilst at the same time reducing the risk of boredom and linked behavioural issues. If you want to give your cat access to the outdoors, then it is vital to ensure that no other cat can invade their home and cause your cat to feel unsafe and threatened. To your cat the visit of another cat represents an intrusion of their sanctuary and so is highly stressful.

When choosing a door for your cat, make sure to pick a selective model, which recognises your pet and only opens for them. The SureFlap range of microchip operated cat flaps and pet doors offers such an identification feature for multiple pets in the same household. Being able to read your cat’s existing microchip also means that your cat doesn’t need a collar, which it can easily lose and then be stuck outside the home.

Smart doors like the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap Connect or the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door Connect also track your cat’s exit and entry times and outdoor patterns, making it easier for you to spot when they’re changing their routine or reducing their outdoor time.

Should you spot any unusual changes, offering your cat visual shelter inside and outside your home could help them feel more secure. Examples are additional outdoor plant pots near your cat door or opaque film stuck to the inside of windows frequently visited by neighbouring cats.

If you’d like to share your own pet care tips with us, why not send us a message on social media, get involved in the conversation using the hashtag #DoYouSpeakCat or give @SurePetcare a mention.

You can read more about feline behaviour here.

Always make sure to consult your vet, should you have concerns about your cat's wellbeing.