My very timid cat got his paw stuck in a new cat door while I was showing him how it works, now he's afraid of me and the door. What should I do?

My cat Loki, who is a 2-year-old, very timid tuxedo cat got his paw stuck in our new cat door while I was showing him how it worked

I just recently got the cat door installed on my bedroom door, it's only been their for about a week, and during that week I've been taping it up so my cat would have a chance to get used to it being there before I shut the flap

Today, while my cat was in my room, the tape fell off and the cat door went into the closed position, so I decided to take the time to show my cat how the flap worked

I was swinging it back and forth, letting him sniff it, showing him that if he stuck his head through it the flap would move, etc. After a few minutes he was on the opposite side of the door from me, I went to swing the flap again right when he decided to try pawing at it, and the worst possible thing happened.

The flap hit the base right as his paw was passing through and it got stuck. Now, normally that wouldn't be a problem, I could just lift the flap off his paw, but the flap scared him, and he pulled his paw back and clenched his claw, pulling the flap on top of his paw and making it so I couldn't get a grip on the smooth and hard plastic flap

He was absolutely terrified, screaming and thrashing loud enough that everyone in my house came running to see what was happening. My sister tried to push the flap open from the other side but Loki was so freaked out that he wasn't letting anyone get close to him, and his paw was stuck it the cat door for at least 15 seconds before we were able to get it out. I'm honestly not sure how we even got it out

As soon as his paw was free he sprinted into the laundry room, him for a minute, and then ran up the stairs to my mum's room. I set out some treats for him while he was in there, and he ate a few of them and let me come within a few feet of him, but then he went and hid in my mum's closet. It's been maybe 30 minutes and I haven't seen him since

Loki is a very timid cat, he hides whenever people are over, he runs away from anyone wearing shoes, doesn't like fast movement, and he only ever lets me pick him up. I'm afraid that after this incident he might be afraid of me / my room

Any advice on what I can do to show him it was an accident and he doesn't have to be afraid of me?

submitted by /u/darkflamethedragon
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/iect0s/my_very_timid_cat_got_his_paw_stuck_in_a_new_cat/