The cat, as usual, then scuttles inside (7)
I believe the answer is:
panther
'the cat' is the definition.
(panther is a kind of cat)
'usual then scuttles inside' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
an anagram of 'then' is 'nthe' which is present in the answer.
'usual' could be 'par' and 'par' is present in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for panther that I've seen before include "Then rap the large black cat" , "Big cat" , "Black leopard" , "kind of feline" , "See 2" .)