Careful When Choosing Cat Doors

Cats can tend to act like they own the house, and you – you have to walk let them out when they want to, and later let them back in; you can avoid this with a cat door. You may have seen most cat doors, or cat flaps – they’re just flaps of light plastic, unless weighed down. Some flaps are made of harder stuff, but just light enough so your cat can push it open; soon, your cat will get used to coming in and going out on its own. This benefits the owner, who is freed from tending to the cat when it wants to go out, and the cat who may end up scratching furniture or getting into a potty accident when it doesn’t get what it wants.

You want a cat door that’s appropriate for your cat – and your cat alone – unless you’re after a flap to be used by pets of varying size (if you own cats and dogs, that is).
Both animals can use the flap, it’s not a problem. All they have to do is push on the flap to open it. Now, there are lock settings on flaps, such as towards the inside of your house, or outside it. It’s one thing to put up a smaller point of entry into your house, and a completely other thing to assume animals of roughly the same size won’t try to get in via the same new point of entry. You should get a different kind of cat door for that.

If you want to avoid having stray cats or dogs or other intruders – including small kids and thieves – you should look into automatic or electronic cat doors. Similar to electronic dog doors, these require your cat to put on its neck a special collar. The collar, when near the cat door, triggers the door into opening or unlocking, allowing your cat to get in or out, but not other animals. Some pet owners are annoyed to find racoons, feral cats, and neighbour’s intrusive cats inside their homes – and you want none of that. The door opens (slides up in some models with electric motors) or unlocks upon “sensing” an infrared, radio, or magnetic device on your cat’s collar.

You may need to train your cat to use the cat door. Bring it to the flap after it’s installed and push the flap open to show the way out. If you installed a full-automatic cat door, you must make sure your cat wears the special collar that activates the doors. Your cat has to get used to the event – of the door’s opening – as linked to his vicinity to it. You may have to use some enticement, like treats, to let your cat be comfortable seeing and using the cat door.