Doggie Door

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drewmo

drewmo

Feeling the Heat
Nov 20, 2006
360
Topsham, ME
I've never had a doggie door, actually this will be for a small cat. Just curious to know if other visitors, like skunks, 'coons, neighbor cats, skinny thieves, etc., ever find their way into your home? I'd hate for them to make a mess of the place while I'm away.
 
We had one at our old house and we both worked. The cat we had at the time would eat the mice she caught under the dining room table. Plus, she would bring chipmunks home. They play dead and the cat lost interest, so we had chipmunks running around the house until I trapped them. One time i put my foot in a mukluk and screamed like a girl (my wife said) when I felt a chipmunk in there.
 
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Six years ago this month when Michelle the Woodpile Panther came into my life I put a pet door in the basement door that would read the ID microchip I had the vet bury between her shoulder blades and unlock it for her. Damn thing cost me a hundred bucks but would keep other varmints from coming in.

She would go out it but never come in the thing. One day I sat in a lawn chair and observed. To read the chip her head had to be in the "tunnel" of the door. Before she would stick her head in she would put her paw against the flap to see if if would open. Therefore never triggering the damn thing. :mad:

Anybody want a six year old, unused really slick pet door?
 
Wow, Bart -- that RFID idea is brilliant. It's too bad it doesn't quite work.

My friend who has one reports the same trouble with the "only mostly dead" chipmunks that Velvetfoot reports. The image of putting a foot into a chipmunk-filled mukluk is pretty hilarious, though I'm sure you didn't think so at the time. :)
 
When Michelle brings me a chipmunk for a gift, it ain't "playing" dead. ;lol
 
I have one like that. Stone-cold killer.

I let him out in the garage one night and (I swear) 3 minutes later when I opened the door there was just a mouse head staring up at me from the stoop.
 
Oh, that cat we had was a killer, all right. Those baby rabbits in springtime-ugh. I once watched a standoff she had with a fox over a large rabbit she caught; just sat there looking at the fox while the fox made a bunch of noise. Next morning, the big rabbit's head was all that was left. The remains of the mice under the dining room table only consisted of the guts-she ate everything else. Oh, and one time we came home and there was another cat in the house. I too cut a kittie door in the basement door of the new house, but that cat didn't live that long after we moved. We closed that door up and we let the new cat out through the people door-which is also a pain. Weird that this cat, though she goes outside plenty, just does here thing in her litter box, (and of course that time when she found the foam insulation shavings in the basement attractive :( ).
 
drewmo said:
I've never had a doggie door, actually this will be for a small cat. Just curious to know if other visitors, like skunks, 'coons, neighbor cats, skinny thieves, etc., ever find their way into your home? I'd hate for them to make a mess of the place while I'm away.
Click to expand...

Guess the doggie door is out?
 
We've had a cat door for years. Never had a raccoon come in it, though they do show up on the porch. Once several years back we had a stray cat come in, but after a frenzied screaming, growling greeting he wanted no part of this house again. Our porch and cat door faces north which is fine most of the time. Our prevailing winter winds are out of the southwest. But about once ot twice a winter we get a cold chill barreling down from Canada with strong north winds. The cat door leaked so much I blocked it off with a big heavy book. To fix this problem I got a second identical cat door and put it on the inside wall. The double door takes a little more effort, but the cats figured it out fairly quickly and it really stops air leakage. The extra resistance may be what is helping our door stay free of intruders.
 
So far, the cat is not liking the makeshift cat door I put in the window (didn't want to cut a hole in the door quite yet.) This could be a non-issue. My guess is that outside critters would be more apt to make their way inside if the house was abandoned, let's say for a couple of weeks or months at a time. But, if the house is lived in, I would think the activity and smell of an occupied house would keep them out. Then again, I'm not a skunk or a raccoon. And I hadn't thought of what the cat might bring in on her own, live or dead. She got beat up pretty good by the one mouse I saw her catch. This, too, might be a non-issue. She prefers stroller rides.
DSC_1601_514x768.JPG
 
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That cat has the look of "if you put this on the internet... you will pay."
 
Yes, that cat looks really happy with the whole stroller thing.

You might try a kiddie backpack next time... :)
 
Pink, is definitely not my color.
 
I know where you sleep!!!
 
A friend in Seattle had one of those in an upper bedroom. Unfortunately one night the young lady sleeping next to the window with the cat door woke up with an opossum on the bed staring at her. It had climbed up the trellis going after grapes. I don't know who was more freaked out after she screamed bloody murder.
 
You should consider the air leakage associated with a pet door. Its not insignificant.
There are some good sealing doors out there but most allow the cold winter winds in.
 
That's why I doubled up our door. It's pretty effective at blocking the wind now.
 
jwalter04 said:
We use this. Very well made and has the nice option of changing how the door works. Nice for when the cat is still out and you want to go to bed.

Ideal Pet Products 33-Inch to 38-Inch Sash Cat Flap, Small by Ideal Pet Products http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TRBXG4/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_7NSUtb1231KSP
Click to expand...

we had one just like this it was very good. uses a 9 volt battery in the door and a magnet on a cat collar when the magnet gets close the lock opens and closes behind. ours worked well. i had it installed in a old three pane basement window. it fit in the hole of just one pane. she used to go in and out when she pleased and if she was being chased by the 19 pound cat next door she would fly through the door and it closed quick enough to not let in the chasing cat. ours was drafty but i'm sure they have improved since. the other cat we had using it tried the paw first bit. we could hear it in the house like he was knocking on the door so we knew to let him in. he was dense.
 
Its not the chipmunks, mice, raccoon or skunks coming through the cat door that bug me. Its the rattle snakes coming through the people door.

HappyRattleSnake.JPG
 
Gotta lean to close your door
 
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