Cat flaps/pet doors

[Blue Velvet]

Community Discussion: random discussions about anything... loving it.


Anyway, got to get one of these this weekend for a friend's cat but know nothing of the issues involved apart from being fairly sure the cat will not tolerate a magnetic/infra-red collar to trigger the fancier models, and that we'll probably get a glazier to fit it for her in the glass kitchen door.

Anyone feline like sharing words of wisdom?

Thanks
BV

 

[iSaint]

I'm sure whatever you get will be purrfect.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Well, our neighbour has a cat flap, and her cat has, on occasion, gotten visitors (I suspect at least once by my mother's cats, which lives with us ) and put up one h*** of a fight... in the living room... leaving an awful mess of torn out pieces of fur and even some blood...

We've been considering getting a magnetized cat flap for our three cats, but since I'm pretty sure that my mother's cat would refuse to wear a collar and my cat might be too big (many doors has a maximum weight of 7 kg (~ 15 pounds), and my cat is over 8). The only cat that would be of no problem is my girlfriend's old cat: he doesn't mind a collar and are quite skinny under his long fur...

If we get one I think we'll get a magnetized one, since it looks like the magnets are smaller than the IR devices, and the smaller "pendant" the cat has to wear on the collar the better...

 

[Blue Velvet]

...her cat has, on occasion, gotten visitors (I suspect at least once by my mother's cats, which lives with up ) and put up one h*** of a fight... in the living room... leaving an awful mess of torn out pieces of fur and even some blood...

I can imagine a water pistol or plant-mister set to squirt would be quite handy in this circumstance. I love animals, I do.

Have been looking at a few sites but am finding the range quite confusing.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

I can imagine a water pistol or plant-mister set to squirt would be quite handy in this circumstance.

Yes, except for those times when the cat was home alone... then you just come home to the deserted battlefield...

My favourite way of breaking up a fight outside, and they occur regularly, is to fill a glass of water and, not throw the water directly at the cats but spread it as high in the air as possible over the cats... just the sound of the water gets them running in opposite directions 99 out of 100 times...

A plant-mister/water pistol might be better indoors, though...

 

[calculus]

Don't forget about catflap burgars!

18/08/06 - Cat flap burglars
Two incidents recently in Turners Hill Road, Crawley Down.
A burglary to a house during the daytime, 17th August, offender(s) entered via a rear door which they opened by reaching through the catflap and using a key which had been left in the lock. Not known at this stage what has been stolen. Serial 1387 of the 17/8 refers to this incident.

 

[Chundles]

It's so strange to hear all you guys talking about letting your cats outside. It's a massive no-no here as a feral cat has no predators in the wild and they have done untold damage to our environment.

Everyone keeps their cats inside here.

Whatever happened to the good old swinging flap?

 

[adroit]

We got an inside cat, so we don't really need a flap. But it sounds really strange to me that you wouldn't put a collar on the cat that goes out side, or is the magnetic thing really big?

Anyway, we adopted our cat when he was a bit older, and he really doesn't like the collar that we put on him (it also got a bell which he hates even more). He's fine with it now though, so you can definately train cats to get used to their collar.

 

[Blue Velvet]

We got an inside cat, so we don't really need a flap. But it sounds really strange to me that you wouldn't put a collar on the cat that goes out side, or is the magnetic thing really big?

It's not my cat but from experience and given that the cat is getting old, the owner doesn't want to burden her with a collar. Also, she's worried that a collar could easily turn into a noose if it gets caught in the bushes or trees in the garden.

Inside cats never seem that happy or fit to me... I know I wouldn't be if I had to use a litter-tray. The ones I've seen here in London seem to suffer from a lack of stimulus particularly if the owners are at work during the day.

 

[beatsme]

It's not my cat but from experience and given that the cat is getting old, the owner doesn't want to burden her with a collar. Also, she's worried that a collar could easily turn into a noose if it gets caught in the bushes or trees in the garden.

Inside cats never seem that happy or fit to me... I know I wouldn't be if I had to use a litter-tray. The ones I've seen here in London seem to suffer from a lack of stimulus particularly if the owners are at work during the day.

I saw a thing on Animal Planet that said for indoor cats, what you should do is hide their food, every day, and never in the same place. Show it to them first, and then go put it somewhere where they have to find it. Or put the food up on top of something, where they have to figure out how to get up there. Having to think and use their instincts is supposed to be really healthy for them.

 

[Macky-Mac]

a friend's cat door turned into a possum door for all the those that lived in her backyard.....she would hear noises from the kitchen and think it was her cat eating but .......some of the time it turned out to be possums that would stop by for snacks out of the cat's food dish

 

[Counterfit]

You need Flo Control.

 

[Blue Velvet]

You need Flo Control.

That's ingenious... How did you find that? But it's a bit out of budget, I'm afraid. Amazing the lengths people go to, though.

Still no action on the purchasing front... things have been complicated by the construction of the door which has a sizable wooden frame at the bottom surrounding the glass.

 

[mcarnes]

Thank goodness for cat doors. For months I used to reach in and unlock the door to sneak into my girlfriend's bedroom. That was in high school. Good times. Very lucky her dad never caught me.

I guess the moral is, test it for security with someone who has a long arm.

 

[madog]

Don't forget about catflap burgars!

18/08/06 - Cat flap burglars
Two incidents recently in Turners Hill Road, Crawley Down.
A burglary to a house during the daytime, 17th August, offender(s) entered via a rear door which they opened by reaching through the catflap and using a key which had been left in the lock. Not known at this stage what has been stolen. Serial 1387 of the 17/8 refers to this incident.

If I don't have the key to my house or for some reason get locked out, I can easily reach through my cat flap to get into the garage and then into the house. I've also "broken" into my brother's house the same way.

 

[MultiM]

Also, she's worried that a collar could easily turn into a noose if it gets caught in the bushes or trees in the garden.

I just bought my 2 cats breakaway collars. The one cat likes to wrestle with our dog and when the dog gets hold of the collar, it just snaps off without hurting the cat. Silly dog acts like he has a trophy.

Off topic though..