On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:04:26 +0000, Roger Mills wrote:

Alternatively yet again, doing a quick Google for 'cat flap' suggests
that there are locking cat flaps - which may fit the bill - and those
which only respond to *your* cat by reacting to a magnetic gizmo on its
collar. So, presumably, if you remove the collar, the flap won't open
when the cat approaches.


You have to watch the magnetic ones... I'm reposting this story here as
the content of the site may be a little strong for the weaker-spirited
amongst you dear readers ;-) (cue a rush to read the rest of the site...)

The original is at http://b3ta.com/questions/animalcruelty/

==================
This story concerns two friends of my parents; Nick and Jill.

Nick is a good humoured guy of great patience. Jill is extremely
houseproud and tends to get uptight about things like interior
decoration. They live in a large Victorian sandstone house that they have
renovated over the last two decades.

They had a cat called Bimbo. Bimbo was a lovely cat; a ginger female that
had been brought up with their two children, and had never posed any
problems.

Then they redid their kitchen. Black tiles; granite surfaces; anything
that could be lifted had to be chrome. To accommodate Bimbo, they
installed a catflap that was activated by a magnet on her collar. The
whole thing looked fantastic- like something out of a catalogue. They
were understandably chuffed with their efforts.

The cat, on the other hand, seemed less than pleased. They would put food
in her bowl and come back to find it spread across the tiles. It happened
every time they fed her- she would seemingly shun her food and throw it
across the kitchen, covering the cupboards and floors.

Jill was not pleased. Her new kitchen was being violated several times a
week. She became convinced that Bimbo was succumbing to old age- she was
around 16 at this point- and started to talk about having her put down.
Nick convinced her not to act so rashly; they could train the cat out of
her behaviour.

Around a week later (with no change in moggy behaviour) they were sitting
in their living room. The door was open.

Nick spotted a ginger blur.

"Jesus, I've just seen the cat run by with its bowl under its chin!"

Jill was understandably skeptical, but followed him out to the hall.
There they found Bimbo and her beautiful chrome bowl surrounded by cat
food.

Nick picked her up with one hand, and picked up her bowl in the other. He
spoke to her in the exasperated tone familiar to anyone who has ever
tried to train a cat.

"Why do you keep doing this?" he said, waving the bowl close to the cat's
face. "You're making such a mes..."

At that point the chrome bowl pulled itself to the catflap magnet on
Bimbo's collar. The cat let out a helpless 'miaow'.

The poor thing had been starving over the previous fortnight- every time
she'd tried to eat, her bowl had stuck to her collar and she'd panicked.

Bimbo lived to around 19 and died of natural causes. She ate the rest of
her meals from a ceramic bowl.
==================