On 12/24/2010 10:55 PM, Pete C. wrote:

The Daring Dufas wrote:

On 12/24/2010 7:00 PM, Earl wrote:
The Daring wrote in
:

On 12/24/2010 3:53 PM, Erik wrote:
In ,
Jeff wrote:

I'm putting in a new door, as well as residing/rebuilding that
part
of the house, and I'm thinking of putting in the cat door in the
wall rather than the door.

I'd like to avoid some obvious problems, like water in the
walls. So
either make a channel out of backer board or find about a 6" tube.
Slope it down toward the outside so it drains and has a bit of wind
blocking.

Those are my ideas. I don't always have good ideas. Something
else?
The commercial cat doors have not been holding up for me, but they
get a lot of use.

Jeff

Hmmm... or maybe make it a bit longer than necessary, and have 2
doors to form a little 'airlock'? The upsloping 'tunnel' part could
even run parallel to the outside wall face... cats are nimble enough
to make a 90 degree turn.

Just thinking out loud... I've never done or been involved in such a
project.

Good Luck!

Erik

That sounds like a very good idea because small kids have been sent
through pet doors by burglars to unlock the door and there are some
small adult burglars who can get through pet doors too. :-)

TDD


My ganny's house had a big delivery box built into the side. Us kids used
to hide in there. Except everyone knew we'd hide there. LOL. Back in the
day, I don't think anyone would ever imagine it was a burglar's entry
point. o, the box was for delivery of ice before electric refrigerators.

For the pet door, isn't there some sort of locking meachanism and the pet
is supposed to wear the "key" on it's collar?

Yea, the little radio collar or I think there is one that uses the same
technology as the retail anti theft tags found on merchandise. The door
locks to keep critters like raccoons or unauthorized kitties from
entering the home. I like the tunnel idea because I think it might deter
human trespassers. :-)

TDD

I haven't seen any RFID pet doors yet, the ones that have a pet only
lock usually just have a magnet for the pets collar to activate the
lock. Most raccoons and other wild animals don't have magnetic collars.

I wouldn't put it beyond a raccoon to get a magnet (or a cat to lose
one). They are a lot smarter than cats and can manipulate all kinds of
latches. At least that has been my unfortunate experience.

I have enough trouble with the commercial cat doors to start adding
technology to one. And there is enough food outside to satisfy the possums.

Jeff