A couple of disadvantages of a "kitty door"!

[Shawn T. W.]

Our cat lives outside. Don't like cat hair in the house nor scratched furniture

Can't fix the cat hair situation, but for clawing/scratching furniture, they can be trained ... I used these for when I couldn't monitor and train ...

A squirt bottle with water in it, quick light mist along with a sharp "Pshhh" from me, will get them to stop what they are doing ... My "wild" cats have learned what "NO" means, they don't climb on the counters, get in the trash, don't beg for food while I'm eating, and don't scratch up my furniture !

 

[grsthegreat]

I had to get a kitty door that releases the door flap only when my cats implanted chip releases the door. I had 3 neighbor cats come in and eat all her food, and fight her.

 

[rangerfredbob]

My cat has had free access of inside and outside before but he has lost the privileges over the years... we used to leave the upstairs window open (he has a ladder to get on the roof, it's a 12/12 so not a theft prone setup and a small window) but he brought a bird to our bedroom at 3am once... then we had a magnetic front door screen for years but this year he brought in a live rabbit to play with that was bleeding all over... I of course wasn't home at the time and the wife wasn't all that thrilled, got home an hour later and got it out... then I got a $300 storm door for the front door...

 

[BackRoad]

Amazes me how a cat can catch a mouse, eat it, and leave a neat little gut pile behind...on the porch...

 

[tradosaurus]

Amazes me how a cat can catch a mouse, eat it, and leave a neat little gut pile behind...on the porch...

Hilarious. There were times when I almost stepped on rat or varmint guts coming out the front door early in the morning.
I didn't mind since that why I had cats outside. If I could only train my cat to catch moles.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Mine do moles!

And catch Killdeer, glad it didn't bring it in the house, as soon as he dropped it at my feet, it took off flying! Swartzy ran after it, kept jumping but it got to a tree ... And got away!

I felt bad for Swartzy.

No pictures, but they will jump up and swat a barn swallow out of the air ... They leave the wing tips ...

And snakes are good fun entertainment too!

I don't mind non-venomous snakes outside, had a few inside when I bought the house, I evicted them, and now that I have the cats, they keep them away!

It was quite a battle getting this one out, I was quite surprised how strong it was! 5'+ black rat snake!

 

[Oaktree]

There were times when I almost stepped on rat or varmint guts coming out the front door early in the morning.
I didn't mind since that why I had cats outside. If I could only train my cat to catch moles.

I had one that would do that too, mostly chipmunks. I don't know what it is with cats and moles...maybe they don't taste good? Never had one that would catch them.

 

[ponytug]

I found the rattle and head from a (little) rattlesnake yesterday neatly arranged that one of our cats had apparently carefully eaten the in betweens on.

We used have one that liked to play with the live ones. I once killed one, thinking the cat was in difficulties, and she gave me a look afterwards that seemed to be along the lines of "You broke it! That's no fun." A couple years later she developed a gimpy front paw/leg for a year or so that I always suspected was a rattlesnake bite.

No cat doors here.

All the best, Peter

 

[Oaktree]

I had to get a kitty door that releases the door flap only when my cats implanted chip releases the door. I had 3 neighbor cats come in and eat all her food, and fight her.

Always wondered how they kept unwanted visitors thru cat doors. Between that and just general draftiness they're not an option I'd consider. Don't think I've ever had a cat with any sort of implanted chip. What's the purpose of it (other than activating a cat door)?
For sure, a cat is never on the right side of a door.

 

[mjonesnh]

Always wondered how they kept unwanted visitors thru cat doors. Between that and just general draftiness they're not an option I'd consider. Don't think I've ever had a cat with any sort of implanted chip. What's the purpose of it (other than activating a cat door)?
For sure, a cat is never on the right side of a door.

purpose of chip is if pet wonders off, chips can be scanned and owners located. Common practice in area for dogs and cats