<p>OK, I know this is not about Obama or C<em>rcumc</em>*m (avoiding using that word to prevent the attention of the grepping loons), but we have a question I hope someone can answer.</p>
<p>We have two wonderful dogs who use our backyard for their exercise, enjoyment and business. But the constant “we want outside, we want back inside, we want back outside, we want back inside” is driving DW nuts! I want to install a doogie door to my backyard, but the problem is we also have an “inside only” cat (declawed, never outside). We worry she may also “enjoy” this convenient means to get out of the house.</p>
<p>Anyone here know of a doggie door system that is cat proof (outside of “getting rid of the cat!” ). For the life of me, I can’t think of one that would work. </p>
<p>I believe that there are door systems that require the dog to wear a certain collar. It has some kind of magnet or something that allows the door to open. I saw this advertised as a way to keep out unwanted critters from your home–like raccoons and the neighbor’s cat. </p>
<p>I haven’t seen these in person, so can’t tell you how well they work.</p>
<p>bulletandpima, since we let our cat come and go during the day, that is not a problem for us, but the problem of raccoons and possums getting in through the doggie door is very big here. Are you sure you want everything coming and going?</p>
<p>oops, cross posted about the critter issue.</p>
<p>I searched and searched for a product like this about 4-5 years ago, and was unable to come up with one. (Actually, I did find one that used a device on the dog’s collar to open the door to go out, and then again to come back in, but I read negative things about it and then the company went out of business.) </p>
<p>Our indoor-only cat ended up dying unexpectedly; after that, we bought a doggie door that fits into the panel of a sliding glass door. It will let any animal out, but only one wearing a magnet on its collar can come in. I think you could turn that type of door around, so that only a magnet-wearing animal could go out. However, a neighborhood cat (or raccoon or whatever) could come in through the door. By the way, we LOVE our doggie door. It’s been wonderful, not to have to play “door man” all the time!</p>
<p>Hope that helps. If you find another type, please post about it. We might want to get another cat one day.</p>
<p>(edit: cross-posted with the others on the critters!)</p>
<p>Now we can all get back to Obama and circumcisions (don’t mind saying the word now, as it will only frustrate the grepping loons who may come on here only to see a discussion of dogs, cats, and racoons :)</p>
<p>The collar-key doors are still around. Be sure that if you have a ‘red’ collar key, that all additional keys are also red! While the key comes in 2 (or maybe more) colors, only one color will work with a specific door. I had a customer quite upset because she wanted different colors on her different pets – and the door would only let one pet in!</p>
<p>We have friends who have 2 dogs and 2 indoor-only cats. They installed a doggie door that opened only when one of the dogs approached with a device on his collar. This was supposed to prevent the indoor-only cats from letting themselves out.
One afternoon my friends came home and found both cats in the backyard. They investigated and discovered that the cats would wait by the doggie door and just follow the dogs out the door!
This was a few years ago, so perhaps the devices have improved.<br>
Or perhaps a clever cat trumps a doggie-door :-)</p>
<p>Where’s the engineer thread when you need it? Let’s see – does the cat weigh less than the dogs? Is it shorter? The same color? For just a few hundred dollars I’m sure I could rig something up…</p>
<p>I would think a cat would be smart enough just to follow the dog out as another poster mentioned. I guess it may depend on what your neighborhood is like critterwise… a declawed house cat is lunch for alot of things. You may have to forgo a doggie door.</p>
<p>Pima and I had the same thoughts. Critters possibly getting in, cat just following the dogs out, cat rigging up an electronic signal capturing device and building a phony copy of the digital collar in order to get through security (as posted above, cats are smart, and ours was just a little too attentive when we watched “Ocean’s 13” the other night. )</p>
<p>Guess we’ll just stick with being their “on demand” doorpersons for the rest of their lives (or the rest of the cat’s life). A they wont even tip us or give a yearly holiday gift like we would get if we worked in Manhatan! </p>
<p>But thier love is unconditional, they’re a part of this family, and they have never gotten into a heated debate with us on this or any other forum! :)</p>
<p>A friend who worked in a shelter noted that the “electronic fence” is only effective on animals too dumb to figure out that the shock stops as soon as you’re over the fence. Two family dogs figured that out quickly; the fence worked for about 3 days. A cat? Three hours, tops.</p>
<p>Before I spent $200plus on collars and cutting a hole in my door, I’d try training the dogs to go OUT and IN together and cut the Doorman’s time.
After all, the dogs trained you to jump. (I am speaking from experience, since I am home with DDs cats and they also trained me.)</p>
<p>In defense of electronic pet containment, training is the key for both interior and exterior systems. And cats CAN be trained on a system.</p>
<p>Yeah, we know. They have us wrapped around their fingers (or paws, in this case.) I guess we’re just spoiling them and giving in to their every wish. I guess they’ve turned us into some wierd type of “helicopter” parents. </p>
<p>Who knows. In a few years, we may just be posting on some other forum here bragging to all the world about their GPAs, how many ECs they do each week, and how “our babies” are the best and got in Early Acceptance to an Ivy. :)</p>
). For the life of me, I can’t think of one that would work. </p>
That’s why my cats are indoor only - they hate wearing their “license plates”.</p>