Certainly, you can benefit from using an automatic cat door for your pet. If you have an indoor kitty that looks sad because it doesn’t have access to the garden and you decide to give your pet a little more freedom to enjoy the outdoors, getting an automatic cat door is a step in the right direction.
In order to use a cat door, you have to make sure the environment where your cat will be is not dangerous. If you live in a place where there is a lot of traffic and stray dogs or cats, using a cat flap may not be a good idea.
If you are certain your cat is a good boy/girl and will stay safe enjoying your beautiful protected garden or if the environment where you live is risk-free, a cat door will give you benefits that you will appreciate.
Before deciding to let your pet out, you need to follow some actions such as establish a feeding schedule for your pet at home, letting your cat stay outside slowly but progressively, and other important steps. Now, let’s check the benefits of installing an electric cat door for your pet:
1- It gives your cat independence
Cat doors give your pet the freedom to leave the house on their own without sitting next to the door meowing for the doorman to come and help them. This is a great advantage because cats are creatures that appreciate walking around the garden, playing and enjoying nature, walking and exercising, and doing all the things they love to do, knowing they can be back to the comfort of home whenever they want. Cats are healthier when their activity level is high; the risk of obesity and other associated problems also decreases.
WATCH A CAT WITH ITS OWN ELEVATOR TO ENJOY THE OUTDOORS!
2- It allows your cat to leave the house while keeping unwanted animals out
One of the best advantages of automatic cat doors is the fact that they allow your pet to leave or enter the house, keeping stray or unwanted animals out. Some systems are so well protected that even bullets cannot destroy the door.
The best way to make sure no unwanted animal or pet will access the door is to get one that locks from the inside and outside. This way the door can’t be pulled open from the outside which is what most raccoons are willing to do for a delicious free meal.
VIDEO OF A NEIGHBORING CAT BEING BLOCKED BY A CAT DOOR
3- It controls when it’s time to be inside or outside
Most electronic cat doors feature a timer that allows you to program the schedule of when your cat has access to the outdoor and when it must stay inside the home. This feature is very important if you want to control how long your cat will be outside and to keep your pet in at night. For example, if you don’t want your pet to stay outside later than 8 pm or earlier than 7 am. You can do this with some cat doors. A timer gives you the freedom of not having to lock the door manually every night.
4- Good solution to control which cat will be outdoor in multi-cat households
If you have two or more cats, you may want to let one of your pets inside while the other out. There are several reasons to leave one cat inside: the little guy is a “trouble-maker” in the neighborhood, he or she is ill and needs to rest, or maybe one of them is a little kitten and it’s not prepared for outdoors yet.
Any reason you may have for leaving one of your pets inside, you are able to do it with modern pet doors. The best way to achieve this is getting a cat door featuring a sensing scanner on both sides, from the inside and outside to detect and control the exit and entry from both sides.
5- It gives you multiple choices to use
For example, creating a feeding station for your cats. This is especially useful if you have one of your cats on a diet or if you have felines that fight for food or if one of your pets is on a prescription diet.
Additionally, you can use a pet door on interior walls to give some pets access to some rooms in the house. For example, letting the cat in and the dog out of your bedroom. This idea also applies to a private feeding station or to keep dogs away from the cat litter box.
If your dog is the type that likes to taste the clumps, you can install the cat door in the basement, bathroom dresser or wherever you put the cat litter box so your dog will be locked out always.
6- It allows you to leave your cat at home knowing it won’t be locked in
If the outside is protected and safe for your cat and your kitty is the type that sits outside in the garden, playing with plants or looking at the flies while sunbathing, you have a great advantage.
The reason is simple, with a cat door you will be able to leave for work with peace of mind knowing you don’t have your pet locked in at home, bored, with nobody to play with, especially if your cat is active and needs to burn lots of energy. Certainly, it wouldn’t be fair for your furry friend to be locked in without the possibility to enjoy all that beautiful wild world out there!
7- No more 24/7 doorman duty
If you have been woken up at 5 am by your cat meowing for you to open the door then a cat door will be a lifesaver! A pet door not only gives your cat independence to leave the house by himself but it also gives you the retirement of the doorman duty 24/7.
Cats usually change their mind often about where they want to stay, they are very comfortable at home sitting on the couch but suddenly they want to explore the garden. After a couple of minutes, they decide that was not a good idea and they want to take a nap on the kitchen counter. And there you are, opening and closing the door for your “king” or “queen” to decide what it wants.
If you have an indoor/outdoor cat and you’re the current doorman, then it’s time for a change.
Oscar O'Malley says
I really like that you mentioned how a pet door can let your pet come and go while keeping other unwanted animals from entering the house at the same time. My wife and I just bought our daughter a cat for her birthday, and I’ve been thinking about getting a pet door so it isn’t stuck inside the house all day. Thanks for the information-now I can see why pet doors are such a great option!
Lorena Ávila says
Hi Oscar, that’s a good idea! Pet doors are a good solution as long as you choose one with a selective entry system and making sure the outdoors are safe for the cat.