Indoor cat flaps? (Done)

I'm toying with the idea of putting a flap on the living room door, mainly for winter so my lot can come in/out without my needing to constantly get up to shut the door after them, but also so I can leave them in the living room at night (with it set to exit only) instead of my waking/moving them when I go to bed.

Has anyone done this?

Ian

Havent done it Ian, but it sounds like a great idea, much easier for you and the kits!

I've been thinking about this for ages and I've got a couple of spare flaps (it says a lot about my cats when I need to keep them in stock ) so I'll probably fit one over the weekend.

Ian

What a great idea! Why hadn't I thought of that before? We are forever leaving doors ajar so the kitties can access different parts of the house and I would much rather be able to have the doors shut (if only to hide away the junk we have accummulated over the years). That sounds worse than it actually is - but closed doors certainlly make a place look tidier as well as keeping it warmer in winter months.

Joanne

Hi Joanne,

It's just the living room door with me, especially during winter. Even then I leave the door slightly ajar with enough room for them to squeeze thro' the gap, the rest aren't so bad but Bola will insist on pushing it wide open with his paws. I wouldn't mind so much if he came in and stayed a while, but more often than not he waits till I've just sat down before pulling the door open again on his way out...........it drives me up the wall

Ian

I got round to fitting it earlier, and I won't lie, after 5 minutes I wished I'd never started.............

These are council property and genuine Jerry built with original doors, and while the panels are plywood of some sort I'd love to know which sort of wood they were made from. I'm pretty sure if the Titanic had been built of this plywood the iceberg would have shattered on impact and the Titanic still sailing today

I'm a cack handed DIY'er which didn't help, nor did my having the correct tools, before I'd finished I'd broken 3 drill bits and 2 jig saw blades

The end result (2 and 1/2 hours work) isn't bad, tho' the cats are a bit baffled by it. Max was the first to use it, he sneaked into the living room while the door was open and used the flap to get out..................but sat there and yowled his head off when he wanted to come back in after I'd sat down for a rest.

Dexter took to it straight away, Buddy needed a bit of persuading while both Bola and Fudge took one look then went and sat outside in the pouring rain, no doubt in protest at all the noise (and cursing ) tho' Bola has used it since.

If anyone else is thinking of doing the same thing, I'd first check to see if there are such things as flaps for interior doors as I needed to chop a bit of mine to get a flush fit. Anyhow, here's the result



For all it was far harder to do than I anticipated, I can see it being very useful come winter

Ian

Have to say it looks like a good job well done. However, appreciate the acknowledgement of how difficult a task it can be, as it has highlighted to me that we might not have the right sort of doors to accommodate cat flaps. Will have to consider the option carefully.

Joanne

Hi Joanne,

Thanks, it looks ok..............till you look closely that is, but there's nothing wrong that won't be easily remedied the next time the door is painted.

Most modern doors should be ok as they're usually a set depth, whereas the panels on mine are only half as deep as the door itself. I had to trim the self lining bit off one side of the flap to get a flush fit, I only wish doing the rest had been as easy as that.

I'm glad I've done it now as it'll come in very handy when the weather gets colder, plus I can now leave any of them in the living room when I go to bed, all I have to do is set it to exit only.

Ian

Looks good Ian, Steve reckons the doors are pitched pine, really hard wood that wears well.

Teddy wrote:Looks good Ian, Steve reckons the doors are pitched pine, really hard wood that wears well.

Your doors or mine, Kath? The outer part of mine may be pitched pine, but I doubt the panels are as they're plywood of some sort.

Ian

yours, ours are oak veneers. Couldn't afford the real deal.

I forgot about this till just now............

A drawback became clear at silly o'clock this morning. I'd shut all the doors downstairs before going to bed and had set the new flap to exit only in case one of them was hiding in the living room. Max came in and woke me by scratching like a madcat at the flap trying to get in to his box on the chair

Ian

I left Max asleep in his box on a chair last night with the flap set to exit only when I went to bed, only to be woken at silly o'clock by him doing the same with this flap as the one on the back door, mad scratching at it instead of just pushing it open with his head/paws

Ian

Seems a bit slow does Max hopefully for your sake he'll cotton on to it soon.