If you have a pet cat that spends some of his or her time outside, you may be considering buying a pet door for your home. A pet door can allow your cat the freedom of choice to go out when he needs or wants to, without you having to open the door for yourself. This can be particularly helpful if you are out at work during the day and would prefer not to have a kitty litter tray left inside your home.
Cat doors are commonly designed as basic rigid flaps with a two-way lock or a four-way lock. The cat simply pushes the flap open with his head to pass through the door, which then swings shut behind the animal. But which style would be best for your circumstances? Read on for a helpful overview.
Two-way locks
Cat doors with two-way locking systems allow the user only limited options. Quite simply, the door can either be locked or unlocked. This style of door is useful if you're happy to lock your cat outside for the day while you're at work for example.
Most electronic pet doors don't feature two-way locking systems.
Four-way locks
The four-way locking system is a little more complicated than its two-way design counterpart. You can choose to set the door lock to allow "entry only" or "exit only" to suit your requirements. For example, if you wanted to ensure that your pet was indoors and ready for a vet's appointment after you get home from work, you could set the door for "entry only". That way, you'd know that once your cat comes inside for food or water, he won't be able to go out again and vanish before you get home.
Four-way locking systems can also be used with most electronic pet doors, which are designed to be overridden by the four-way locking mechanism. This means that if your pet door is set to allow "exit only", the electronic chip in your cat's collar won't automatically open the door to allow entry.
Some electronic pet doors with four-way locking systems also feature timer controls, which enables you to decide what time of day or night you want your cat to be inside or outside. All you need to do is set the timer and the door locks or unlocks automatically. This can be particularly useful if you don't want to get up very early on a weekend in order to let your cat out.
Fitting a pet door for your cat to use can save you a great deal of hassle, especially if you are out at work during the day. You can fit four-way and two-way locking pet doors into most household doors and windows; have a chat with your local supplier to find out which brand and design would best suit your needs.
Share23 June 2016
The kitchen is the most used room in my home, and in the past, I found it could get messy and chaotic very quickly. Trying to cook dinner when you can't find an essential appliance or see past the clutter on the counter is no fun. I realised I enjoyed my time in the kitchen more and was more productive when my kitchen was organised and laid out in a way that optimised functionality. I changed my kitchen cleaning and organising routine, decluttered, got rid of appliances I don't use and moved things around to ensure frequently used items were easy to reach. I started this blog to share my tips for creating a kitchen that's enjoyable to use, and I post about ways you can optimise the space you have. I hope you find my posts useful.
