Reflections on Selecting a Cat Door with a Keyed Entry for His Highness

Our cat, Ghanji, has a boxing buddy that is so bold as to use the cat door to come in and help himself to some munchies … and spray some of his scent around to annoy the master of the house – and us as well. Failing to determine if this was a neighbor’s cat or a wild thing, we enlisted the guidance of the local animal shelter. They loaned us a cage to capture the culprit so they could change his disposition via surgery and then release him back into the neighborhood. Well, when Ghanji saw the cage in the garage with some of his food in it and realized what was up, he gave a disgusted twitch of his tail as if to say, “Who did I think would be stupid enough to fall for this?” He was right – no prize after 3 weeks … so much for the safari approach.

With spring in the air we found that a skunk had also discovered the small doorway into our garage. Fortunately he/she moved on to other territory before discovering the 2 nd door leading indoors. It was shortly after this that I noticed the garage door looked like it had been bombarded with a barrage of miniature water balloons from a gang of marauding leprechauns … and then the aroma grabbed me by the nose hairs. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I had a great time with Ghanji scheming over all the different things we could do to his sparing partner if we caught him. Then a faint whisper came through to remind me that I prefer to live and let live. Yes, I fully respect this guys right to do his “cat thing” – OUTSIDE.

O.K., how can our king come and go as he pleases while keeping out the riff raff? I had heard of electronic pet doors and so had most of the local merchants, but nobody stocked any on their shelf. Internet, here we come. Seems like if you know what you want, finding a keyed entry door is simply shopping for size and price. What we found lacking was some basic guidelines for how to choose between the options of magnetic key vs. infrared key, and 3 types of doors – magnetic mechanism, electronic release mechanism and motorized door. The following is not an endorsement of any particular type but simply a brief report differences we found that may enlighten you with some additional information that the marketing people seem to have left out.

The most obvious factor to consider first is the size of the door – it needs to be big enough for your pet. Next, choose where the door will be, examine the “construction site” and see if it may need any special considerations when installing the door. This will also help you choose between options of different models. For example, some are more weather resistant than others. If the door will be exposed to the sun, make sure the door and mountings are UV stabilized. Will you be cutting into wood, glass, metal, or just the screen in the screen door … or are you placing the door in a window? Lots of options.

Magnetic key vs. Infrared key

Battery power has some obvious drawbacks when the battery goes dead. Could be an interesting candid camera moment to see fluffy banging her hear against a locked door, especially if it’s an “I gotta go” moment. None of the electronic keys I found were weather proof. Our cat likes his outside time, no matter what the weather – so for him a key that may fail if wet was not good. The biggest advantage for an electronic collar is it is more unique. This way if neighbor pets also have a key on their collar, odds are it will not work on your door. One other advantage of an electronic key is that it works at a further distance from the door – enough in some cases to allow a pet to enter on the run. This seems to be more of a consideration for dogs than cats.

A disadvantage of a magnetic key is it does pick up metal. If your pet is going to frequent areas and roll in the dirt where stray nails, bottle caps etc. are a concern, you may want to consider an electronic key. Ghanji pointed out to me one day that a critical factor with a magnetic key is it does need to be in the right position on the collar. If the collar is too loose, your flustered friend can nudge the door all day long and it will remain locked … unless the key just happens to swing forward enough to unlock the door.

3 basic types of doors:

Magnetic release mechanism (lock) with magnetic key. This is type is totally mechanical requires no maintenance; i.e., no batteries or electrical of any kind

Electronic release mechanism with magnetic key or electronic key. Some doors are battery powered and some can be wired to an outlet. There are enough choices in this category to fulfill a variety of applications.

Motorized door with electronic key. The one I found in this category has a door that opens and closes like a guillotine via a motor. For larger pets, especially dogs that like to come in with minimal hesitation, this looks great. You may have some other unique concern for your purposes that may make this type just right for your pet.

One feature that made sense for us was a 4-way locking system so we could set it for “in only.” This way when the boss has a late date or has a fun time mousing and losses track of time, he can make discrete entry without us having to go lock the door after him. Around here we have coyotes wandering at night so we have a curfew that we feel more comfortable enforcing rather than allowing total freedom.

The most important part of this whole process was an open communication with Ghanji. We explained what the problem was we wanted to solve and why we were changing his door and thereby his routine. The delicate part of this was convincing him that wearing a collar to carry his personal key would be a good thing. A previous caretaker made him a bell around his neck, which he did not like. Being aware of this we reassured him this collar had nothing to do with chasing birds or mice or changing his image, but how he was really special and now is the ONLY cat in the hood with his own key = cool stuff. Some may think it is silly to talk to animals – you are very welcome to your opinion. For the rest of us who know our furry friends are sentient beings, feel free to enhance your life’s experiences.

Ghanji was quite excited when the day came to modify his private entrance. After supervising installation of the new door, he was curious to see for himself what was different. He was intrigued with the key as I showed him how the door was locked but then moving the key to the entry unlocked the door. He’s a fast study so next was the collar. After one last anxiety attack that he was losing freedom with the collar, we came to an agreement to try it for a while and see if I was telling the truth. I reassured him several times that this was something really special for him and we felt he was “big enough” to have his own key and since he didn’t have pockets, a collar made sense. Now his food supply lasts a LOT longer, the house has people smells and Ghanji thinks he’s the most well catered cat in the whole neighborhood. He’s very proud to put on his key first thing in the morning as he goes out to wake up the birds and check on his domain.

P.S. In case you are concerned about loosing any status – when we are available, Ghanji still prefers his “servants” to open the big door. So, although his door gained him more independence, we still have our place serving him = job security.

David Alen and Jaynne Nicols are concerned ‘parents for Ghanji’ and live in the High Sierras. Ghanji’s webmaster will be updating his pictures as soon as new ones become available. Please visit Ghanji’s website and book section at Pet Books .

Jaynne Nicols has done a lot of research into illness and why we get ill. One of the things she came across is that almost all illness starts in your colon. Sign up for her free newsletter Health and Wellness in the 21st Century and learn more in and through her series on health issues.