🚀 go-pugleaf

We put in a cat door to our crawlspace under the house by replacing
the ventilation screen with a swinging door.  The door is about 6 or 7
inches high, and Florence has to squeeze herself down a little to get
in.  She took to it right away; she was very happy about being able
to get at her food whenever she wanted to.

We haven't had any problem with other animals getting into the house.
I think a major part of it is that squirels and other animals don't have
a chance of getting near the house with Florence (not to mention our dog
Ada) around.  One problem we do have is that Florence can now bring
in things like dead moles and birds.  Before, she would show up with
these charming gifts and we could make her leave them outside.  After
a couple of these, though, this seems to have stopped.  She must have
gotten tired of us raiding her treasure trove and set up one outside.
Another problem we had was making the door weatherproof.  During one
particularly heavy rain last summer we ended up with a pool of water
an inch deep and 15 feet across in the crawlspace.  A little regrading
outside took care of that.  The only thing we regret now is that Flo
can come in from a rainstorm (she's stupid enough to go out in one, but
smart enough to come back in) with muddy feet, and we are always finding
little kitty paw prints on things.  (Doggone that cat!-)

Despite these problems, we wouldn't consider being without the kitty door.

-- 

Ted Hopp	{seismo,umcp-cs}!nbs-amrf!hopp

In article <193@fluffy.UUCP> keith@fluffy.UUCP (Admin) writes:
>	I would like information on people's experience with pet
>doors that allow cats and dogs to let themselves in and out.  Specifically,
>do all the other cats and dogs in the neighborhood also come into the
>house along with the squirrels, raccoons, and skunks, or do the other animals
>generally keep out?  If this has been discussed to death here before,
>a mail summary would be fine.
>
A friend of mine who was living in the North Carolina mountains at the time
had a bobcat come through her pet door.  Made a mess of the kitchen before she
could sneak out the front door and run around to the back door to open it and
let the thing out.  Other people she knew up there had had similar experiences,
but only when it was bitterly cold dead-of-winter outside -- makes sense;
they're just looking for a meal.
-- 

The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3313 (Cornet 291)
alias: Curtis Jackson	...![ ihnp4 ulysses cbosgd mgnetp ]!burl!rcj
			...![ ihnp4 cbosgd akgua masscomp ]!clyde!rcj

In article <193@fluffy.UUCP> keith@fluffy.UUCP (Admin) writes:
>	I would like information on people's experience with pet
>doors that allow cats and dogs to let themselves in and out.  Specifically,
>do all the other cats and dogs in the neighborhood also come into the
>house along with the squirrels, raccoons, and skunks, or do the other animals
>generally keep out?  If this has been discussed to death here before,
>a mail summary would be fine.

I installed a cat door in my basement door about six months ago and have had 
no problems. I live in a city neighborhood with LOTS of cats and, to my 
knowledge, none of them have "explored" my basement. My cat sure likes the
idea of coming and going as she pleases.

But, a friend of mine once went on vacation for a week, and somehow the cat
door broke so that cats could only come in. Upon his return, there were a
half-dozen cats in the basement (besides his own), all vigorously defending
their corner of the basement! (He never knew his cats were having these wild
bashes in the basement!)

And, a friend living in the country has a cat door, and has had other cats
come in and spray in his house. Also, his cats bring him wonderful little
presents (various dismembered creatures) through the cat door.

Overall, I'd recommend putting the cat door someplace where access to the
whole house can be restricted - like a basement, laundry room, enclosed
porch, or garage. That way you have some control if problems develop.

andy 
hplsla!andyc

I've had a medium sized Pet Door installed for over 9 years and have
had no problems with visitors.  It was originally installed for my
dog who was very territorial, so no animal ventured into the house.
About a year ago, I acquired a cat and after a little work, she 
was using the door also (no litter box!).

I was a little worried when I had to put my dog asleep about 2 months
ago about whether we would begin having vistors brought in by the cat.
Luckily she is also rather territorial and I've had to get her out 
of a few scrapes when she was protecting her house from an
intruder cat.  

One warning however, our cat likes to bring presents and toys into
the house.  Up to date, this includes 1 rat, 2 mice, 3 birds (1 alive),
101 lizards.  She loves to chase lizards. 

Personally, I wouldn't be without a pet door because it saves me alot
of worry if I stay out late and my pet can have more freedom and 
hopefully not get bored too often.

Good luck.


Delanie Alcorn @ trsvax.UUCP

Some friends of mine had their house broken in by someone getting in
through their pet door.  Lost almost everything valuable, including many
heirlooms.

I don't know how big the door was but their biggest pet was a small to
medium sized dog.  I have since heard of this happening a few more
times.

> ...a chance of getting near the house with Florence (not to mention our dog
> Ada) around...

OK, I've got to know why you named your dog Ada.

I WILL be adult enough NOT to do a followup to net.lang.ada pointing out
that Ada is a dog!
-- 
Dick Dunn	{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd		(303)444-5710 x3086
   ...Worst-case analysis must never begin with "No one will ever want..."

> > ...a chance of getting near the house with Florence (not to mention our dog
> > Ada) around...
> 
> OK, I've got to know why you named your dog Ada.
> 
> I WILL be adult enough NOT to do a followup to net.lang.ada pointing out
> that Ada is a dog!
> -- 
> Dick Dunn	{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd		(303)444-5710 x3086
>    ...Worst-case analysis must never begin with "No one will ever want..."

We named Ada in honor (:-)) of the programming language.  (Don't get me
wrong, though.  I like both Ada's.)  Ada is brown.  That's as much as
our vet, or her parent's owners, could tell us about her heritage.  I
have to admit that Ada's personality had nothing to do with our naming
her.  Marsha and I were driving down to look at a litter of pups, and
Marsha insisted that we couldn't take one home without having a name
picked out.  We knew we would get a bitch if we picked one at all, so
it was a matter of finding a good female name.  Neither of us were very
enthused about Rover, Fido, or the like; we wanted a name that meant
something to us, but common sense told us we couldn't pick the name of
a relative or friend.  (At least with the people we have for relatives
and friends.)  At the time, we both happened to be studying Ada (the
programming language) for work.  After a few minutes of mumbling
unsuitable names, I suggested Ada (I had to think of something!)  Well,
we both liked it, and it meant something pleasant to us, and we didn't
know anyone named Ada, the mutt got stuck with it.  So, for better or
for worse, yes, Ada is a dog.

A year later we got our cat, and Marsha put me in the same bind -- no
name, no cat.  "And we are going to have a cat, so suggest a name!"
Well, we might have gone with Diana if I had thought of it, but the
only name I could think of was Florence, after the city in Italy.  (I
don't know why I was thinking of that.  Maybe as an attractive
alternative to driving along the Washington beltway trying to do as
well as "Ada".)  For some reason, Marsha also liked the name, and we
had a nice ride after that.  At the time we got Florence, Marsha and I
were both a little worried about my allergies, but I have never had a
problem.  It's kind of strange, since I'm still mildly allergic to
other cats.  Florence is a calico, and our vet claims that even people
who are severely allergic to cats usually don't have a problem with
calicos and a couple of other types I can't remember.  They evidently
are missing some chemical from their saliva (which causes most of the
trouble).  It sounds wierd, but I'm happy it has worked out.

Ada and Florence really love each other.  It's cute to see a six pound
cat arching her back to rub against the belly of a fifty pound dog.
Ada is a little high-strung about some things, particularly the
doorbell and crows.  Both of them really set her off.  Florence is a
"real cat".  She is very affectionate until you try to show her some
attention, then all of a sudden she can't stand being around you.
Florence also has all the dogs in the neighborhood completely cowed.
The other day, a termite inspector came to the house.  He wasn't at all
phased by this big dog barking up a storm and crouching down like she
was going to hurl herself at him if he made a wrong move.  But when he
tried to go into the crawlspace in the basement, he turned around to
Marsha and said, "There's a cat hissing at me!"  Marsha reassured him
that it was just Florence and she wouldn't hurt him.  "I really don't
like cats," he said.  He wouldn't believe he wasn't in mortal danger.
Marsha actually had to go into the crawlspace ahead of him to clear
Florence out.  So Florence not only has all the dogs toeing the line,
she also makes a better guard animal than a good-sized, barking dog.
I wish I could understand it.

(By the way, this little anecdote was not meant to imply anything about
the power of Ada as a programming language. ;-)

-- 

Ted Hopp	{seismo,umcp-cs}!nbs-amrf!hopp