We have frequent, uninvited, furry visitors in our home. Apparently just because we have a cat door from our interior garage door leading into the basement (which is a bedroom), one does not have to be a cat to enter and one most certainly does not need to be one of our cats to enter.
We had the garage door open for a few minutes yesterday and apparently during that time, a rival cat entered the premises. By bedtime last night, he was lodged in a corner under Jack's bed. As Jack reached down to get another pillow from under his bed, he touched a cat. Initially he thought it was Grace, our black cat, but upon further inspection, discovered it was 'Kelly Cat' (although we have no idea of her real name) under his bed. Of course this was the night that Jon had gone to bed early. Jonah and I managed to get the crazed feline back to the garage, where she firmly planted herself behind the freezer.
Not wanting to spend much time in the cold, disgusting garage, we left the exterior door open a crack and covered the cat door leading into the house securely.
Of course, during the course of the overnight hours, again and again I heard one of our cats running through the garage at full speed, throw themselves at the cat door only to hear the dull thud of their little bodies meeting with a barrier on the other side.
It was cruel and totally unintentional. I do love my cats.
Albeit, it was a little (tiny, maybe?) funny.
Do you have pet doors? Do you have this chronic problem? I've heard that there are pet doors that have some sort of sensor and that a pet can wear a collar with the matching sensor on it. The door will only open for those animals. But cats don't like collars and I don't want them to get tangled up in a fight by their collar. (Not that they would get in a fight over their collar, although cats can be ruthless, ya' know)
I think that stray cats and raccoons wander through the doors and then they just get freaked out and trapped in the small basement. The dogs are not allowed down there, so they are absolutely no help.
Just looking for a little help here from my animal-owner friends.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Our cat just sits at the back door and meows until someone lets her in. However in the summer, she poked through our screen door which left a little flap for her to go in and out as she pleased. It was very convenient until she brought in a large, dead chipmunk and several live mice. The collars for those magnetic doors are huge. They look like invisble fence collars. I don't think many cats would tolerate that. It wouldn't work for us anyway since our cat is the one bringing in the furry visitors! So, basically, I'm of no help to you. Although if I was getting raccoons in my house, the cat door would be permanently sealed!
The answer is simple...if they're going to come in anyway, be opportunistic about it -- just put food out in the garage for your new friends and start a little petting zoo...you can charge admission for the local kids...you'll make a fortune! ;-)
I like Ann's idea...In this economy, every little bit helps!
Our system is a bit different. Only one of my cats goes outside (he's the one that pees!!). We noticed at Christmas that he would ring the bell on the front door when he wanted to go outside. Before the bell, he would just sit and meow. So now we have a permanent bell that he rings whenever he needs/wants to go out. He has been known to carry around live chipmunks in his jaws so I don't want a cat door!!! Imagine having a chipmunk running loose in your house. Aren't animals fun and challenging:)
Post a Comment