How To Install A Cat Door In An Exterior Door

Does your cat enjoy basking in the sunshine outside, or roaming the neighborhood to socialize with their swain felines? Maybe you take a cat who loves your costly sofa as much equally your backyard bushes. With active pets similar these, it's easy to offset feeling similar a doorman having to constantly let your cat in and out of the house.

Benefits of Installing a Cat Door:

Give cats the freedom to come and become safely
You no longer have to play 'doorman' to your cat
Bask a range of installation styles from transmission to electronic

If y'all're constantly having to let your cat in and out, it might be time to invest in a quality cat door.

Why Go a Cat Door?

Like many loving cat owners, you lot probably get caught in the same dilemma whenever you desire to leave the house. Do you leave your feisty feline inside where they can bump confronting your furniture and scratch your doors? Or do you lot lock them exterior where they can get hurt? What is a true cat owner to do?

Of form, every pet parent wants to be able to afford a cat sitter. Simply have yous seen this economic system? Nosotros have got to be joking!

Well, we are.

Instead of hiring a pricey pet sitter or officially becoming your cat'south professional doorman, purchase a true cat door. Cat doors are great investments that give your cat the freedom to come up and go as they please while keeping your business firm safe.

Installing a cat door isn't fifty-fifty that hard. And we'll show yous that, with the right tools and proper guidelines, your brand new outside door true cat door volition be set up to use in no time.

In fact, you volition hardly break a sweat when you set up a solid true cat door for your pet if you follow our lead. True cat flap doors can be installed in all sorts of places. Maybe you want one on your garage door, laundry room door or closet door to give them access to their cat food or litter box (or keep your feline friends from fighting over the cat nutrient or litter box). Or maybe y'all have an indoor cat and desire ane on your sleeping accommodation door to let them in without having to open and close the door constantly.

Whatsoever door you want, this guide will help you lot install it. Without further ado, permit's become started!

The Prep: What Practise You Need Before You Start Installation?

Here are a few pre-installation tips that will make your job easier:

Measure Your Pet

A word to the wise, you should never purchase a true cat door for doors (or elsewhere) without measuring your pet. Otherwise, y'all might current of air up with a flap likewise modest for your cat. And if it is likewise large then it acts as an open invitation to big stray cats and dogs into your home.

So as a precautionary measure, measure your cat. This style, whether you accept small or big cats, you will terminate up with the right size door for them. Take measurements from the cat'due south feet to their shoulders. Apart from the height, endeavour to approximate other factors like the width and the distance between the cat's nether-bellies to the head before yous swoop into learning how to install a cat door. You lot can use a paper-thin cutout in the dimensions you call up to visualize whether or not they will work for your true cat.

Pro-tip: Keep the opening width two-inches wider than the widest part of your pet. The same goes for height.

Our tip comes in handy in two ways. Firstly, your pet won't get stuck if your measurements were incorrect. Secondly, a slightly bigger pet door means that you won't face whatever problems if your cat gets bigger as they age. This mode you won't have to waste money replacing a pricey, high-quality door just because your cat no longer fits through.

The Door

After noting the measurements, information technology's time to shop! Y'all will be happy to know that there is a wide variety of pet doors out there. Like double-flapped, unmarried-flapped, self-framed and frameless. You tin have an interior door with a true cat door, or an outside door, or a cat door for interior walls…and the list goes on. Yous can fifty-fifty continue wildlife and strays out of your home with a door similar the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door, which has a four-mode lock that opens only for your cat's unique, vet-implanted microchip or RFID collar key. The PetSafe Electronic Smart Door, Cat Mate Elite Electronic door, and Platonic Pet Products East-Cat Door are some more than options featuring an electronic door lock to continue critters out. One matter to to keep in mind with microchip cat doors is that due to limited frequency range, they won't work with large dogs (but are a great dwelling house improvement pick for your cats!).

The play a joke on to choose the best door is keeping in heed:

Your pet measurements
The thickness of your doors
Feasibility
Durability

Pro-tip: Most interior doors have hollow cores. This is why we advise you to buy a hassle-free cocky-frame door. Not only will they cutting-down the installation procedure, but they volition also protect the hollow core of the door from weather and h2o harm. Plus, they provide a smoother, neater finish!

Plus, they give your DIY-project a smoother, neater finish!

The Location

Done with the shopping part? Now, all you lot have to do is to select where you want to place your cat door. You tin can accept one cat door for the main door of your house. Then if you are feeling generous, you may likewise install true cat doors for interior doors leading to rooms your cat frequents (e.g. the kitchen!). This allows your precious pet to have piece of cake access within and outside the house.

The Tools

Here is a list of the tools you will demand:

Measuring tape
Pencil
Ruler
Drill
Drill $.25
Earmuffs or earplugs
Dust mask
Jigsaw
Safety glasses
Screwdriver
Utility knife
Workbench (optional)
Pet door kit
Masking tape

The Guide: Step-past-Step Guide to Installing Your True cat Door

Step-ane: Purr-fect Position

Use a pencil and ruler to properly mark the area where the door has to be installed. Make sure that the marking is leveled. The pet door will be approximately 10-12 inches to a higher place the flooring.

Many pet door kits include a template that volition help you draw the borders.

Pro tip: Accept out your door from the hinges before you lot start the installation.

Footstep-2: Drill Away

Next, as a safe measure, yous should identify masking tape effectually the corners of the template you drew. Then drill four holes in each border of the drawn pattern these work as the access points for your jigsaw.

Stride-iii: Start Cutting

Now, comes the tricky office. You volition have to insert the jigsaw into one of the drill holes, so steadily cut according to the template line you had drawn. The template allows yous to cut an accurate opening to ready your cat door.

Step-4: Zipper

Did you buy a self-framing door? That's nifty!

Because all you take to practise is adhere the pet door to properly identify the pet door into the hole you but cut. Remember to secure both sides of the door with screws.

Have a Hollow Core Door just bought a Frameless Door?

Yous can't attach the pet door without making your frame. So what do you exercise?

Frame It Out Yourself!

Hither is what you volition have to do:

Measure out the interior dimensions of the cat door hole you lot have cut.
Then cutting iv pieces of wooden plank co-ordinate to those calculations.
Apply glue to the planks to create a framework.
Clench those planks.
Permit it dry!
And then fix it within the hollow wooden door. Make sure that your homemade frame aligns perfectly with the hole.

Done? Now, please become to step four and attach your pet door.

What's Next?

Once your cat door has been installed, it is time to train your furry feline. Recall, it might take a few attempts and some time to brand information technology used to the door. But once your cat gets used to its customized door, it will exist flapping in and out like a pro!

So are you ready to drop your doorman duty? If and so, bank check out some of our cat door recommendations: