A Petsafe cat door affords you the opportunity to present your cat with easy access to the outdoors, without sacrificing home security. The problem with your ordinary cat flap is that any animal can easy pass through, and enter your home. Or a thief can easily make use of one, in order to break into your house. Having a properly secured cat door is vital, and Petsafe manufacturers many different types with safety features of chief importance. The main things to consider, when choosing which door is the best for you, are your personal preferences.
There are two main flap types when you are looking to purchase a Petsafe cat door. Those include Infrared (IR) doors and four way locking system doors. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses, in terms of price an accessibility. The four way locking door provides an easy way for your cat to enter and leave the premises. Working not unlike a traditional cat flap, this type of door allows your cat to easily push through the flap, to the other side of your door. When not in use you can prevent the close the door by activating the four locks on the inside of the door. This way nothing can access your home when you’re away.
IR Petsafe cat doors offer the same level of security as a four way locking system, but with the added convenience of being completely automatic. An IR door works by reading a key attached to your cat’s collar, which then locks and unlocks the door so that your cat can easily go through to the other side. This is useful as the locks will automatically keep out any animals without a key, and also provides the safety of locking itself so that you don’t have to. The only problem is that if the infra red key isn’t attached to your cat’s collar firmly, it can fall off and then be lost, leaving your cat unable to access your door.
Both of these can be purchased from your standard pet store. Typically the four way locking types are less expensive, mainly because they don’t involve as much technology. Usually a four way lock will cost you around $10-15 making them very inexpensive. An IR Petsafe cat door is typically in the $40-50 range because of the technology involved. But if your cat loses a the key, a spare will cost you around $30 in order to replace if you can’t find it again.
Although, there is another alternative if you don’t want to install a Petsafe cat door. The problem with most doors is that they have complicated installations and require you to cut a hole in your door. This process can be averted by using a Petsafe window cat door. They are more expensive, but are easier to install and don’t require as much work to affix to a window. Typically a window door will cost in the $70 and up range. But depending upon your preferences, this can be an easy alternative to installing a cat flap on your door, by yourself.