Do other cats or animals ever come in? Do you just leave it unlocked when going on vacation? What else do I need to know? We are contemplating putting one in.

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We've had dog doors since we've had dogs, and never had another animal come in, but it is possible. Any animal that can get inside your fence can get inside your house. We always have ours open when the dogs are home, it does make going on vacation MUCH easier.

There are pet doors that have RF collars that go with them and the door will only open for the animal wearing the collar, that will keep out any unwanteds.

Renee

we did the cat door thing till our cats brought into our bdr just one two many live birds to fly around ;-)
also, for several weeks we thought we were seeing one of our cats at night as we passed from bdr to kitch - turned out to be the boyfriend of one our yet to be fixed females - they looked almost like twins!
at the same place where we had a cat door we also lost 5 cats to FeLv (our trampy young un-fixed female w/the pregnancy/miscarriage clued the vet in) - it was in the early 80's when it was recommended you put all the cats in the house down if 1 was positive -
there's just too many parasites and other diseases we've fought over the year w/indoor/outdoorcats to make us want to never let them out on their own again - just saying ;^D
we currently have a cat (have had the beast 8 years, adopted at age 5 - he's now 13yo) w/feline AIDS - there is a vaccine against it, but those vaccinated may always test +, it was experimental when our vet used it, it's not recommended much now - but Fel AIDS is much more contagious than FeLv - so far any cats we've brought home have done well, no +'s so far (fingers still crossed ;-)
think twice about a kitty door
- JMNSHO

A friend's toddler learned to open hers and get outside that way.

The one Renee suggested might be the way to go however Smokey has already come home without his collar twice and we never found them so now he doesn't wear one. I am going to do some research on them online.
We are hesitant to leave him home when we go camping. We brought him with us before and it's kind of inconvenient as he has to stay on a long lead the whole time night and day as he could easily get out of the trailer.
Since we live out of town none of the people we know who are trustworthy would have the time to come out here to let him out in the morning and put him back in at night unless we paid them a large sum of money and we don't know anyone out here well enough to trust them with a key to our house as we have important documents not to mention everything we own.
My husband posted this same question on his fishing board and got the same type of replies including one person saying his friend came home from vacation to find skunk odor in his very expensive home that has been impossible to get rid of. Many of them said "just get rid of the cat" that is NOT an option.
We don't have small children so that would not be an issue but I had not even thought of that.

Thanks you guys.

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We've had a doggy door for our shih tzu for about 8 years and we absolutely love it. It's great to be able to be away from the house all day and know Reba can go out whenever she needs to.

Unfortunately, however, when my DD and SIL were living with us while their house was being built, their cat, Cheyenne, learned to go out the doggy door Since she is declawed, it was a huge problem. We had to put the cover on the door all time and only let Reba out when we could make sure Cheyenne was not around

And, the new kitten, Chloe, that I got for Christmas has been watching Reba go out the doggy door and I've actually seen Chloe pawing at the door so it's probably only a matter of time before she gets out.

I didn't know about the RF collars -- guess I'd better check that out.

My friend had one and had a possum and a racoon came into the house at different times through the dog/cat door looking for food. I understand the fun part is trying to get them out of the house after they come in.

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My neighbor has a doggy door for her cockapoo and her cats. I got a call one night that my cat was in her house, UNDER her bed....LMAO. It has happened a few times. My cat is very territorial and apparently thinks everyone else's yard/house is her territory, too Also, there have been many rats, squirrels, birds, frogs that have been brought into the house. I would not have one, myself.

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A skunk got in through my parent's doggy door. They had to leave home and have it professionally deorderized!

Thanks for all the input and stories. We've decided to take Smokey camping with us. We've done it before. Now I'm just looking for an outside cat enclosure so he doesn't have to stay on a lead the whole time. Checking craigslist daily.

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how bout a large (or XL) wire dog crate that folds down?

I forgot about this. We used to have a doggy door when I was growing up, when I was a teenager and I forgot to bring my key and I was locked out of the house, I crawled through it a few times to get in the house. It was not a huge doggie door, we had a Dachsund, and I was 5'7" and 115 pounds at the time, so a decent sized human can also fit through these doors too.

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Another good reason to not get one Penny!

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yes, we have a door for the cats. Their litter box is on the patio. Yes, a stray has been in a few times and broke some stuff in the shuffle of the cats. It is definitely worth it though. No stinky box inside my house

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-Kristi