I’ve seen him do it. He hooks his claws in the small space between the door and the jamb, then pulls until he has opened a larger space. Then he works his paw in and pushes until the space is large enough for him to stick his head through. When that happens, he wriggles until his body fits through the door.
This is unacceptable. The door is there for a reason. Anyone have any ideas how to keep this intelligent creature from opening this door?
Several options. First is the simplest-some form of mechanical catch/latch which requires either height and/or opposable thumbs. All of this option will probably not be aesthetically nice.
Second is to increase the amount of mechanical force needed to make to door move from the closed position, two means of doing so coming to mind. You could rout the door edge or the jamb vertically, whichever is easier, to create a slot perhaps 1/4" wide x 3/8" deep. Install in that slot a piece of galvanized sheet metal, recessing it slightly below finished plane such that you will putty over it, and repaint. On the matching edge (door or jamb), drill a series of round holes and install round magnets (rare earth or neodymium) with epoxy or construction adhesive, again recessing them, to be puttied and painted.
The other way of increasing force to open would be to determine the position of the trolley wheels when the door is closed, drill and tap a hole vertically from beneath through the metal track, and install a setscrew, such that the trolley wheel has to step slightly over the setscrew end to fully close.
Whatever route you choose, kitteh will eventually figure out how to overcome it.
Although we never use it, we have a pocket door with a latch that looks quite nice. Looks like they run from $15 to $150. A couple of quick examples from Google: NexTag The Hardware Hut
So that’s what they’re called? Pocket doors? I’ll be damned, I always just called it a sliding door.
I’ve got one for my bedroom, too. It has a latch, which is usually sufficient to keep the cats out, although pushing on it the right way will pop the latch out of the wall. It’s an old, cheap latch, though; something strong should keep the cat out easy.
This is why the softcover book works well for me. It makes door opening too difficult for a cat, but a person can still do it relatively easily–from either side of the door.
Locked, unlocked, heavy or not made no difference to two of our cats.
If you and the cats were in opposite rooms separated by a closed door it was never a problem.
Cat number 1, Minou would simply scratch, incessantly, for however long it took against the door until you eventually succumbed. Loki the Siamese would simply yowl when he wanted in, knowing that you on the other side would eventually give in. Time of day -or night- was irrelevant.
I have never met a cat owner who came out on top in a battle of wills against a determined kitty cat.
Since you mention this, I regretfully report that last week I watched the other new cat, Saigon, jump into a file cabinet drawer that promptly slid shut with her inside. File under “S” for “Skeletal Remains.” Clearly there is a cat/door phenomenon occurring at my house, though sadly, neither new cat is very good at the cat door.
