Our cats

When we moved into our new home, we decided to put in some cat doors in so the cats could get out and in of the house; In our other house we had to let the cats out and in by opening a door for them(what a pain). It took Lenny a few days to figure out how to get through the door(I had to push and pull him in and out for those days!). Bella, she caught on pretty much right away, no fear. She knew where the food was! This has made such a difference. They can come and go as they please! We actually have two cat doors: one in the door from the house to the garage, where the food and litter box are ~ this was the first door we put in, as I did not want the litter box in the house; the other in the garage door to the outside of house. Both doors have a slide that you can close; if we don't want them to go outside, we can keep them in the house with access to their food. And if for some reason we don't want them inside the house, they still have access to food!

This has proven to be a great tool for us. As you may or may not know, cats love to bring you gifts! You know the kind: mice, birds, snakes, rabbits, etc. Some alive and some not so alive! Now, I was a little suspicious the other day when my Lenny was sitting staring under the fridge. Then proceeds to walk the walls sniffing all along. He was looking for something. Ummm. The next morning I find the not so alive remains of a mouse, oh good at least he caught it! Yea! So why is he still walking the walls looking, Ummm. As I was getting a trash bag out of the closet yesterday morning, out runs a little mouse, so he had two toys/gifts he brought in greeeaaat. So the littlest child and I proceed to catch the little rodent and release it in the field across the street(after cleaning the floors and making sure there were no more!). So, back to the great tool. To let the cats know, that as much as I like them to have their free reign, I also do not want the gifts they bring. After such events as this one(and there have been many others)If they are not in the house when I am ready for bed. The door from the garage into the house gets locked and they get to stay in the garage/outside for the night. If they are in, then I lock the door from the garage to the outside, so they are unable to go out and bring more gifts!

The cats really like that they can come and go as they please and I no longer have to let them out and in. And I believe they really enjoy being able to bring in toys from the outside and have the room to play with them as well! (Boy, am I glad I have hard wood floors throughout the house, much easier to clean).

I realize now ~ I traded opening doors for the cats to cleaning up after they bring me gifts!

Still being positive in Rock Tavern,
Laurie