Cat flap [projects, cats]
Oct. 30th, 2025 01:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterUp until now, we have been leaving a basement window wide open so the cats and come and go from the catio whenever they please. However, it's starting to get cold, so it's unwise to have a big open hole for heat exchange with the outdoors anymore.
Scrounging around over the weekend, I discovered that a piece of wood I'd salvaged from the boathouse fit *almost* perfectly into the window. I just had to saw 1 inch off of one side, and then make use of some of the existing holes in the wood to saw out a cat-sized door.
What to use for the cat flap material itself?
I have some dead bike tubes sitting around, so I figured I'd just start with some bike tubes and see how they worked (or didn't).
The result is not going to win any beauty contests:
But it will work well enough for now! Here's Martha checking it out from outside on the catio:
S has some insulation panels in the basement, and so I think my next move will be to add a couple layers of insulation to this piece of wood. The latch mechanism I put in to hold it in place isn't quite as secure as I would have liked, so the insulation should help snug up the fit, too.
By shaking a bag of the cats' favorite treats, I did determine that both cats can come back indoors through the new cat flap. S wants to build them a shelf to help make it easier for them to climb up and go outside. It is kind of a big jump, about 4 feet above the basement floor.
Scrounging around over the weekend, I discovered that a piece of wood I'd salvaged from the boathouse fit *almost* perfectly into the window. I just had to saw 1 inch off of one side, and then make use of some of the existing holes in the wood to saw out a cat-sized door.
What to use for the cat flap material itself?
I have some dead bike tubes sitting around, so I figured I'd just start with some bike tubes and see how they worked (or didn't).
The result is not going to win any beauty contests:
But it will work well enough for now! Here's Martha checking it out from outside on the catio:
S has some insulation panels in the basement, and so I think my next move will be to add a couple layers of insulation to this piece of wood. The latch mechanism I put in to hold it in place isn't quite as secure as I would have liked, so the insulation should help snug up the fit, too.
By shaking a bag of the cats' favorite treats, I did determine that both cats can come back indoors through the new cat flap. S wants to build them a shelf to help make it easier for them to climb up and go outside. It is kind of a big jump, about 4 feet above the basement floor.
