Apparently this is my week to share random topics. And this one might just take the cake = how I installed a cat door for Charlie. I know, right? This is an earth-shattering tutorial everyone needs to pin for future use. But this is a real World problem people. If you have an outdoor cat, you can probably relate to this all too well…

Unless, of course, you have an indoor cat. Yup, we’re one of “those” families that allows our cat outside. Trust me, I occasionally hear the sad tales and warnings from the neighbors. While I would love to keep him in, he’s got a mind of his own. He was a stray that we adopted from the shelter, so he already had a taste of the outdoors. And hey y’all….he’s an Arkansas natural state native. He’s a little bit country, enjoys the outdoors, hunting and fresh air.

And I love the fact that he doesn’t use a litter box. 😉 Because that means it’s one less thing around here I need to clean.

Anyway, the issue of not having an official cat door was a big one, believe it or not. I found myself sometimes tethered to the house not knowing if he would need to leave, in the event he was inside napping. Or if he would want to come in for food / water, in the the event he had been outside for a few hours. We do keep him inside at night, but since there isn’t a litter box in the house, he needs a way to get in and out during the day for potty stuff.

Putting a cat door into a door isn’t an option right now. Every door on the back side of the house is a glass french door. Eventually, after the kitchen remodel, there will be a more permanent solution … who knows maybe the future pet door will be big enough for a dog (or 10). For now, with the nicer weather, I had been letting him come and go from a kitchen window…

I took the screen out and he would hop onto the front patio chair to get in and out. Look at this guy, he even modeled his exit process for us this morning…

 

 

This wasn’t going to work for the long term because he was tracking dirt in and onto the kitchen counter, which is on the other side of this window. I also didn’t like leaving a front window open to the public all day long. This window faces the front yard. And of course there’s the bug factor. But if there was ever a positive on the list of negatives, it’s that I can now officially beat Mr. Miagi at catching flies. Just added that skill to add to my Linked In. Totally endorsable, right?

I did some research into cat doors and found this…

It’s a cat door that can not only be installed in a door, but also a screen door. Genius! And it was really easy to install.

The kit comes with a template for making your hole in the screen. I chose this window in the kitchen that faces the pool…

 

I removed the screen and used the template to cut the hole…

 

Once the hole was cut, I added the front and back pieces with the included screws…

It even comes with screw hole covers which give it a cleaner appearance…

Done!…

This cat door has a 4-way locking system, so we can choose for him to only come in, only go out, not come in at all or let is swing both ways for him to come and go as he pleases.

(Btw, I’m not getting paid to mention this cat door – just sharing this little project with you guys!)

 

I have it tucked behind the candles and think it blends in pretty well…

Charlie has officially made his first entrance into the house through the door and seems ok with the change.

If you are interested in buying a cat door like this one, I added it to my new Amazon shop. Yes, I finally figured out how to set up a shop of recommended items! Took me some time because I’m not very tech-savvy.

As a side note: don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a shop I’m pushing on you guys in order to a profit. I see this as a way for me to help connect you to the products I’m purchasing or using … and can officially recommend. And you’ll be able to easily click through to the product and order, instead of searching around online if you don’t have the free time for web surfing. Will I make money when you order? Sure…but it’s pennies, trust me. I won’t be retiring anytime soon from blogging, my friends.

My shop is on the sidebar and I’ll be adding more items all the time!

** cough cough compartment organizers cough cough **

Oh, this is happening today too! Blog post coming soon!…

Outdoor lighting. 2 words I thought would never cross my lips. Yay!