Should we just cut a hole in the door?

Background: I smoke, but only in our kitchen, which is equipped with a continuously running commercial air filtration device for large restaurants. My husband objects to the smell (at present, he's an ex-smoker), and "cooking smells", and insists that the door be kept closed. The problem is that Jamie needs constant access to his food bowls in the kitchen. He refuses to eat in any other room. Thus far, we've managed with just cracking the door. Yesterday, hubby came up with the brilliant idea of putting a cat flap in the kitchen door, so that we could keep it closed, but allow Jamie constant access. That sounded like a brilliant idea.

There are a few problems with it. First of all, Jamie is rather large, and the door to our kitchen has a glass inset. All of the cat flaps sold that are big enough to accommodate Jamie can't be installed because of the glass panel. I've spent hours measuring.There are cat flaps that will fit the door, but not Jamie. I suggested getting a new door without the glass, or with much less glass, but hubby objected, because we'd have to have the door custom-made, because of the age of the house and the non-standard size. Now he wants to cut away a portion of the door under the glass panel (on three sides, down to the floor).

Have any of you done that? I don't find it a bad idea, as long as the cut surfaces are sanded and painted. It won't look so great, but who cares? I also wonder whether Jamie would object to the plastic flap a cat flap would entail

I think that is a great idea!! I smoke too, but, I am not as lucky as you, I have to go outside and smoke, although, when no one is home, I puff away.

For added decoration around the hole a nice hand painted vine would be nice (on both sides), your cat will love that!

We built a cat door into our window leading into the cat enclosure and all but the Bengals will use the cat door. I would say cut the hole, clean it up and call it good!

For the first couple of days we left the door off just to get them use to using the entrance. Now they use it with no problems. Well except for my Bengal boys who just can't seem to get the hang of it. No worries they have us human slaves to open it for them!

I was going to take some pics then I realized it may be totally not what you are looking for ..... we have 2 large closests here that we dedicated to the cats for their restrooms. Because Tino and Ducky are large cats the standard cat flap would not work for us.

We had a hole cut into a rectangle, from the bottom of the door, cutting 3 sides and it has worked for us.

Well, we did cut two doors through adjoining metal barn stalls and smooth them down to allow access for our rescued cats from stall to stall, if that qualifies! Hope the idea works for Jamie and family - I really can't tell that Jamie is, umm, larger than the average...?

Another thought, not meaning to be pushy, but you are such a nice person, and I know Jamie Cat and all of your loved ones want you around for a long, long time, healthy and happy , so I do hope that you'll give thought to possibly quitting someday? (Just a thought, from someone who cares!)

I guess we'll go for it. We already have a cat flap in our laundry room window used by previous cats, one a feral, that had outdoor access, but Jamie isn't allowed outside alone, and he definitely wouldn't fit through it. He really is large: 6.3 kg. /14 lbs. and rangy.

Jamie will sometimes open doors himself, but he never closes them.

I think it would be ok to cut the hole. You can just get some nice wall trim to put around it the same as you would any corner or opening and it should look nice enough.

The hole is in the door, and Jamie has been running in and out of it all day. It hasn't been painted yet, so no photo. How much do you want to bet that he'll want his own "doorway" in the bathroom door, at the very least?

Originally Posted by jcat

The hole is in the door, and Jamie has been running in and out of it all day. It hasn't been painted yet, so no photo. How much do you want to bet that he'll want his own "doorway" in the bathroom door, at the very least?

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Well, of course he will, Tricia. The humans have proved they can do it, so now there's no excuse. In other words, no bet.

Originally Posted by rapunzel47

Well, of course he will, Tricia. The humans have proved they can do it, so now there's no excuse. In other words, no bet.

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