Need advice on cat containment systems.

[pee-cleaner]

Hi,

My neighbor is a wire-haired breeder and has offered me a beautiful 4 mos old kitten who didn't "kink" but is delightful in every other way. I badly want to add her to my brood (15 yo calico, 2 year old male "tuxedo" who was formerly feral and two medium sized, gentle dogs). We brought the kitty over last night and she fit right in and of course, is absolutely adorable...sigh...

Our problem: We have a pet flap that all the pets currently use to go in and out at will. The calico never leaves the backyard (privacy fence) and the former feral generally hangs out on the front porch after climbing the fence. I just don't feel comfortable with this kitten having access to "all the great outdoors" and am considering a PetSafe radio fence system for cats to confine her to the backyard (over 1/4 acre.)

Has anyone used such a system? If so, pros and cons, please. Any other opinions are also welcomed. I considered using magnetic or infrared pet doors but cannot find a system which would work with both cats and dogs. The cat doors are too small for the dogs and the dog systems collars are too heavy for my elderly cat.

Thanks in advance,

Cally

 

[juliekit]

I know there are sme doggy/kitty doors that need a special transmitter (atached to the collar) so that they will open. Why not put one on the older cats and not on the younger one?

Or maybe he wont stray from home if he sees his elders stay in the yard?

 

[pee-cleaner]

As I said before--the ones those pet doors work on are two small for my dogs to use and the ones large enough for the dogs to use are too large for the cat to use (monitor on collar too heavy for cats).

 

[nekochan]

Perhaps you could get one of the magnetic pet doors? They open with a magnetic tag which goes on the pet's collar. The tags are usually pretty small I think, and they have them for dogs and cats so you could order a dog-sized door and then (if there is a size variation) order some extra cat magnetic tags...