Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've had this door for a little over 5 years now. It replaced a flap only door that was used with a sliding glass door insert (purchased at Home Depot, only had to slightly enlarge the hole to get it to fit) that was letting all the neighbors cats in too.
Overall it works as expected by keeping the neighbors cats out (one of them was quite hilarious, it laid on its side and was pounding on the door with its paws)... that is when its working correctly. First problem that arose after a while was the door wouldn't close all the way when my cat would come in, it would hit the latch and stop (its supposed to hit the latch and push it down) which would let the neighbors cats in again. I fixed that by using a small file to put a 45 deg angle on the door edge so it could pass over the latch easier, and also added some weights to the door.
It did keep the raccoons out, but only as long as they tried pushing the door to get in. They soon figured out they could put their claws underneath the door and pull it open (door only latches one way, the other way it freely opens). So if raccoons are a problem you'll need a different door that can latch both ways to keep them out. You could install 2 of these if you had the space, one for in, one for out, and set the 4 way switch so it can't open in the unlatched direction, but that'll be a trick to teach your cat which one to use when! I ended up having to move the door to another sliding glass door in the house.
The magnet does need to always point down to open the door, but I keep my cats collar fairly loose (can easily get 2 fingers in, and its an all elastic collar) so even if the collar spins around the weight of the magnet will rotate it so its facing down again when he is walking.
Battery life was a concern at first but hasn't been an issue at all, seems to last a very long time. I've never had one die but I still replace it every so often when I think about it.
I'm having to get spare parts now, the edge of the door broke where the latch is located so it effectively became a cat flap again. I was wondering why my cats food was disappearing so fast!
Overall I would recommend it if all you have it a flap only door now, but unless they have changed their design since I bought mine you will need to tweak it to get it to work right. And definitely don't expect it to keep raccoons out, at least not for long.
Update: Reliability of the electronic portion of this door is poor. The coil on it fails for some reason. The first coil lasted for years, but two of the replacement coils I installed since didn't even last a year. The company doesn't warranty replacement parts either. So now it leaves me wondering when it will leave my cat stranded outside again. I lowered my rating from 3 to 2 because of this.
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