As we're trying to get the two semi feral Gurlcats we have to use the Sureflap microchip scanner flaps we have in the front door and the porch door, I'll admit it hasn't been as simple as it was when we had only the boys.
The Gurlies are flighty and easily spooked, and "going out the back" through the open patio doors has been their usual exit and entrance to the house. Our patio doors, as some may know, are a bit the worse for wear. The DG units have failed, they get a bit misted up, and they've dropped slightly on their hinges requiring a fiendish "shoulder-to-the-door, lift-and-wiggle" technique to open and close them properly.
So, we're considering whether we should just bite the bullet and get another sureflap put in the patio doors, and to hell with the fact it will ruin the units completely. Replacing the whole unit is unfortunately out of our price league just now, with the cheapest quote coming in at ver £2,000
(they're hardwood units - yes, we could get them replaced with white UPVC ones, for a fraction of the cost, but it wouldn't work with the rest of the house.)
So whilst we're contemplating this further act of madness in pursuit of Cat Happiness, I got to browsing the net (as I do from time to time) and noting all of the wonderful solutions people all over the world have devised for ensuring the cats who prefer to live s indoor/outdoor, can come and go as they please. Some are wholly ingenious!
Check out some of these:
http://catladder.blogspot.co.uk/https://uk.pinterest.com/olive434/cat-walks-ladders-and-spaces/I know people who've had ladders fitted into windows and provided ramps and staircases to let their cats access them, and I'm also debating whether we could punch a hole in the only small available space we have by the patio doors.
Anyone got any creative ideas or examples of their own for inspiration?