Cat Door

[Not one of my cats, doesn't even resemble any of them. Just a google image I've found..]

Cats. Got quite a few of them.. maybe a bit too many, but until a few days ago felt pretty much under control. A while back I fixed all the females, so no new kittens and some of the cats decided to find someplace else to live and I was fine with that. One of these cats is Patch. I have no idea why he decided one day to take his things and leave, and I'm sure it took me quite some time to realize he's gone. In the last few weeks I saw him once or twice in the neighbourhood. I tried approaching him, but he run away. O.K, so he forgot me, and I do not need an extra cat. But then a few days ago he came back, seems like to stay. He hardly leaves my house, fights with the other cats over food (I think he's beginning to calm down) and probably wants me to stroke him 24/7 (I do stroke him a bit, but try not too much). I am not liking his return, and somehow feel like again I'm starting to have cat problem.

Even before his return, I was thinking of having a cat door. I hardly close my front door so as to let them come and go as they please (no sand box! no dealing with their litter!), yes even at night I sleep with an open door, and even most of the winter the door was open (but then again was that really a winter!? hardly!). Actually it's more of a nuisance in the summer with all the mosquitoes. Anyway having an open door was/is o.k for now, it will not be when I have my girl. So (besides putting screens on the windows) I was thinking of adding a cat door to my front door.

Up till now was thinking of a simple door, just so I can keep my door closed and they can come and go freely. With Patch's return, I started thinking of having one of these doors that recognize the cat/s that are allowed. My thought was that I will allow six of the cats access to my house. The others I will feed outside, hoping they find someplace else to live (probably by slowly giving them less food).

But then these thoughts - isn't that a bit cruel? And the cats that are allowed, I understand it's done with a collar with a magnet. I really hate the idea of putting a collar on them, hmmmm I will probably live with that, but I understand the magnet could be a bit big and probably not the most comfortable thing. And I heard it attracts all sorts of metals (well, a magnet..) and I'm sure it will get lost more than once. So I am not sure I'm liking the idea. Not to mention that such a door (and all the extra collars I would need) is much more expensive than a regular cat door.

Hmmmm.. yesterday I was quite sure I'd go with such a door. Doing a little research on the net and I think more so writing this post, I think I'll go with a simpler cat door. Thanks for listening :-).