Customer Reviews

Cat Mate 4-Way Locking Self Lining Cat Door

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I installed this door into an interior door. While the instructions are a bit lacking, the door itself is solid and well designed. If installing on a door thicker than 1", it may be necessary to get different mounting screws than the ones included in the kit.

If there is one design flaw in the door, it is that the magnet keeping the door shut is good for an exterior door (to keep heat/cold in), but holds the door a bit tightly and occasionally catches the cat's foot in the door.

It worked real well, but the door broke before a year was up. The plastic that formed the hinge cracked off.

I needed to replace a broken cat door on my interior basement door; this time around I was looking for a proper liner, back panel, and 4-way lock. This model of the Cat Mate had all of the features I was looking for.

It took me an hour or two to get the opening re-cut to the new template (and it would have taken just minutes if I'd had the right coping saw), but once I got the door installed, it worked just right. The cat got used to it in a day or two (it's a bit stiffer than the old door, due to the magnet at the bottom of the flap), and I can easily adjust the latches at the bottom of the flap.

Our cat sleep with us in our bedroom (since its too hot outside and our room has airco), and she was getting pesty during the night because she wanted to get out for some time.

This door was easy enough to install, even for people with not enough experience. It comes with a template to do the hole in the door and with the mounting screws... the hole does not have to be perfect since the plastic frame will cover your mistakes. It took my cat 10 minutes to figure out how to use it.

My mattress is thankful we got this door.

IMPORTANT! This is the product to use on interior doors and seals up to 2" thick. I installed on 1.5" thick interior door with no issues, no cutting the product, and a perfect installation.

I needed a small cat door to provide access to my laundry room for the cat's litter box. The most important qualities were that it was small enough to install in the bottom of a 6 panel Masonite interior door to keep the door looking nice, seal the interior cutaway, and be quiet since the laundry room is 2nd floor and in a shared hallway to our bedrooms. This product met all of my expectations.

* Just small enough to install in the bottom section of a 6 panel door, which it does, though it places to cat door a few inches lower than it really should, but keeps the door looking nice.

* Super easy installation thanks to the cutout template and the fact the two halves of the door do not have to align 100% on thicker doors as each half independently screws in with wood screws instead of some extremely long bolt that has to go fully through the door and align with the holes in each side

* As quiet as a magnetic door can probably be. I had a door in my last house that always made a loud snapping/clacking sound. This door is much, much quieter.

* Door is smoked so the cat can see through it instead of a solid white door. White would probably match your typical white door color better, but the smoked seems like a good design feature.

* Even includes little screw hole covers to finish the install cleanly.

I don't personally have a need for the locks, nor the weather seal on the exterior portion of the door. But it includes both of those features. If using on an exterior door I would personally caulk the top and side edges of the exterior cat door just to be certain no water gets in there.

For my personal use I ended up modifying the door to remove the magnet and weather stripping as it caused the door to be too difficult for my cat to learn to open, the weather stripping being the main cause of a stiff door. Without the weather stripping and magnet the door now swings totally effortlessly, and still weights down to shut after flapping back-and-forth a few times. Note the cat door also flaps open when you open and close your human door, too, which is a non-issue for me.

Great product, would buy it again.

Installation is easy and the tunnels wonderful if you are installing in an exterior wall. I've had several of Cat Mate cat doors and this one is adequate though the locking mechanism is awkward to use. If you don't need to lock and unlock often, this is a good choice.

performs as indicated and installation was pretty straightforward. I did end up removing the door so it was easier to cut opening, drill bolt holes and fasten - removing and reinstalling the door was the hardest part. I will definitely purchase another one.

This product is exactly what we were looking for and doesn't fall short of good quality and operation. Our 5 cats use it to go into the basement for their litter boxes. It's also easy to install.

I'm not blaming the flap for my installation challenges. I have a 100 year old house. The doors (I now know) have been covered over--there are two 1/4" thick layers outside of the original solid wooden door. So it was right at 2", and my poor little jigsaw just wasn't quite up to the task--I ended up having to cut from both sides. Wow.

Anyways, thankfully I didn't totally destroy the door. The instructions are easy enough to follow, and if you have a normal door, it's probably a breeze. It fits nicely and looks good (and the cats adapted no problem). So I'd recommend it.

Overall, a nice product. But the close/open buttons are very flimsy and difficult to operate. I am pretty sure they will break off after a short period. Otherwise, the door was easy to install and looks nice.