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These
Cat-Mate Electronic Pet Doors are operated by one 9
volt battery (not included) so they don't require a location near a wall
outlet. The doors sense the collar key, which is a small, waterproof magnet,
and unlocks. The cat then pushes through. The pet doors are 'self-framing'.
Two collar keys are included with each pet door.
A '4-way' lock rotary dial is
visible in the lower right hand corner of the 08AM254. Cat Mate has
recently both enhanced the performance of the small electronic
and lowered the price! This has been a very reliable performer over
the years.
The 08AM256 uses the smaller collar key used by the
08AM254 and is suitable for cats. The
Dog Mate Electronic Small Dog is exactly the same pet door but
uses a larger, and slightly more expensive, collar key better suited
to smaller dogs. Both key types will unlock both doors.
The 08AM256 doors use sliding tabs
to accomplish the
4-way lock
rather than a rotary dial (they're two red tabs and one green in
the center. Unfortunately, the cat is hiding them).
You might suppose that one way to
use the Cat Mate pet doors to keep one pet in while allowing another
out would be to reverse the pet door so that it controlled pets on
the inside but not, obviously then, on the outside. That idea works
provided that you carefully shield the now outside portion of the
pet door from the weather.
Note: Reversed installation
(turning the pet door around so that it controls from the inside rather than
from the outside) will void the warranty.
Another idea that we have encountered is
installing two pet doors--one at each end of a fabricated wooden tunnel made
long enough that the flaps don't interfere with each other. Then the outside
unit controls access from the outside and the inside unit controls access
from the inside. Such an installation would be easiest to accomplish in a
wall. |
